Millennium Inorganic Chemicals in Ashtabula, Ohio has been ordered to address newly discovered PCB contamination in Fields Brook, which flows into northeast Ohio's Ashtabula River, and eventually Lake Erie.
Fields Brook is on the Superfund National Priorities List. During 1999 - 2001, cleanup activities were conducted on almost four miles of the brook and at six nearby industrial sites. The new contamination, a pool of heat transfer fluid containing PCBs, was discovered in September. The Fields Brook channel has been rerouted around the problem area. A Detroit-based EPA Superfund emergency response team will monitor the work of Millennium's contractors.
PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) are a group of toxic chemicals that were widely used as coolants, insulators and lubricants. PCBs are carcinogens and they concentrate in the food chain. Congress banned the manufacture of new PCBs in 1976.
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