News of the Week that other regulators would use them as scientifically reviewed lists of suspected carcinogens, which they are not. According to OSHA, commenters wrote of at least one local employee right-to-know law that used OSHA's candidate list to require company labeling, recordkeeping, and notification of employees. Labor union representatives disagree. A spokesman for the AFLCIO calls this move another example of the Administration's watering down the previous federal cancer policy. He says the lists are necessary to keep track of where things stand in trying to protect workers and that as such they are a necessary part of a comprehensive cancer policy. OSHA replies that the information used to make the list is already available publically to union members or their representatives. OSHA says it expects to complete its cancer policy review by spring. The new policy, according to OSHA, will set forth a priority system that will be more efficient, as well as effective, and include public participation without the adverse consequences of the old policy. D
Flood-ravaged town faces dioxin threat Suspecting the presence of dioxin, the Environmental Protection Agency sampled roadside soil on Dec. 3. Two days later floods inundated the Meramec River town of Times Beach, Mo., forcing the evacuation of all 2400 residents. Floodwaters have subsided, waterlogged debris has piled up, and federal agency officials are so concerned that highly toxic dioxin, since confirmed in the Dec. 3 sampling, has spread that the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control has advised residents not to reinhabit their homes. EPA has returned to the town for a second, more comprehensive, round of sampling. EPA's interest in Times Beach was spurred by CDC records indicating that in 1973 waste hauler Russell Bliss had sprayed dioxin-tainted waste oils on the then-gravel roads 6
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to control dust. EPA's December sampling found four of 114 roadside soil samples with dioxin levels greater than 100 ppb, 100 times the concentration deemed by CDC to be safe for human exposure. The majority of the samples had dioxin levels greater than 1 ppb, and only a fifth were dioxin free. The fear now is that floodwaters may have carried dioxin, once confined only to the roadsides, into the 800 homes of the town. This concern prompted the CDC advisory, which has been ignored by 300 townspeople. Dioxin-contaminated or not, the citizens' water-soaked possessions present a health hazard, and must be removed, authorities warn. To arrange qualification for federal emergency assistance, state and local officials have declared the debris nonhazardous. Federal Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Sharon Regal says cleanup began on Jan. 6. Debris is being
carted to a sanitary landfill in Warren County, Mo., about 40 miles west of St. Louis. Total disposal cost is pegged at $142,000. As part of EPA's second sampling effort, the debris will be analyzed for dioxin. If dioxin is found, the debris will be moved from the sanitary landfill to one certified to accept hazardous waste, Regal says. EPA spokesman Bill Landis says that sampling, begun last week, could take about two weeks. About 1000 samples will be collected, Landis says, and analysis will be done by three university labs and several EPA labs. Analysis could take more than a month to complete. The agency will set aside portions of the collected samples for future analysis for the so-called priority pollutants and for polychlorinated biphenyls, Landis says. Although there is no firm evidence, Bliss is known to have hauled PCBs, and he also may have sprayed PCBs for dust control. D
Center planned for gas separation research The Gas Research Institute plans to form a new gas separation research center. The Chicago-based facility will carry out multidisciplinary research to develop "new" concepts in gas separation, including the use of membranes, metal complexes, adsorption, absorption, and electrochemical methods. GRI will provide seed money and base funding, but it's also looking for industrial clients. The center will be incorporated into GRI's basic research effort. However, it should have obvious long-term practical benefits, according to John L. Cox, GRTs manager of organic chemistry, who is responsible for establishing the center. He notes that much existing gas separation technology, including cryogenic distillation and systems for removal of acid gases and water, is based on processes developed when energy costs were less important. "Since gas separation processes are used to extract undesirable compon e n t s and recover valuable byproducts from virtually all the natural gas used in this country, improvements in technology can have a significant financial impact," Cox
says. He adds that such improvements would be of benefit not only to gas companies but to diversified e n e r g y companies chemical producers, and air separation enterprises, as well as to the engineering and construction companies that design and build the plants for these industries. The center is now at a critical stage in its development, Cox says. Although the need has been established, most of the details haven't been worked out yet. GRI will furnish base funding as an "ongoing commitment," with $300,000 budgeted for 1983 and $500,000 for 1984. However, Cox adds, additional financial support from industry will be vital to the center's ultimate success. And, since industry is being asked to contribute funds, it also should have some say-so about what the center will do. To that end, GRI is asking industry representatives to participate in a no-obligation planning meeting, to be held in Phoenix on Feb. 9 and 10. All interested parties are invited, Cox says; inquiries should be directed to him at (312) 399-8207. D
