PROCEEDINGS OF THE EXPERT PANEL WORKSHOP
TO EVALUATE THE PUBLIC HEALTH IMPLICATIONS
FOR THE TREATMENT AND DISPOSAL OF POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS-
CONTAMINATED WASTE

Chapter 1 - Introduction

Maureen Y. Lichtveld, M.D., M.P.H.
Allan S. Susten, Ph.D., D.A.B.T.

In recent years, the public health impact of hazardous waste disposal has become a key concern of many communities living near proposed or operating disposal facilities. Among waste disposal technologies, incineration in particular has captured the attention of the general public, lawmakers, academia, and public and private health and environmental organizations.

Although more than 2,000 hazardous substances have been found at hazardous waste sites⁽¹⁾, this report focuses on the public health implications associated with the treatment and disposal of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB)-contaminated wastes.

Organization of the Proceedings

This chapter discusses the purposes and rationale of ATSDR's Bloomington PCB Project. Chapter 1 also provides a description of the workshop ATSDR convened to address issues related to the treatment and disposal of PCB-contaminated wastes.

Chapters 2, 3, and 4 are the individual panel reports on three key topics: health effects, incineration, and non-incineration remedial technologies. Key data needs, based on the conclusions and recommendations of the individual panel reports, are presented in Chapter 5.

The proceedings contain four appendices: Appendix I provides a more detailed description of the project as a whole; the expert panel workshop agenda is provided in Appendix II; and Appendix III consists of an index of the videotapes of the workshop proceedings and information how to obtain copies; and Appendix IV contains responses to the comments received during the public comment period.

Background

In 1980, The Agency for Toxic Substances Disease Registry (ATSDR) was created by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, better known as Superfund. As part of the Public Health Service within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, ATSDR is the principal federal agency responsible for addressing issues of health and science associated with human exposure to hazardous substances in the environment. The Superfund statute also directs ATSDR to provide consultations to the EPA, the states, and local officials on health issues related to toxic substances and hazardous waste sites. On occasion, members of the U.S. Congress have requested such consultations.

The Bloomington Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) Project

Because of health concerns expressed by some Bloomington area residents, Senator Richard Lugar and Congressman Frank McCloskey asked ATSDR to address the potential public health implications of disposing of PCB-contaminated wastes associated with six area hazardous waste sites. In response to this request, ATSDR undertook the Bloomington PCB project.

The purposes of the ATSDR Bloomington PCB Project are these:

The tasks of the project are these:

The Expert Panels:

To assist in the conduct of tasks 2, 3, and 4, ATSDR convened national experts at a workshop in Bloomington, Indiana, September 13-14, 1993. These experts were selected by ATSDR to serve on three panels established to discuss issues pertaining to the public health implications of treating and disposing of PCB-contaminated wastes using incineration or other remedial technologies.

The Health Effects Panel was asked to identify relevant health issues, key data gaps, and public health recommendations regarding exposures to PCBs. The Incineration Panel focused on determining what was known and not known about incineration in general and incinerating PCB-contaminated wastes specifically. The incineration panel also discussed the application of this information when evaluating the public health impact of planned and operating hazardous waste incinerators, and made several pertinent recommendations related to incineration and public health. Issues pertaining to disposal technologies other than incineration were addressed by the Non-Incineration Remedial Technologies Panel. In addition to highlighting broad categories of existing technologies, this panel also discussed specific "state-of-the-art" technologies that might be considered to remediate PCB-contaminated wastes. To the extent possible, experts participating in this panel identified key data needs to be addressed in order to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the public health implications associated with those technologies.

Because ATSDR viewed these panels as critical sources of information, concepts, and recommendations applicable to hazardous waste disposal nationwide, every effort was made to select panel members with demonstrated expertise and diverse viewpoints and professional affiliations. The criteria set for selecting panel members included relevant expertise in a discipline appropriate for one of the panels, articles published in peer-reviewed scientific journals or in technical journals, and direct knowledge of and experience with PCBs or similarly complex organochlorine substances such as dioxins and furans. In addition, for the Incineration and Non-Incineration Remedial Technologies (NIRT) panels, an attempt was made to identify individuals who, along with their technical and engineering expertise, also had demonstrated knowledge or experience dealing with issues of public health. Identification of the panelists was through literature searches, acquisition and review of technical reports written by potential panel members, and by contacting academic institutions, private organizations, local, state and federal government agencies, national and local environmental interest groups, and national professional societies. To ensure all viewpoints were expressed no consensus on issues was required.

The Panel Reports

Summaries of the panels' deliberations are presented as individual panel reports in chapters 2, 3, and 4. To ensure the content of the reports accurately reflect the discussions held during the workshop, each report was twice reviewed in draft by the panel members. To the extent possible, the reports were revised to address their comments.

In some instances, the panel co-chairs also viewed pertinent parts of the videotaped recordings of the workshop to verify the accuracy of specific information presented in the reports. The entire workshop proceedings, including the individual panel reports, were available for public comment. The final proceedings reflect the comments received. The ultimate responsibility for the data and information presented in these proceedings lies with ATSDR.

Use of the Workshop Proceedings

The data and information gathered through the expert panel workshop will assist ATSDR in determining the public health implications of treating and disposing of the PCB-contaminated wastes associated with the six hazardous waste sites in the Bloomington, Indiana area.

Because the panels deliberately did not focus on site-specific issues, but instead addressed issues of science and public health concern from a broad perspective, the information contained in these proceedings is also intended to enhance the knowledge base of federal, state, and local public health and environmental agencies and all others involved in addressing the public health implications of planned and operating treatment facilities. Furthermore, ATSDR derived data needs from panels' efforts. Those key data needs are presented in Chapter 5.

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