University Daily Kansan, January 19, 1983
Page 7
Toxic chemical leakage at KU may be expensive to clean up
BY DAVID POWLS
Staff Reporter
Cleaning up after a small leak in an electrical transformer may be costly for the University of Kansas because it involved toxic chemicals, a spokesman for the Environmental Protection Agency said Monday.
Bill Landis, the spokesman, said some electrical transformers had to be replaced when a leak of the chemicals, biphenyl, or PCBs, was discovered
KU officials said one transformer in Memorial Stadium had leaked some PCBs mixed with oil. Rodger Oroke, director of support services for facilities and operations, said yesterday thataky transformer had been removed.
"There has been some minor seepage in one area." Oroke said, "but it has been cleaned up."
OROKE SAID some PCBs mixed with oil had run down the side of a transformer in the west side of the stadium.
The leak was discovered by Ruben McCullers, an EPA inspector, during a visit to the campus Jan. 5 and 6.
KU will be notified in six to eight weeks of any EPA action regarding the leakage of PCBs in the transformers.
EPA regulations state that transformers that contain 50 parts of PCBs
McCullers said the maximum fine for civil violations was $2,000 a day for each violation. Criminal charges may be imposed, but it is considered premedicated, he said.
per million must be inspected quarterly and that transformers with that mixture ratio must be identified.
"If a minor violation is found, the violator is told to remedy the situation," he said. "Sometimes the extent of violations depends on where the equipment is located and how well it is maintained."
OROKE SAID PCRs, as KU uses them, were not hazardous.
"It depends on the age of the tranformer and the extent of the leakage problem," he said.
The danger of PCBs to those handling them is not clear, Oroke said.
BUT GEORGE TRAIGER, associate professor of pharmacy and toxicology, said the general health effects of PCBs were well-established.
"PCBs stimulate the liver's capacity to metabolize foreign substances, meaning PCBs can deposit in fat tissues," he said.
"PCBs have also affected male and female reproductive systems in laboratory animals and suppressed the immune system in humans."
THE DANGERS depend on the concentration of the PCBs in the oil they are used with in the transformers, he said.
He said PCBs were known for high
heat transfer qualities and a long half-life.
Landis said PCBs could cause severe skin irritations and were suspected carcinogenic substances.
He said a chemical process that changed PCBs to non-toxic substances possibly could be used in a clean-up process.
lanterns, we base PCBs that have leaked from transformers often can be cleaned up, he said.
KU USES PCBs as an oil additive in about 50 large electrical transformers and 350 smaller transformers, said William Hogan, associate executive vice chancellor. The PCBs insulate and preserve the oil, he said.
"In the past, spilled PCBs were collected and incinerated and the empty transformers were dumped in landfills," he said.
Hogan said that the large transformers at KU were located in secluded areas behind security fences.
"You won't walk up and touch this equipment," he said.
He also said that small transformers could be seen atop telephone poles.
McCullers took samples of the leak at the stadium and of residue from other transformers. Oroke said.
PCBs were heavily researched in the early 1970s after they mistakenly introduced into the food chain when a bacterial positive was contaminated in Michigan.
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