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                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, January 16, 1993                   TAG: 9301160245
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY  
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS                                LENGTH: Short

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SHIPYARD RESUMES USE OF TOXIN-LACED PAINT

Newport News Shipbuilding has resumed coating ship hulls with paint laced with toxic TBT despite banning the poisonous chemical in the mid-1980s, a shipyard spokesman said.

When company officials prohibited use of the chemical, they expressed concerns about potential hazards to employees. But they say the newer TBT-laced paint is safer.

Yard workers painted four commercial ships with TBT paint last year and are now using the paint on the cruise vessel Starship Oceanic, yard spokesman Jack Schnaedter said. The work is due to be completed next week.

Shipyard President William Phillips Jr. said last year that the company probably would resume using TBT because he believed the toxin could be used safely and because "we need the work."

TBT, or tributyltin, is an anti-fouling agent that has been shown even in small quantities to kill shellfish and is considered hazardous to humans.

- Associated Press

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