CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE : Last Phase of PCB Removal Ends

The final phase of a more than seven-year operation to remove electrical transformers containing polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB), a known carcinogen, from the Cal State Northridge campus has been completed.

Although a survey taken in 1983 alerted CSUN to eight PCB-contaminated transformers on campus, their removal was delayed because of state budget constraints, administrators said. Meanwhile, other surveys found five more contaminated transformers.

PCB, which has been used as a coolant in transformers since the 1920s, has been found to cause a number of disorders in laboratory animals, including cancer, lethargy, tumors, skin lesions and reproductive problems, experts said.

The chemical has not been found to cause cancer in humans, but oil leaked from PCB-contaminated transformers is treated as if it does, said Ron Norton, a hazardous materials coordinator for CSUN’s environmental health and occupational safety department.

“The fact that PCB is an oil means that it can be absorbed through the skin and get into the bloodstream,” Norton said.

CSUN has received no reports of people suffering from PCB-related problems, officials said. However, of the 13 PCB-contaminated transformers found at CSUN, four were leaking.

G.L. Beitner, associate director of physical plant management at CSUN, said that the leaks were not hazardous and that the spills were thoroughly cleaned up. He said the leaks ranged in size from droplets to puddles two to three inches in diameter.

But Norton said that “even a drop or sheen on pavement is taken seriously.”

Five of the 13 contaminated transformers were located in Sierra Hall, a classroom building; one in the music building; one in the Oviatt Library, and one in the fine arts building.

They were removed between January, 1984, and July, 1991, at a cost of $980,000 paid for by the state Department of General Services. The average transformer contained about 350 gallons of PCB oil, Beitner said. In all, about 4,238 gallons of PCB were removed, officials said.

Beitner said the oil was pumped out of the transformers into drums and stored in a specially constructed metal shed until it could be shipped to Coffeyville, Kan., for disposal.

Transformers convert high-voltage electricity into a lower voltage before it is dispersed.

The PCB-contaminated equipment was replaced with “dry-type, air-cooled” transformers, Beitner said.