PCBs At

Carleton

Around For A While

OTTAWA (CUP) - There are about 2400 litres of PCBs at Carelton University and they will be around for at least another five years.

So could the other 7000 met- ric tonnes of the chemical stored in Ontario.

In all, there are more than 2,500 storage sites for the highly toxic chemical in Canada, includ- ing the Technical University of Nova Scotia, Dalhousie Univer- sity, the University of Windsor, the University of Toronto, Leth- bridge University and Glendon College.

The only way to get rid of highly concentrated PCBs is to burn them. But the only incin- erator in Canada is in Alberta and it won’t accept any out-of- province waste.

PCB’s were often used as a coolant for electrical equipment. their production was restricted in 1977 after research showed they caused cancer, brain disorders and birth defects in lab animals.

In the wake of a fire at a Que- bec warehouse full of PCB’s in August 1988, provincial environ- ment ministers vowed to elimi- nate PCB’s in five years.

But they didn’t come up with regulations on how to get rid of them. And now, it looks like they will be around well after the five year deadline of 1993.

Ontario has been looking for a system to deal with waste from at least 16,000 industrial plants. Each plant emits waste into the air, water or soil — 80 per cent of it untreated.

The province is also home to 10,000 old hazardous waste stor- age sites.

Ontario’s Waste Management Corporation (OWMC), recently proposed a site for an incinerator

on the Niagara peninsula after an eight year search.

The proposed plant would cost $300 million, and be com- plete in two years. After that would take at least seven years to dispose of all the province’s waste.

Before construction can be- gin, there are at least three years of public, environmental assess- ment hearings before the site can be approved.

Area residents oppose the plan, along with the Toxic Waste Research Coalition, an alliance of environmental, agricultural and citizens’ groups.

‘Coalition co-ordinator John

Jackson said the OWMC plan for a permanent facility is misguided.

“We don’t need a mega- facility, we need smaller, mobile (facilities),” he said. He says the OWMC should concentrate on the four Rs of waste manage- ment — rejection, reduction, re- use and recycling.

“The way to avoid the prob- lem is not to produce so much waste,” says Jackson.

People de- manding toxic chemicals be dealt with, but not willing to have dis- posal facilities in their neighbor- hoods, have frustrated politicians and environmentalists.

OWMC pres- ident Donald Chant, said pub- lic concern and the ‘Not-in-my- backyard syndrome’, demanded mandatory public hearings on the site location.

“We've tried to be speedy throughout this whole thing,” says OWMC official Murray Creed. “But the Environmen- tal Assessment Act is specific, and the requirements are mas- sive. We’ve done so much doc- umentation we’ve got a small li- brary.”

But the process may ease pub- lic fears and concern. “We feel we’ve done our work and have a strong premise,” Chant said. ”We’re confident we’ll obtain ap- provals (from the hearings).”

Even if they do, according to OWMC estimates it could take another three to five years for the plant to start work.

Creed says the site will bring little disruption to the area be- cause there are only three resi- dents living on the site. “One of (the residents) is all for it.”

He said incinerator emissions would be equivalent to the ex- haust from about 40 cars, and pose no serious threat to resi- dents.

“There’s no such thing as no risk,” says Creed. “But it would be very tightly controlled risk.”

Regardless, Chant says, the coalition is skeptical of the OWMC’s facts and figures.

“They don’t believe anything we say, they think we’re lying. You very rarely change people’s minds about this.”

PCBs IN OUR BACKYARD

Carleton is not the only Uni- versity which stores or has stored PCBs on its campus. In the September 22, 1988 issue of the GEM, the following story was printed.

Almost half of the PCBs which are utilized on PEI are used on the UPEI campus. Ac- cording to Environment, Canada documents, 3630 litres out of the 7626 litres which are in use on the island, are located on the campus.

“There are three transform- ers in the basement of the util- ity building and three more trans- formers in the library” says Eu- gene McCabe, the Supervisor of Trades on campus, and the man who looks after the maintenance of the transformers. “Environ- ment Canada checks them once a year and-I check them once a month for leaks.”

PCB stands for Polychlori- nated biphenyls, which are syn- thetic chemical compounds used in a wide range of industrix! and consumer products. They are used as a coolant and insulating

fluid for the transformers on cam- pus. In recent years, the govern- ment has prohibited the import- ing, manufacturing, and offering for sale equipment that contains PCBs. However, this occurred af- ter 16 000 tonnes of PCBs across Canada had entered the environ- ment. And the current problem is that they are dangerous to hu- mans but they won’t break down naturally in the environment.

There are 6866 litres in stor- age in the province, but none of these are on the campus. All of the PCBs on campus are in use and there have been no leaks from the transformers since their in- stallment. If there is a leak in the future, UPEI would have to store

the PCBs and then leave it up to Environment Canada to dispose of them.

However, according to André Lavoire of Environment Canada, this could be a problem.

“There are no facilities in Canada licensed to destroy highly concentrated PCB wastes. Nor can Canadian authorities simply send them elsewhere, since U.S. will not import PCB wastes, and most European states won’t ac- cept shipments either.”

LOCKERS

A limited number of lockers are available for rent to non- resident students. The lockers are located in the entrance lobby to the Main Cafeteria in the Steele Building. The cost for locker rental is $5.00/semester plus a $5.00 key deposit whih is refund- able at the end of the term. Keys

are available on a first ome, first served basis at the Department of Student Services, first floor, Robertson Library. Keys may be purchased by contacting the De- partment of Student Services be- tween 9 am and 4 pm, Monday to Friday.

The UPEI Drama Society

Presents The Bear

Summer in the Han

Palace

November 10,11,12

8:00 pm

Duffy Amphitheatre

Lavoire also said that only 0.1% of the PCBs found in Canada are on PEI and that he thinks most people are really frightened because they aren’t sure about what is being done by the government to control, the amount of PCBs entering the en- vironment.

“But really,” he said, “En- vironment Canada is certainly making sure that the use and storage of PCBs are safe. They check transformers and other storage sites regularly.”

Ceeeeeresete