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

DATE: SUNDAY, February 26, 1995                   TAG: 9502270068
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SALTVILLE                                LENGTH: Short

MERCURY CLEANUP WON'T BEGIN SOON

Efforts to cap mercury-contaminated waste ponds at a long-closed chemical plant may not begin until 1997, according to officials with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Mercury that seeped into the soil and river around the Olin Corp. chlorine plant more than two decades ago placed the area on the federal Superfund list. The plant has been closed since 1972.

EPA Public Affairs Coordinator Pat Gaughan said cleanup plans for the plant will be released within three months after a public comment period ends March 20.

The EPA has said there are no immediate health risks in the area, although prolonged exposure to mercury can trigger cancer and other health problems.

Gaughan said Friday that design work, which should take 18 months, could begin by the end of the year, and actual cleanup efforts could start in mid-1997.

Olin Corp. officials have said recently that government plans for dealing with the site would be more costly and less effective than a company proposal. The cost of the EPA cleanup is estimated between $57 million and $60 million.

Company officials believe the EPA's plan for constructing a clay cap two feet thick over a soda-ash waste pond and covering another pond with sod would not be as effective as Olin's proposal for a multilayered cap made of high-tech synthetic materials.

Olin spokesman Bill McDaniel said the company maintains EPA's plans, which also call for incinerating some of the contaminated material, carry a greater risk.

by CNB