EPA says PCB disposal to cost $58 million in '78

Journal Article · Fri Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1977 · Electr. Light Power (Boston); (United States)

OSTI ID:7286514

Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB)-filled equipment poses a serious and probably costly problem for utilities, which are now required by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to monitor their operations and disposal of PCB. Electric utilities control about two thirds of the 758 million pounds of PCB in use. EPA regulations include warning signs and publicly available information on the disposal procedure. Spills or accidents involving the equipment are reported to the nearest EPA office, which may report to the U.S. Coast Guard National Response Center. Although high-temperature incineration is required for liquid PCBs and articles containing PCB, chemical waste landfills can be used for temporary storage until more incinerators are built. Because of high capital costs, an estimated $61 million will be spent on operating costs in 1979, but will decline each year after that. The new regulations will primarily impact present users of PCB in transformers and capacitors. Decontamination procedures have not yet been worked out for reclaiming transformer windings and no solution has been reached on how to deal with the 250 million pounds in flourescent lights and small appliances. (DCK)

• OSTI ID: 7286514
• Journal Information: Electr. Light Power (Boston); (United States), Journal Name: Electr. Light Power (Boston); (United States) Vol. 55:7; ISSN ELLPA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290400* -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Energy Resources
296000 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Electric Power
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
320305 -- Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization-- Industrial & Agricultural Processes-- Industrial Waste Management
ACCIDENTS
APPLIANCES
AROMATICS
CAPACITORS
CAPITAL
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COMBUSTION
COST
ELECTRIC APPLIANCES
ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT
EQUIPMENT
GOVERNMENT POLICIES
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
INFORMATION
MANAGEMENT
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
ORGANIC CHLORINE COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
OXIDATION
PUBLIC HEALTH
PUBLIC UTILITIES
REGULATIONS
SAFETY
TRANSFORMERS
US EPA
US ORGANIZATIONS
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT