the online chemical information market here and abroad/' Dialog has followed up with a campaign aimed at its customers and at ACS Council members. It mailed an almost identical "special message" to members of both groups justifying the suit and asking for their support. This letter claims that many ACS members and CAS customers question CAS's policy and tactics. Dialog also delivered copies of the suit to each ACS board member at the time of its filing. These tactics by Dialog "clearly indicate an attempt to intimidate ACS governance into capitulating to some or all of its demands, and an attempt on its part to divide the society," charge the four ACS officials. Dialog's letter to the councilors was "legally and ethically inappropriate," they add. "Dialog has no legitimate basis for contacting any of you or any member of the ACS governance concerning the lawsuit. . . . We will not be intimidated into sacrificing the society's future." Moreover, they say, ACS attorneys are studying a possible countersuit against Dialog, including violations of its license agreement with CAS. "In fact," the officials charge, "there is some reason to believe that the Dialog lawsuit may have been a preemptive strike in anticipation of a lawsuit" by ACS. The two ACS messages do not attempt a point-by-point rebuttal of Dialog's allegations. A detailed response is being prepared for submission in court. ACS's initial response is due June 27, but an extension can be requested. However, Crum's message does seek to refute Dialog's central claim. This is that ACS has a "contractual obligation" to make all CAS databases "available at fair and reasonable prices to third parties such as Dialog," because ACS developed the databases "with the aid of more than $15 million in federal subsidies," particularly from the National Science Foundation. This claim of a "taxpayer-subsidized database" is "patently false," Crum says. CAS is fully in compliance with all terms of federal grants and contracts, which were completed 15 to 25 years ago, he adds. Richard Seltzer
Firms sued for polluting California waters In a venture into uncharted legal seas, the U.S. and the state of California have sued under the Superfund law eight firms for polluting the waters and injuring the marine life off the Southern California coast. The suit, filed at Federal District Court in Los Angeles, is unique for its size and.scope, says a spokesman for the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, one of the plaintiffs. He explains that the firms could be required to pay tens of millions of dollars to restore the damages by their dumping of DDT, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and monochlorinated benzene (MCB). Five of the firms named either owned, operated, or inherited liability for the so-called Montrose plant in Los Angeles, which manufactured DDT from 1947 to 1982. The plant, according to the suit, was not only the largest producer of DDT in the U.S. but also the last—producing DDT for export even after it was banned in the U.S. in 1972. The plant was operated by one of the defendants, Montrose Chemical Corp. of California, now defunct, a joint venture formed in 1946 by Montrose Chemical Corp. of New Jersey and Stauffer Chemical Co. The New Jersey Montrose subsequently merged with Chris-Craft Industries Inc., another defendant, which the suit says actively participated in the production of DDT. Stauffer Chemical Co. became part of Stauffer Management Co., another defendant, which in turn was purchased by another defendant, ICI American Holdings Inc., in 1987. Thus, ICI, even though it never produced DDT, is through its subsidiary Atkemix Thirty Seven—the fifth defendant—the current owner of the Montrose facility and successor by merger to Stauffer Chemical's liabilities. ICI disputes the government's claim, which is premised on untested theories of successor liability, says Tom Del Signore, an ICI spokesman. He characterizes the suit as a very complex legal matter involving many novel scientific and legal is-
sues that require new principles of law to be established. He predicts it will take years to resolve. However, Del Signore says that to the extent that there is any liability on the part of ICI, insurance will cover at least part of the company's risk. The suit also charges Westinghouse Electric Corp. with discharging PCB-contaminated wastewater into the Los Angeles County Sewer District Collection System and from there into the ocean. Potlatch Corp., which operated a plant manufacturing paper products until 1979 in Pomona, Calif., is charged with the same offense, as is Simpson Paper Co., which purchased the plant from Potlatch. Janice Long
Controversy continues over asbestos risk The acrimonious national debate over how to deal with asbestos in buildings continued last week at a House hearing called to consider continuation of federal aid for removing asbestos from schools. The Transportation & Hazardous Materials S u b c o m m i t t e e of t h e House Committee on Energy & Commerce met to hear opinions on a bill that would reauthorize the 1984 Asbestos School Hazard Abatement Act (ASHAA). Under that law, which expires this year, the Envi-
Luken: leave it or stir it up? June 25, 1990 C&EN 5
News of the Week ronmental Protection Agency gives grants a n d no-interest loans to schools to remove or contain damaged asbestos. Among those testifying at the hearing was one of the authors of a controversial article in Science [247, 294 (1990)], which concludes that federal policies that do not distinguish among the different forms of asbestos are encouraging costly and dangerous removal projects (C&EN, Feb. 5, page 21). J. Bernard L. Gee, professor of medicine at Yale University Medical School, a r g u e d forcefully that chrysotile asbestos— the form of the cancer-causing mineral most often found in U.S. buildings—does not pose a significant risk to children because their exposure is quite low. But custodians or other workers who might breathe larger amounts of asbestos fibers can and should be trained to take proper precautions, Gee said. Stephen M. Levin, medical director of Mount Sinai School of Medicine's occupational health clinical center, countered that ultimately all asbestos is going to have to be removed. "To exonerate chrysotile as a public health hazard, which I think the Science article goes toward, raises problems/' he said. Subcommittee chairman Thomas A. L u k e n (D.-Ohio) s u c c i n c t l y summed up the dilemma. "As long as we leave it there, workers are going to be exposed," he said. "But what if we remove it, aren't we then stirring it up?" Several witnesses argued that if schools had sufficient funds to adhere to another law—the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA)—the dangers associated with asbestos removal could be minimized. AHERA requires schools to have plans for managing, not necessarily removing, asbestos and requires that removal workers be trained. National Parent-Teacher Association representative Sarah West said schools need funds from ASHAA so they don't have to spend money on asbestos abatement that ought to go for educational purposes. "Why would any of us allow our children to remain in classrooms or school buildings that have asbestos-containing material while the experts 6
June 25, 1990 C&EN
conclusively decide at what level the exposure becomes hazardous?" West said. "The National PTA is not willing to stand back and wait as schoolchildren test the level of risk of asbestos in their classrooms." Pamela Zurer
Consumer boycott of trichloroethane urged The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), has called for a consumer boycott of h o u s e h o l d products containing 1,1,1-trichloroethane, also known as methylchloroform. The U.S. government, industry producers, and users agree that the solvent helps deplete upper atmosphere ozone, and they support eventual replacement. But NRDC lawyer David Doniger contends the U.S. is waffling in its support of an
Ozone protocol meeting under way in London It will be 2050 before the hole In the ozone layer of the upper atmosphere over Antarctica is repaired—if the release of chlorofluorocarbons and other ozone-depleting halogenated chemicals is cut 8 5 % below the present level in the next few years. Meanwhile, new readings suggest an acceleration in the rate of depletion of stratospheric ozone over the Northern Hemisphere. These are among the stark findings contained in the most recent report of the U.K. Stratospheric Ozone Review Group. Whether it was by accident or design, appearance of the report last week coincided with the opening of an international meeting in London of scientists and politicians who have gathered to tighten further the limitations spelled out in the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer. At a ministerial conference later this week, it is hoped that India and China will agree to the protocol. Their decision will depend largely on the outcome of negotiations toward setting up a fund by the developed countries to finance the switch to more ozone-friendly chemicals by the developing nations. Dermot O Sullivan
early p h a s e o u t a n d b a n of all trichloroethane uses, under consideration this week in London at a meeting of 70 nations under the sponsorship of the United Nations Environment Program. NRDCs proposed consumer boycott of products containing trichloroethane would apply to aerosol hair sprays, insecticides, and consumer-applied soil and stain resistant fabric treatments. All of these products represent only 8% of about 700 million lb of trichloroethane produced in the U.S. by Dow Chemical, PPG Industries, and Vulcan Chemical. The solvent is more widely used as an industrial and electronics cleaner and degreaser, where it has offered solutions to environmental, toxicity, and flammability concerns associated with traditional solvents such as alcohols and aromatics. According to Stan Dombrowski, manager of environmental affairs for Dow Chemical, the largest U.S. trichloroethane producer, the solvent does not contribute to smog formation because it is nonphotochemically reactive; it is essentially nonflammable, has low toxicity, and is easily reclaimable for reuse. Market value of all U.S. trichloroethane production is about $280 million. According to the Halogenated Solvents Industry Association (HSIA), users of trichloroethane contribute $296 billion of value-added products to the U.S. gross national product. Western Europe and Japan produce about 300 million lb of the solvent annually. The Chemical Specialties Manuf a c t u r e r s A s s o c i a t i o n (CSMA), Washington, D.C., a tirade organization representing household products p r o d u c e r s , says t h e use of trichloroethane in consumer products has a potential impact of only 1% on the ozone layer, but adds that "the consumer products industry continues to seek safe and effective alternatives." Trichloroethane contributes 13% of known sources of atmospheric ozone depletion while CFXC-11 and CFC-12 contribute 47%, according to a recent National Aeronautics & Space Administration study published in Nature [344, 729 (1990)]. Marc Reisch
