Editing Polychlorinated biphenyl (section)

==Pollution due to PCBs==
===Belgium===
In 1999, the [[Dioxin Affair]] occurred when 50&nbsp;kg of PCB transformer oils were added to a stock of recycled fat used for the production of 500 tonnes of animal feed, eventually affecting around 2,500 farms in several countries.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Bernard A, Broeckaert F, De Poorter G, De Cock A, Hermans C, Saegerman C, Houins G |display-authors=3| title = The Belgian PCB/dioxin incident: analysis of the food chain contamination and health risk evaluation | journal = Environmental Research | volume = 88 | issue = 1 | pages = 1–18 | date = January 2002 | pmid = 11896663 | doi = 10.1006/enrs.2001.4274 | bibcode = 2002ER.....88....1B }}</ref><ref name="Covaci">{{cite journal | vauthors = Covaci A, Voorspoels S, Schepens P, Jorens P, Blust R, Neels H |display-authors=3| title = The Belgian PCB/dioxin crisis-8 years later An overview | journal = Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology | volume = 25 | issue = 2 | pages = 164–170 | date = March 2008 | pmid = 21783853 | doi = 10.1016/j.etap.2007.10.003 | bibcode = 2008EnvTP..25..164C }}</ref> The name ''Dioxin Affair'' was coined from early misdiagnosis of dioxins as the primary contaminants, when in fact they turned out to be a relatively small part of the contamination caused by thermal reactions of PCBs. The PCB congener pattern suggested the contamination was from a mixture of Aroclor 1260 and 1254. Over 9 million chickens, and 60,000 pigs were destroyed because of the contamination. The extent of human health effects has been debated, in part because of the use of differing risk assessment methods. One group predicted increased cancer rates, and increased rates of neurological problems in those exposed as neonates. A second study suggested carcinogenic effects were unlikely and that the primary risk would be associated with developmental effects due to exposure in pregnancy and neonates.<ref name="Covaci" /> Two businessmen who knowingly sold the contaminated feed ingredient received two-year suspended sentences for their role in the crisis.<ref>{{cite web|title=Dioxin scandal: 2 year suspended prison sentence|url=http://www.expatica.com/be/news/country-news/Dioxin-scandal-2-year-suspended-prison-sentence_158523.html|website=www.expatica.com|access-date=9 June 2016|date=2009-02-05|archive-date=2016-01-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102025210/http://www.expatica.com/be/news/country-news/Dioxin-scandal-2-year-suspended-prison-sentence_158523.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Italy===
The Italian company Caffaro, located in [[Brescia]], specialized in producing PCBs from 1938 to 1984, following the acquisition of the exclusive rights to use the patent in Italy from Monsanto.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-05-11 |title=Effetto PCB |url=http://www.faustosalvi.net/en/portfolio/effetto-pcb/ |access-date=2022-06-17 |website=Fausto Salvi |language=en-US}}</ref> The pollution resulting from this factory and the case of Anniston, in the US, are the largest known cases in the world of PCB contamination in water and soil, in terms of the amount of toxic substance dispersed, size of the area contaminated, number of people involved and duration of production.

The values reported by the local health authority (ASL) of Brescia since 1999 are 5,000 times above the limits set by Ministerial Decree 471/1999 (levels for residential areas, 0.001&nbsp;mg/kg). As a result of this and other investigations, in June 2001, a complaint of an environmental disaster was presented to the Public Prosecutor's Office of Brescia. Research on the adult population of Brescia showed that residents of some urban areas, former workers of the plant, and consumers of contaminated food, have PCB levels in their bodies that are in many cases 10–20 times higher than reference values in comparable general populations.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Turrio-Baldassarri L, Abate V, Battistelli CL, Carasi S, Casella M, Iacovella N, Indelicato A, La Rocca C, Scarcella C, Alivernini S | display-authors = 3 | title = PCDD/F and PCB in human serum of differently exposed population groups of an Italian city | journal = Chemosphere | volume = 73 | issue = 1 Suppl | pages = S228–S234 | date = August 2008 | pmid = 18514762 | doi = 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2008.01.081 | bibcode = 2008Chmsp..73S.228T }}</ref>{{medical citation needed|date=May 2015}} PCBs entered the human food supply by animals grazing on contaminated pastures near the factory, especially in local veal mostly eaten by farmers' families.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = La Rocca C, Mantovani A | title = From environment to food: the case of PCB | journal = Annali dell'Istituto Superiore di Sanità | volume = 42 | issue = 4 | pages = 410–416 | date = 2006 | pmid = 17361063 }}</ref> The exposed population showed an elevated risk of [[Non-Hodgkin lymphoma]], but not for other specific cancers.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Zani C, Toninelli G, Filisetti B, Donato F | title = Polychlorinated biphenyls and cancer: an epidemiological assessment | journal = Journal of Environmental Science and Health. Part C, Environmental Carcinogenesis & Ecotoxicology Reviews | volume = 31 | issue = 2 | pages = 99–144 | date = 2013 | pmid = 23672403 | doi = 10.1080/10590501.2013.782174 | bibcode = 2013JESHC..31...99Z | s2cid = 5294247 }}</ref>

===Japan===
In 1968, a mixture of dioxins and PCBs got into rice bran oil produced in northern [[Kyushu]]. Contaminated cooking oil sickened more than 1,860 people. The symptoms were called [[Yushō disease]].<ref name="Aoki">{{cite journal | vauthors = Aoki Y | title = Polychlorinated biphenyls, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, and polychlorinated dibenzofurans as endocrine disrupters—what we have learned from Yusho disease | journal = Environmental Research | volume = 86 | issue = 1 | pages = 2–11 | date = May 2001 | pmid = 11386736 | doi = 10.1006/enrs.2001.4244 | bibcode = 2001ER.....86....2A }}</ref>

In Okinawa, high levels of PCB contamination in soil on [[Kadena Air Base]] were reported in 1987 at thousands of parts per million, some of the highest levels found in any pollution site in the world.<ref>{{cite web|title=U.S. military report suggests cover-up over toxic pollution in Okinawa|url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2014/03/17/issues/u-s-military-report-suggests-cover-up-over-toxic-pollution-in-okinawa/|website=The Japan Times|access-date=2016-06-09| vauthors = Mitchell J |date=March 17, 2014}}</ref>

===Republic of Ireland===
{{Main|2008 Irish pork crisis}}
In December 2008, a number of Irish news sources reported testing had revealed "extremely high" levels of dioxins, by [[toxic equivalent]], in pork products, ranging from 80 to 200 times the [[European Union|EU's]] upper safe limit of 1.5&nbsp;pg WHO-TEQ<sub>DFP</sub>/μg i.e. 0.12 to 0.3 parts per billion.<ref name="BBC PCB-1">{{cite news|title=Food body to meet on pork recall|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7769871.stm|access-date=27 October 2014|work=BBC|publisher=BBC|date=7 December 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Commission Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006. Setting maximum levels for certain contaminants in foodstuffs |url=http://eurlex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2006:364:0005:0024:EN:PDF|website=Official Journal of the European Union |publisher=European Union |location=Brussels |date=9 December 2006}}</ref>

[[Brendan Smith (politician)|Brendan Smith]], the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, stated the pork contamination was caused by PCB-contaminated feed that was used on 9 of Ireland's 400 pig farms, and only one feed supplier was involved.<ref name="BBC PCB-1"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Firm at centre of toxin scare investigated|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/1207/111373-pork/|access-date=27 October 2014|publisher=RTE news|date=9 December 2008}}</ref> Smith added that 38 beef farms also used the same contaminated feed, but those farms were quickly isolated and no contaminated beef entered the food chain.<ref>{{Cite news |title= Q&A: The recall of Irish pork |work= BBC |access-date= 2008-12-08 |date= 2008-12-07 |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7769893.stm}}</ref> While the contamination was limited to just 9 pig farms, the Irish government requested the immediate withdrawal and disposal of all pork-containing products produced in Ireland and purchased since September 1, 2008. This request for withdrawal of pork products was confirmed in a press release by the [[Food Safety Authority of Ireland]] on December 6.<!-- Not original press release cited, but that link was dead and this covers the topic in question --><ref>{{cite press release |title= Recall of Pork and Bacon Products December 2008 |publisher= Food Safety Authority of Ireland |date= December 2008 |url= http://www.fsai.ie/food_businesses/topics_of_interest/recall_of_pork_dec08/recall_information.html |access-date= 27 May 2013 |url-status= dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130817023437/http://www.fsai.ie/food_businesses/topics_of_interest/recall_of_pork_dec08/recall_information.html |archive-date= 17 August 2013}}</ref>

It is thought that the incident resulted from the contamination of fuel oil used in a drying burner at a single feed processor, with PCBs. The resulting combustion produced a highly toxic mixture of PCBs, dioxins and [[furan]]s, which was included in the feed produced and subsequently fed to a large number of pigs.<ref>{{cite web |title= Report of the Inter-Agency Review Group on the Dioxin Contamination Incident in Ireland in December 2008 |publisher= Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine |date= Dec 2009 |url= http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/media/migration/publications/2010/DioxinReport211209revised190110.pdf |access-date= 2010-09-02 |archive-date= 2010-12-09 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101209121430/http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/media/migration/publications/2010/DioxinReport211209revised190110.pdf |url-status= dead }}</ref>

===Kenya===
In Kenya, a number of cases have been reported in the 2010s of thieves selling [[transformer oil]], stolen from electric [[transformer]]s, to the operators of roadside [[food stall]]s for use in [[deep frying]]. When used for frying, it is reported that transformer oil lasts much longer than regular [[cooking oil]]. The downside of this misuse of the transformer oil is the threat to the health of the consumers, due to the presence of PCBs.<ref>{{cite web| vauthors = Iraki XN |title=Thieves fry Kenya's power grid for fast food|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/12/thieves-fry-kenya-power-grid-fast-food-2014122884728785480.html|website=www.aljazeera.com|access-date=9 June 2016}}</ref>

===Slovakia===
The chemical plant Chemko in [[Strážske]] (east [[Slovakia]]) was an important producer of polychlorinated biphenyls for the former communist bloc ([[Comecon]]) until 1984. Chemko contaminated a large part of east Slovakia, especially the sediments of the [[Laborec]] river and [[reservoir]] [[Zemplínska šírava]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://zivot.azet.sk/clanok/6399/viete-co-doma-dychate |title=Viete, čo doma dýchate? |trans-title=Do you know what you breathe at home? |language=sk |work=Život |issue=33 |year=2009 |vauthors=Himič D |access-date=2013-05-12 |archive-date=2014-10-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141027043653/http://zivot.azet.sk/clanok/6399/viete-co-doma-dychate |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.greenpeace.org/slovakia/zataze/arealy-podnikov-a-priemyselne/projekt-implementacie |title=Chemko Strážske |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110516215920/http://www.greenpeace.org/slovakia/zataze/arealy-podnikov-a-priemyselne/projekt-implementacie |archive-date=May 16, 2011 |publisher=[[Greenpeace]] |language=sk}}</ref>

===Slovenia===
Between 1962 and 1983, the [[Iskra (company)|Iskra Kondenzatorji]] company in [[Semič]] ([[White Carniola]], Southeast [[Slovenia]]) manufactured [[capacitor]]s using PCBs. Due to the wastewater and improperly disposed waste products, the area (including the [[Krupa (Lahinja)|Krupa]] and [[Lahinja]] rivers) became highly contaminated with PCBs. The pollution was discovered in 1983, when the Krupa river was meant to become a water supply source. The area was sanitized then, but the soil and water are still highly polluted. Traces of PCBs were found in food (eggs, cow milk, walnuts) and Krupa is still the most PCB-polluted river in the world.

===Spain and Portugal===
Several [[cetacean]] species have very high mean [[blubber]] PCB concentrations likely to cause population declines and suppress population recovery. [[Striped dolphin]]s, [[bottlenose dolphin]]s and [[orca]]s were found to have mean levels that markedly exceeded all known marine mammal PCB toxicity thresholds. The western Mediterranean Sea and the south-west Iberian Peninsula were identified as "hotspots".<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Jepson PD, Deaville R, Barber JL, Aguilar À, Borrell A, Murphy S, Barry J, Brownlow A, Barnett J, Berrow S, Cunningham AA, Davison NJ, Ten Doeschate M, Esteban R, Ferreira M, Foote AD, Genov T, Giménez J, Loveridge J, Llavona Á, Martin V, Maxwell DL, Papachlimitzou A, Penrose R, Perkins MW, Smith B, de Stephanis R, Tregenza N, Verborgh P, Fernandez A, Law RJ | display-authors = 3 | title = PCB pollution continues to impact populations of orcas and other dolphins in European waters | journal = Scientific Reports | volume = 6 | pages = 18573 | date = January 2016 | pmid = 26766430 | pmc = 4725908 | doi = 10.1038/srep18573 | bibcode = 2016NatSR...618573J }}</ref>

===United Kingdom===
[[Monsanto]] manufactured PCBs at its chemical plant in [[Newport, Wales|Newport]], South Wales, until the mid- to late-1970s. During this period, waste matter, including PCBs, from the Newport site was dumped at a disused quarry near [[Groes-faen]], west of [[Cardiff]], and Penhros landfill site<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/tip-fumes-felt-like-terror-2435122|title=Tip fumes "felt like terror attack"|author=<!--Not stated--> |date=June 30, 2004 |website=WalesOnline |publisher=Media Wales Ltd}}</ref> from where it continues to be released in waste water discharges.<ref>{{cite news | url= https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/feb/21/monsanto-brofiscin-pollution | title=Monsanto agrees to clean up toxic chemicals in South Wales quarry | date=21 February 2011 | access-date=16 September 2013 | vauthors = Levitt T | newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref>

===United States===<!-- Linked from [[PCBs in the United States]] redir. -->
Monsanto was the only company that manufactured PCBs in the US. Its production was entirely halted in 1977. (Kimbrough, 1987, 1995)<ref name=":2" /> On November 25, 2020, U.S. District Judge [[Fernando M. Olguin]] rejected a proposed $650 million settlement from Bayer, the company which acquired Monsanto in 2018, and allowed Monsanto-related lawsuits involving PCB to proceed.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.semissourian.com/story/2853810.html|title=Bayer's $650 Million PCB Pollution Settlement Rejected by Judge| vauthors = Rosenblatt J, Chediak M |publisher=Claims Journal|date=December 1, 2020|access-date=December 15, 2020}}{{dead link|date=June 2022|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

====Alabama====
PCBs originating from [[Monsanto Chemical Company]] in [[Anniston, Alabama|Anniston]], Alabama, were dumped into Snow Creek, which then spread to [[Choccolocco Creek]], then [[Logan Martin Lake]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Anniston PCB Site (Monsanto Co), Anniston, AL |url=http://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0400123 |website=Superfund Site Profile |access-date=2020-05-24 |publisher=EPA |location=Atlanta, GA |archive-date=2016-12-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161227015252/https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0400123 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In the early 2000s, class action lawsuits were settled by local land owners, including those on Logan Martin Lake, and [[Lay Dam|Lay Reservoir]] (downstream on the [[Coosa River]]), for the PCB pollution. Donald Stewart, former Senator from Alabama, first learned of the concerns of hundreds of west Anniston residents after representing a church which had been approached about selling its property by Monsanto. Stewart went on to be the pioneer and lead attorney in the first and majority of cases against Monsanto and focused on residents in the immediate area known to be most polluted. Other attorneys later joined in to file suits for those outside the main immediate area around the plant; one of these was the late [[Johnnie Cochran]].

In 2007, the highest pollution levels remained concentrated in Snow and Choccolocco Creeks.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Rypel AL, Findlay RH, Mitchell JB, Bayne DR | title = Variations in PCB concentrations between genders of six warmwater fish species in Lake Logan Martin, Alabama, USA | journal = Chemosphere | volume = 68 | issue = 9 | pages = 1707–1715 | date = August 2007 | pmid = 17490714 | doi = 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2007.03.046 | bibcode = 2007Chmsp..68.1707R }}</ref> Concentrations in fish have declined and continue to decline over time; sediment disturbance, however, can resuspend the PCBs from the sediment back into the water column and food web.

====California====

[[File:Fish Sign.png|thumb|Fish consumption advisory poster for San Francisco Bay]]

San Francisco Bay has been contaminated by PCBs, "a legacy of PCBs spread widely across the land surface of the watershed, mixed deep into the sediment of the Bay, and contaminating the Bay food web".<ref>{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1016/j.envres.2007.01.013| issn = 0013-9351| volume = 105| issue = 1| pages = 67–86| last1 = Davis| first1 = Jay| last2 = Hetzel| first2 = F.| last3 = Oram| first3 = J. J.| last4 = McKee| first4 = L. J.| title = Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in San Francisco Bay| journal = Environmental Research| series = Pollutants in the San Francisco Bay Estuary| access-date = 2023-04-27| date = 2007-09-01| pmid = 17451673| bibcode = 2007ER....105...67D| url = https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935107000400}}</ref> Levels of PCBs in fish and shellfish exceed thresholds for safe consumption. Signs around the Bay warn anglers of which species to avoid. State water quality regulators set a [[Total Maximum Daily Load]] for PCBs require city and county governments around the Bay to implement control measures to limit PCBs in urban runoff.<ref>{{Cite conference| publisher = California Regional Water Quality Control Board, San Francisco Bay Region| pages = 279| last = California Water Boards| title = Municipal Regional Stormwater NPDES permit. Order R2-2009-0074 NPDES Permit No. CAS612008 October 14, 2009| location = San Francisco| access-date = 2023-04-27| date = 2009-10-14| url = https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/stormwater/docs/phase1r2_2009_0074.pdf}}</ref> An important part of the second, revised version of this permit was the requirement for municipalities to install [[green infrastructure]] with a goal of reducing pollutant levels in stormwater.<ref>{{Cite conference| publisher = California Regional Water Quality Control Board, San Francisco Bay Region| pages = 350| last = California Water Boards| title = Municipal Regional Stormwater NPDES permit. Order No. R2-2015-0049, NPDES Permit No. CAS612008| location = San Francisco| access-date = 2023-04-27| date = 2015-11-19| url = https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/sanfranciscobay/water_issues/programs/stormwater/Municipal/R2-2015-0049.pdf}}</ref>

====Connecticut====
In [[New Haven]], the decommissioned [[English Station]] has a high concentration of PCB contamination due to the chemicals used in the running of the plant. This, along with [[asbestos]] contamination, has made cleaning and demolishing the abandoned site extremely difficult. The PCB contamination has spread to the soil, and to the river, where locals will sometimes fish unaware of the danger.<ref>{{cite web | vauthors = Leff L | title=Demolition Derailed; English Station In Limbo | website=New Haven Independent | date=19 August 2011 | url=https://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/english_station/ | access-date=2020-12-03}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | vauthors=Haar D | title=Dan Haar: English Station cleanup, at least a year away, should now wait for redevelopment | website=The Middletown Press | date=2019-08-25 | url=https://www.middletownpress.com/news/article/Dan-Haar-English-Station-cleanup-at-least-a-14374967.php | access-date=2020-12-03 | archive-date=2021-05-06 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506121936/https://www.middletownpress.com/news/article/Dan-Haar-English-Station-cleanup-at-least-a-14374967.php | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | vauthors = Chedekel L | title=State Orders Clean-Up Of English Station In New Haven | website=Connecticut Health Investigative Team | date=2013-04-11 | url=http://c-hit.org/2013/04/11/state-orders-clean-up-of-english-station-in-new-haven/ | access-date=2020-12-03}}</ref>

====Great Lakes====
In 1976, environmentalists found PCBs in the sludge at [[Waukegan, Illinois|Waukegan]] Harbor, the southwest end of [[Lake Michigan]]. They were able to trace the source of the PCBs back to the Outboard Marine Corporation that was producing boat motors next to the harbor. By 1982, the Outboard Marine Corporation was court-ordered to release quantitative data referring to their PCB waste released. The data stated that from 1954 they released 100,000 tons of PCB into the environment, and that the sludge contained PCBs in concentrations as high as 50%.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Ashworth W |title=The Late, Great Lakes |publisher=Wayne State University Press |year=1987 |isbn=978-0-8143-1887-4}}{{Page needed|date=May 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| vauthors = Mahan ML |date=May 4, 1998 |title=Are PCBs still a problem in the great lakes? |url=http://www.cevl.msu.edu/~long/pcb.htm |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120722012319/http://www.cevl.msu.edu/~long/pcb.htm |archive-date=July 22, 2012 |url-status=dead}}{{self-published source|date=May 2013}}</ref>{{self-published inline|date=May 2013}}

In 1989, during construction near the [[Zilwaukee, Michigan|Zilwaukee]] bridge, workers uncovered an uncharted landfill containing PCB-contaminated waste which cost $100,000 to clean up.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.michiganhighways.org/indepth/zilwaukee.html|title=Michigan Highways: In Depth: The Milwaukee Bridge | vauthors = Bessert CJ |work=michiganhighways.org}}</ref>

Much of the [[Great Lakes]] area were still heavily polluted with PCBs in 1988, despite extensive remediation work.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Hileman B |title=Great Lakes Cleanup Effort |journal=Chemical and Engineering News |volume=66 |issue=6 |date=February 8, 1988 |pages=22–39 |doi=10.1021/cen-v066n006.p022}}</ref>

====Indiana====
From the late 1950s through 1977, [[Westinghouse Electric]] used PCBs in the manufacture of capacitors in its [[Bloomington, Indiana|Bloomington]], Indiana, plant. Reject capacitors were hauled and dumped in area salvage yards and landfills, including Bennett's Dump, Neal's Landfill and Lemon Lane Landfill.<ref name="US EPA"/> Workers also dumped PCB oil down factory drains, which contaminated the city sewage treatment plant.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://copa.org/abb.html|access-date=2010-02-24|title=Westinghouse/ABB Plant Facility|year=2006|archive-date=2002-02-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020211012517/http://copa.org/abb.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The City of Bloomington gave away the sludge to area farmers and gardeners, creating anywhere from 200 to 2,000 sites, which remain unaddressed.

Over 1,000 tons of PCBs were estimated to have been dumped in [[Monroe County, Indiana|Monroe]] and [[Owen County, Indiana|Owen]] counties.{{Citation needed|date=May 2007}} Although federal and state authorities have been working on the sites' [[environmental remediation]], many areas remain contaminated. Concerns have been raised regarding the removal of PCBs from the [[karst]] limestone topography, and regarding the possible disposal options. To date, the Westinghouse Bloomington PCB Superfund site case does not have a Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) and Record of Decision (ROD), although Westinghouse signed a US Department of Justice Consent Decree in 1985.<ref name="US EPA">{{cite web|title=US EPA Region 5 Superfund|url=http://www.epa.gov/R5Super/npl/indiana/IND006418651.htm|access-date=2009-09-01}}</ref> The 1985 consent decree required Westinghouse to construct an incinerator that would incinerate PCB-contaminated materials. Because of public opposition to the incinerator, however, the State of Indiana passed a number of laws that delayed and blocked its construction. The parties to the consent decree began to explore alternative remedies in 1994 for six of the main PCB contaminated sites in the consent decree. Hundreds of sites remain unaddressed as of 2014. Monroe County will never be PCB-free, as noted in a 2014 Indiana University program about the local contamination.<ref name="US EPA" />

On February 15, 2008, Monroe County approved a plan to clean up the three remaining contaminated sites in the City of Bloomington, at a cost of [[United States dollar|$]]9.6 million to [[CBS Corporation|CBS Corp.]], the successor of Westinghouse. In 1999, Viacom bought CBS, so they are current responsible party for the PCB sites.<ref>{{cite web |title=Monroe Co. approves PCB clean up |url=http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080218/LOCAL/802180394 |publisher=IndyStar.com|access-date=2008-02-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022065825/http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080218/LOCAL/802180394 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-10-22}}</ref>

====Massachusetts====
[[Pittsfield, Massachusetts|Pittsfield]], in western Massachusetts, was home to the [[General Electric Pittsfield Plant|General Electric (GE) transformer, capacitor, and electrical generating equipment divisions]]. The electrical generating division built and repaired equipment that was used to power the electrical utility grid throughout the nation. PCB-contaminated oil routinely migrated from GE's {{convert|254|acre|km2|adj=on}} industrial plant located in the very center of the city to the surrounding groundwater, nearby Silver Lake, and to the [[Housatonic River]], which flows through Massachusetts, Connecticut, and down to Long Island Sound.<ref name="GE Pittsfield-history">{{cite web |title=Site History & Description |website=GE/Housatonic River Site in New England |url=http://www.epa.gov/NE/ge/sitehistory.html |date=2011 |publisher=U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) |location=Boston, MA |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110519121339/http://www.epa.gov/NE/ge/sitehistory.html |archive-date=2011-05-19}}</ref> PCB-containing solid material was widely used as fill, including [[meander|oxbows]] of the Housatonic River. Fish and waterfowl which live in and around the river contain significant levels of PCBs and are not safe to eat.<ref>{{cite web |title=Rest of River of the GE-Pittsfield/Housatonic River Site |url=https://www.epa.gov/ge-housatonic/rest-river-ge-pittsfieldhousatonic-river-site |website=EPA Cleanups |date=2020-08-06 |publisher=EPA}}</ref> EPA designated the Pittsfield plant and several miles of the river as a [[Superfund]] site in 1997, and ordered GE to remediate the site. EPA and GE began a cleanup of the area in 1999.<ref name="GE Pittsfield-history"/>

[[New Bedford, Massachusetts#Geography|New Bedford Harbor]], which is a listed Superfund site,<ref name="EPA-New Bedford">{{cite web |title=General Information about the New Bedford Harbor Cleanup |url=https://www.epa.gov/new-bedford-harbor/general-information-about-new-bedford-harbor-cleanup |date=2020-09-15 |publisher=EPA}}</ref> contained some of the highest sediment concentrations of PCBs in the marine environment.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.darrp.noaa.gov/northeast/new_bedford/ |title=Case: New Bedford Harbor, MA |website=Damage Assessment, Remediation & Restoration Program |publisher=U.S. National Ocean Service |location=Silver Spring, MD |date=2009-10-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100712092247/http://www.darrp.noaa.gov/northeast/new_bedford/|archive-date=2010-07-12 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Cleanup of the area began in 1994 and is mostly complete as of 2020.<ref name="EPA-New Bedford"/>

Investigations into historic waste dumping in the [[Bliss Corner, Massachusetts|Bliss Corner]] neighborhood have revealed the existence of PCBs, among other hazardous materials, buried in soil and waste material.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.mass.gov/service-details/bliss-corner-neighborhood-dartmouth-ma |title=Bliss Corner Neighborhood, Dartmouth, MA |website=Environmental Issues & Sites in Southeastern Massachusetts |publisher=Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection |location=Lakeville, MA |access-date=2020-10-15}}</ref>

====Missouri====
In 1982, Martha C. Rose Chemical Inc. began processing and disposing of materials contaminated with PCBs in [[Holden, Missouri]], a small rural community about {{convert|40|mi}} east of Kansas City. From 1982 until 1986, nearly 750 companies, including General Motors Corp., Commonwealth Edison, Illinois Power Co. and West Texas Utilities, sent millions of pounds of PCB contaminated materials to Holden for disposal.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://apnews.com/c83b34f4cdcddc21aff592829725dff4|title=Nearly a Decade After Spill, Cleanup of Toxic Site Drags On With PM-Rusted Legacy II|work=AP NEWS|access-date=2020-02-19}}</ref> Instead, according to prosecutors, the company began storing the contaminated materials while falsifying its reports to the EPA to show they had been removed. After investigators learned of the deception, Rose Chemical was closed and filed for bankruptcy. The site had become the nation's largest waste site for the chemical PCB.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://apnews.com/4b94dd89b0231fd8df1ba7a512dcba42 |title=Lawmakers Warned That PCB Contamination Threatens Missouri Town|website=AP NEWS|access-date=2020-02-19}}</ref> In the four years the company was operational, the EPA inspected it four times and assessed $206,000 in fines but managed to collect only $50,000.<ref>{{Cite web |url= https://www.westword.com/news/a-dirty-shame-5058546 |title=A Dirty Shame| vauthors = Dexheimer E |date=1998-04-16|website=Westword|access-date=2020-02-20}}</ref>

After the plant closed the state environmental agency found PCB contamination in streams near the plant and in the city's sewage treatment sludge. A 100,000 square-foot warehouse and unknown amounts of contaminated soil and water around the site had to be cleaned up. Most of the surface debris, including close to 13 million pounds of contaminated equipment, carcasses and tanks of contaminated oil, had to be removed.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |vauthors=Steinzor RI |title=The lessons of Rose Chemical |journal=Public Power |volume=47|issue=2 |osti=5152472}}</ref> Walter C. Carolan, owner of Rose Chemical, and five others pleaded guilty in 1989 to committing fraud or falsifying documents. Carolan and two other executives served sentences of less than 18 months; the others received fines and were placed on probation. Cleanup costs at the site are estimated at $35 million.<ref name=":1" />

====Montana====
Two launch facilities at [[Malmstrom Air Force Base]] showed PCB levels higher than the thresholds recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency when extensive sampling began of active U.S. intercontinental ballistic missile bases to address specific cancer concerns in 2023.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Copp |first=Tara |date=2023-08-07 |title=Carcinogens found at Montana nuclear missile sites as reports of hundreds of cancers surface |url=https://apnews.com/article/missile-bases-cancer-air-force-malmstrom-military-1999fad70393f0d141676b7faa587eda |access-date=2023-08-08 |work=AP News |language=en}}</ref>

====New York====
[[Pollution of the Hudson River]] is largely due to dumping of PCBs by [[General Electric]] from 1947 to 1977. GE dumped an estimated 1.3 million pounds of PCBs into the Hudson River during these years. The PCBs came from the company's two capacitor manufacturing plants at [[Hudson Falls, New York|Hudson Falls]] and [[Fort Edward (town), New York|Fort Edward]], New York. This pollution caused a range of harmful effects to wildlife and people who eat fish from the river or drink the water.<ref>{{cite web|title=Hudson River Cleanup |publisher=EPA |url=https://www.epa.gov/hudsonriverpcbs/hudson-river-cleanup |date=2020-08-25}}</ref> In 1984, EPA declared a 200-mile (320&nbsp;km) stretch of the river, from Hudson Falls to New York City, to be a Superfund site requiring cleanup.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hudson River PCBs Superfund Site |url=https://www.epa.gov/superfund/superfund-success-stories-epa-region-2#hudson |website=Superfund Success Stories: EPA Region 2 |date=2018-06-04 |publisher=EPA}}</ref> Extensive remediation actions on the river began in the 1970s with the implementation of [[Clean Water Act#Point sources|wastewater discharge permits]] and consequent control or reduction of wastewater discharges, and sediment removal operations, which have continued into the 21st century.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/77105.html |title=How is the Hudson Doing? |website=Hudson River Estuary Program |publisher=New York State Department of Environmental Conservation |location=Albany, NY |access-date=2020-10-15 |archive-date=2017-11-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171119075142/http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/77105.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[Love Canal]] is a neighborhood in [[Niagara Falls, New York|Niagara Falls]], New York, that was heavily contaminated with toxic waste including PCBs.<ref>{{cite magazine | vauthors = Brown MH |title=Love Canal and the Poisoning of America |journal=The Atlantic |date=December 1979 |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1979/12/love-canal-and-the-poisoning-of-america/376297/}}</ref> [[Eighteen Mile Creek (Niagara County)|Eighteen Mile Creek]] in [[Lockport (town), New York|Lockport]], New York, is an EPA Superfund site for PCBs contamination.<ref>{{cite web |title= Superfund Site: Eighteen Mile Creek, Lockport, NY |url= http://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0206456 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170306235101/http://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0206456 | archive-date = 6 March 2017 |website=Superfund Program |publisher=EPA}}</ref>

PCB pollution at the [[Government Plaza, Binghamton|State Office Building]] in [[Binghamton, New York|Binghamton]] was responsible for what is now considered to be the first indoor environmental disaster in the United States.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://nypost.com/2011/08/07/former-ny-governor-hugh-carey-dead-at-92/ | title = Former NY governor Hugh Carey dead at 92 | work = New York Post | date = 7 August 2011 }}</ref> In 1981, a transformer explosion in the basement spewed PCBs throughout the entire 18-story building.<ref>{{cite report | title = Spill closes offices | work = Syracuse Herald-Journal | date = 5 February 1981 | page = D1 }}</ref> The contamination was so severe that cleanup efforts kept the building closed for 13 years.<ref>{{cite web | title = State Building Finally Reopens in Binghamton | url = https://buffalonews.com/news/state-building-finally-reopens-in-binghamton/article_fc156754-8eee-5d3a-9b79-e1f791b85250.html | work = The Buffalo News | date = 12 October 1994 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | vauthors = Steinberg J | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1994/10/11/nyregion/13-year-cleaning-job-after-53-million-17-million-state-building-finally-declared.html?pagewanted=1 | title = The 13-Year Cleaning Job; After $53 Million, a $17 Million State Building Finally Is Declared Safe From Toxins | work = New York Times | date = 11 October 1994 }}</ref>

====North Carolina====
One of the largest deliberate PCB spills in American history occurred in the summer of 1978 when 31,000 gallons (117 m^3) of PCB-contaminated oil were illegally sprayed by the Ward PCB Transformer Company in {{convert|3|ft|m|adj=on}} swaths along the roadsides of some {{convert|240|mi|km}} of North Carolina highway shoulders in 14 counties and at the [[Fort Bragg]] Army Base. The crime, known as "[[Warren County PCB Landfill|the midnight dumpings]]", occurred over nearly two weeks, as drivers of a black-painted tanker truck drove down one side of rural Piedmont highways spraying PCB-laden waste and then up the other side the following night.<ref name="NY Times">{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/08/11/us/carolinians-angry-over-pcb-landfill.html |title=Carolinians Angry Over PCB Landfill|work=NY Times |date=11 August 1982}}</ref>

Under Governor [[Jim Hunt|James B. Hunt]], Jr., state officials then erected large, yellow warning signs along the contaminated highways that read: "CAUTION: PCB Chemical Spills Along Highway Shoulders". The illegal dumping is believed to have been motivated by the passing of the [[Toxic Substances Control Act]] (TSCA), which became effective on August 2, 1978, and increased the expense of chemical waste disposal.

Within a couple of weeks of the crime, Robert Burns and his sons, Timothy and Randall, were arrested for dumping the PCBs along the roadsides. Burns was a business partner of Robert "Buck" Ward Jr., of the Ward PCB Transformer Company, in Raleigh. Burns and sons pleaded guilty to state and Federal criminal charges; Burns received a three to five-year prison sentence. Ward was acquitted of state charges in the dumping, but was sentenced to 18 months prison time for violation of TSCA.<ref name="NY Times" />

Cleanup and disposal of the roadside PCBs generated controversy, as the Governor's plan to pick up the roadside PCBs and to bury them in a landfill in rural [[Warren County, North Carolina|Warren County]] were strongly opposed in 1982 by local residents.<ref name="NY Times"/>

In October 2013, at the request of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC), the City of [[Charlotte, North Carolina|Charlotte]], North Carolina, decided to stop applying [[biosolids|sewage sludge]] to land while authorities investigated the source of PCB contamination.<ref name="cmu">{{cite web| url=http://charmeck.org/city/charlotte/Utilities/AboutUs/Documents/Minutes%20October%202013.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221223705/http://charmeck.org/city/charlotte/Utilities/AboutUs/Documents/Minutes%20October%202013.pdf |archive-date=2014-02-21 |url-status=live|author=Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities Advisory Committee|title=Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities Advisory Committee Minutes|date=October 17, 2013|page=3}}</ref>
In February 2014, the City of Charlotte admitted PCBs have entered their sewage treatment centers as well.<ref name="co214">{{cite news |url=http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/02/07/4670710/chemical-dumped-into-charlotte.html |title=Task force named to probe chemical dumping |date=7 February 2014 |newspaper=Charlotte Observer|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140213233743/https://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/02/07/4670710/chemical-dumped-into-charlotte.html|archive-date=13 Feb 2014 |vauthors=Henderson B, Lyttle S, Bethea A}}</ref>

After the 2013 SCDHEC had issued emergency regulations,<ref>{{cite web|title=Emergency Regulation for Management of Wastewater System Sludge|url=http://www.scdhec.gov/Agency/docs/NewsReleaseDocs/PCBEmergencyRegFINAL.pdf|publisher=South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control|access-date=9 June 2016|archive-date=24 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624030305/http://www.scdhec.gov/Agency/docs/NewsReleaseDocs/PCBEmergencyRegFINAL.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> the City of Charlotte discovered high levels of PCBs entering its sewage waste water treatment plants, where sewage is converted to sewage sludge.<ref name=co214/> The city at first denied it had a problem, then admitted an "event" occurred in February 2014, and in April that the problem had occurred much earlier.<ref name=cmu/><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/04/04/4817470/more-pcbs-found-in-charlotte-wastewater.html|title=More PCBs found in Charlotte wastewater, city says |date=4 April 2014| newspaper=Charlotte Observer|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016075302/http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/crime/article9109955.html|archive-date=16 Oct 2015|vauthors=Lyttle S}}</ref> The city stated that its very first test with a newly changed test method revealed very high PCB levels in its sewage sludge farm field fertilizer. Because of the widespread use of the contaminated sludge, SCDHEC subsequently issued PCB fish advisories for nearly all streams and rivers bordering farm fields that had been applied with city waste.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scdhec.gov/Agency/NewsReleases/2014/nr20140703-01/|date=July 3, 2014|title=DHEC Releases Safe Fish Eating Advisory for S.C. Waters|website=scdhec.gov|publisher=South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control|access-date=February 4, 2015|archive-date=February 4, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150204180601/http://www.scdhec.gov/Agency/NewsReleases/2014/nr20140703-01/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

====Ohio====
The [[Clyde cancer cluster]] (also known as the Sandusky County cancer cluster) is a [[childhood cancer|childhood]] [[cancer cluster]] that has affected many families in [[Clyde, Ohio|Clyde]], Ohio, and surrounding areas. PCBs were found in soil in a public park within the area of the cancer cluster.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.toledoblade.com/news/state/2012/11/15/Toxic-sludge-discovered-at-park-in-Clyde-area-cancer-patients-families-shocked-lawyer-says/stories/20121115077|title='Toxic sludge' found at Clyde are park|newspaper=The Blade|language=en|access-date=2019-02-20|vauthors=Feehan J|date=15 Nov 2012}}</ref>

In [[Akron, Ohio|Akron]], Ohio, soil was contaminated and noxious PCB-laden fumes had been put into the air by an electrical transformer deconstruction operation from the 1930s to the 1960s.<ref>{{cite news | vauthors = Harper J |title=When PCBs, heavy metal spewed from smokestacks in southwest Akron: Toxic Remains |url=http://www.cleveland.com/akron/index.ssf/2015/12/when_pcbs_and_heavy_metal_spew.html|access-date=31 December 2015 |publisher=Cleveland.com|date=December 28, 2015}}</ref>

====South Carolina====
From 1955 until 1977, the Sangamo Weston plant in Pickens, South Carolina, used PCBs to manufacture capacitors, and dumped 400,000 pounds of PCB contaminated wastewater into the Twelve Mile Creek. In 1990, the EPA declared the {{convert|228|acre|km2}} site of the capacitor plant, its landfills and the polluted watershed, which stretches nearly {{convert|1,000|acre|km2}} downstream to Lake Hartwell as a [[Superfund]] site. Two dams on the Twelve Mile Creek are to be removed and on Feb. 22, 2011 the first of two dams began to be dismantled. Some contaminated sediment is being removed from the site and hauled away, while other sediment is pumped into a series of settling ponds.<ref>{{cite web | title = South Carolina NPL/NPL Caliber Cleanup Site Summaries; Sangamo Weston, Inc./Twelve-Mile Creek/Lake Hartwell PCB Contamination | url = http://www.epa.gov/region4/waste/npl/nplsc/sangamsc.htm | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061012115927/http://www.epa.gov/region4/waste/npl/nplsc/sangamsc.htm | archive-date = 12 October 2006 | work = USEPA }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.wyff4.com/r/26949154/detail.html | title = Dam Demolition Begins On Twelve Mile River | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110718123940/http://www.wyff4.com/r/26949154/detail.html | archive-date=2011-07-18 | work = WYFF News 4 | date = 22 February 2011 |vauthors=Muserallo S}}</ref>

In 2013, the state environmental regulators issued a rare emergency order, banning all [[sewage sludge]] from being land applied or deposited on landfills, as it contained very high levels of PCBs. The problem had not been discovered until thousands of acres of farm land in the state had been contaminated by the [[hazardous]] sludge. A criminal investigation to determine the perpetrator of this crime was launched.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.scdhec.gov/administration/news/2013/nr20130925-01.htm |title=DHEC: General Agency Information |date=2013 |work=scdhec.gov |access-date=2013-09-26 |archive-date=2013-09-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130926153115/http://www.scdhec.gov/administration/news/2013/nr20130925-01.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

====Washington====
As of 2015, several bodies of water in the state of Washington were contaminated with PCBs, including the [[Columbia River]], the [[Duwamish River]], [[Green Lake (Seattle)|Green Lake]], [[Lake Washington]], the [[Okanogan River]], [[Puget Sound]], the [[Spokane River]], the [[Walla Walla River]], the [[Wenatchee River]], and the [[Yakima River]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Fish Consumption Advisories | work = Washington State Dept. of Health |url=http://www.doh.wa.gov/CommunityandEnvironment/Food/Fish/Advisories |access-date=9 June 2016}}</ref> A study by Washington State published in 2011 found that the two largest sources of PCB flow into the Spokane River were City of Spokane stormwater (44%) and municipal and industrial discharges (20%).<ref>{{cite web |title=Spokane River PCB Source Assessment 2003–2007 |url=https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/publications/documents/1103013.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151004144842/https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/publications/documents/1103013.pdf |archive-date=2015-10-04 |url-status=live |access-date=9 June 2016}}</ref>

PCBs entered the environment through paint, hydraulic fluids, sealants, inks and have been found in river sediment and wildlife. Spokane utilities will spend $300 million to prevent PCBs from entering the river in anticipation of a 2017 federal deadline to do so.<ref>{{cite news | vauthors = Deshais N |title=Spokane sues Monsanto for PCB contamination |url=http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2015/aug/03/spokane-sues-monsanto-pcb-contamination/ |access-date=14 August 2015 |work=The Spokesman-Review|date=3 August 2015}}</ref> In August 2015 Spokane joined other U.S. cities like [[San Diego]] and [[San Jose, California|San Jose]], California, and [[Westport, Massachusetts|Westport]], Massachusetts, in seeking damages from Monsanto.<ref>{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |title=Spokane sues Monsanto over Spokane River contamination |url=http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/spokane-sues-monsanto-over-spokane-river-contamination/ |access-date=14 August 2015 |work=Seattle Times |date=August 3, 2015}}</ref>

====Wisconsin====
From 1954 until 1971, the Fox River in [[Appleton, Wisconsin]], had PCBs deposited into it from Appleton Paper/NCR, P.H. Gladfelter, [[Georgia-Pacific]] and other notable local paper manufacturing facilities. The Wisconsin DNR estimates that after wastewater treatment the PCB discharges to the Fox River due to production losses ranged from 81,000&nbsp;kg to 138,000&nbsp;kg. (178,572&nbsp;lbs. to 304,235&nbsp;lbs). The production of Carbon Copy Paper and its byproducts led to the discharge into the river. Fox River clean up is ongoing.<ref>{{cite web | vauthors = Katers RL | date = |title=Sources of PCBs in the Fox River and Green Bay |url=http://www.foxriverwatch.com/pcb_pcbs_sources_1.html |website=www.foxriverwatch.com |access-date=9 June 2016 |archive-date=6 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006234908/http://www.foxriverwatch.com/pcb_pcbs_sources_1.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Pacific Ocean ===
Polychlorinated biphenyls have been discovered in organisms living in the [[Mariana Trench]] in the [[Pacific Ocean]]. Levels were as high as 1,900 nanograms per gram of [[Amphipoda|amphipod]] tissue in the organisms analyzed.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21716891-entrenched-nasty-chemicals-abound-what-was-thought-untouched-environment|title=Nasty chemicals abound in what was thought an untouched environment|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=2017-02-26|date=2017-02-18}}</ref>