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To: Baldwin who wrote (17)	3/11/2000 7:30:00 AM
From: Baldwin	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 19

Powell Supports the StarCure Process - Will Not Offer Barn Conversions BENNETTSVILLE, S.C., Mar 10, 2000 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Powell Manufacturing of Bennettsville, SC the exclusive manufacturer of the StarCure(TM) tobacco-curing barn announced today it will not offer heat exchanger conversion kits for direct-fired flue cured tobacco barns. The Star barns, manufactured by Powell, are part of the two step proprietary StarCure(TM) patented process for producing tobacco with very low nitrosamine (TSNA) levels. Tobacco specific nitrosamines (TSNAs) have been acknowledged by leading medical and scientific researchers as among the most powerful and abundant cancer causing toxins in tobacco and tobacco smoke. The Canadian Health Ministry, in its proposed 1999 tobacco labeling regulation, has set forth as one of its health warnings to be placed upon the cigarette packages in bold letters "Nitrosamines cause cancer. They are the most active cancer-causing agent in tobacco." The StarCure(TM) process reduces TSNA's to virtually undetectable levels. Star barns are manufactured by Powell under contract from Star Scientific, Inc. of Petersburg Virginia. Star provides the curing barns to individual farmers and contracts directly with the tobacco farmers to produce low nitrosamine tobacco. "The test results we have seen suggest that the current heat exchanger programs being offered to the flue cured tobacco growers by some tobacco manufacturing industry participants will not achieve the reduction of TSNA's that the StarCure(TM) process can achieve" said Mr. Richard Herskowitz, President of Powell. "Powell believes that it is premature to convert the existing direct-fired flue cure barns before the industry as a whole or the federal government establishes the acceptable levels of these cancer-causing nitrosamines in tobacco products". There is media speculation that sometime this summer the Supreme Court will decide if the FDA has the right to regulate the tobacco industry. Assuming FDA jurisdiction over tobacco is sanctioned by the Supreme Court or, alternatively, if the U.S. Congress specifically authorizes broad or even limited FDA jurisdiction, it is possible that the FDA may set a ceiling on the level of nitrosamines in flue cured tobacco at the lowest possible levels achieved by the leading technology. "It is our understanding that the performance of the retrofit heat exchangers being offered to farmers under the program now being proposed by a few of the tobacco industry participants may be insufficient to meet federal standards that may be set in the near future if those standards require the lowest levels of TSNAs possible," Mr. Herskowitz added. "Powell's position is that the most reasonable and conservative position is for the tobacco industry to wait until the standards for tobacco specific nitrosamine levels in flue cured tobacco are established by the federal government (FDA) before spending hundreds of millions on heat exchanger retrofits which may not meet possible federal regulations." Distributed via COMTEX. Copyright (C) 2000 Business Wire. All rights reserved. -0- CONTACT: Powell Manufacturing Company Richard Herskowitz, President 843/479-6231 www.powellmfg.com KEYWORD: SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: MANUFACTURING FOREST PRODUCTS Today's News On The Net - Business Wire's full file on the Internet with Hyperlinks to your home page. URL: businesswire.com