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August 31, 1984 Plans For AIA/NA's Ninth Industry- Government Conference Sept. 18-19 Firm As announced (N&N June & July), the Association will conduct an industry-government conference on Sept. 18-19, in conjunction with its 14th annual meeting and third quarter board of direc tors meeting scheduled for Sept. 19. Conference and meetings will be held at the Twin Bridges Marriott Hotel, Arlington, VA. . Over 90 persons have registered to date. Program for the conference is now firm. The conference begins with a reception and dinner on Tuesday, Sept. 18. Dr. Edward. J. Burger, Jr., Director, Institute for Health Policy Analysis, Georgetown University Medical Center, will be the dinner speak er. Dr. Burger will focus his remarks on the timely and impor tant issue of causation and financial compensation for occupa tional disease and disability. Speakers at breakfast and lunch on Sept. 19 will be Deputy OSHA Head Patrick R. Tyson and Nancy Harvey Steorts, Chairman, Consumer Product Safety Commission, respectively. During the conference on Wednesday morning, Sept. 19, guest speakers include: Jim E. Lapping, Director, Safety and Health, Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO; Wilfred Penney, Director General, Asbestos Information Centre (United Kingdom); Gary J. Nash, Director General, Minerals & Metals Strategy Branch, Energy, Mines and Resources, Government of Canada; Dr. Jacques Dunnigan, Director General, Institute for Research and Development on Asbestos, University of Sherbrooke, Quebec; and Dr. Malcolm Ross, U.S. Geological Survey. The industry-government conference is a major event in the Asso ciation's work year since it affords an opportunity for a mean ingful update and exchange of information on a number of areas affecting the asbestos industry. Wednesday's speakers' will cover: current status of plans for further regulation on asbes tos; overview of international events concerning asbestos; labor's views on asbestos regulation in construction'industry; an assessment of the asbestos and substitutes issue; and a re view of mineralogy and health during the past decade. AIA/NA President John L. Myers will serve as conference chairman. Inquiries to the Association's Executive Director are encouraged. ASBESTOS INFORMATION ASSOCIATION 1745 Jefferson Davis Highway, Crystal Square 4, Suite 509 Arlington, Virginia 22202 (703) 979-1150 r a Drn icm no-i o m v o Page 2 OSiiA Revises Asbestos Special Emphasis Inspection Program On Jul. 23, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued OSHA Instruction CPL 2.60A which revises the agency's current National Emphasis,Program (NEP) for pro grammed health inspections of establishments where asbestos is used, stored or processed. The original NEP for asbestos, initiated on Oct. 1, 1983 (N&N Oct. 1983) is cancelled. CPL 2.60A states that OSHA has decided to continue its com pliance presence in industries where the greatest exposure to asbestos is most likely to be present. Until this revi sion, the program had been based on a list of industries with a previous history of violations of the asbestos standard. The assumption was that industries cited for past asbestos exposures would be the most likely targets for potential overexposures. Experience has shown the agency that this procedure was not effective in identifying the potential overexposure to asbestos as it had assumed. Under the re vised program, it is planned that all worksites where asbesi tos is used, stored, or processed, including those in the construction and maritime industries, shall be scheduled for inspection. OSHA Regional Administrators are to ensure that each Area Director develops an asbestos establishment list made up of all establishments identified as using, storing or processing asbestos. To develop such a list. Area Directors are to use whatever sources of information are available to the degree that they are reliable. Examples of such sources listed in CPL 2.60A are local knowledge, past inspection reports, trade journals or newspapers,' nonformal complaints, other government agency referrals, news photographs, or any other report, with out regard to whether or not a violation is alleged or indica ted. Each Area/District Office of OSHA is to schedule a total of 10 asbestos NEP inspections for the fiscal year. Establishments are to be chosen for inspection with the use of a random number table.- If there are 10 or fewer establishments in a district, all of the listed establishments are to be scheduled for in spection. All inspections scheduled must actually be conducted, even if they carry over into the next fiscal year. When an inspection cannot be conducted because an employer re fuses entry, the instruction requires that a warran't be sought in accordance with the current procedure for handling such re fusals. Only if the court refuses to issue a warrant or if the OSHA Regional Solicitor declines to apply for a warrant should such an establishment be replaced by the next establishment prescribed by the random number table for inspection. Finally, if it is not discovered until the OSHA inspector ar rives on the site that the establishment is not usina asbestos CAP CO JEN 0013073 Page 3 and none is to be found on the premises, the inspection is to be terminated immediately. Such terminated inspections need not be replaced as one of the 10 required inspections. OSHA Instruction CPL 2.60A is applicable to both the con struction and maritime industries as well as general indus try. House Approves ' Superfund Reauthorization On Aug. 10, the House of Representatives passed H.R.5640, a bill that would reauthorize the Superfund program for five years with an additional $10.2 billion in funding. The present Superfund, a $1.6 billion program authorized in 1980, is due to expire next year. Entitled the Super fund Expansion and Protection Act of 1984, H.R.5640 was approved by a 323 to 33 vote over the objections of some Republican legislators and administration officials who claimed that it was motivated mainly by election year politics. Before the final vote on the measure, several provisions were removed to make the bill more acceptable to opponents. The House voted 208-200 to delete a controversial federal cause of action provision which would have permitted pri vate companies to be sued in federal court for personal in juries alleged to result from exposure to hazardous waste. It was believed that companies named as defendants in such suits could have been held liable even if they were not negligent. By a vote of 200 to 159, the House also rejected a proposed amendment that would have set aside up to 12 percent of the $10.2 billion fund to compensate victims of exposure to haz ardous waste. Offered by Rep. Elliott H. Levitas (D-GA), the amendment would have authorized compensation for medical compensation and lost wages. Critics of the Levitas amend ment said that it would provide a boon to lawyers by encour aging them to file claims for compensation of victims while diverting money from the basic purpose of the Superfund, which is to clean up hazardous waste sites. Opponents also charged the amendment would have created a costly new en titlement program for a potentially massive number of claim ants. The House did adopt provisions which would require all new underground storage tanks that contain hazardous substances other than petroleum to have both an inner and outer shell or some comparable means of secondary containment. States are prohibited from setting up underground storage tank reg ulatory programs that are less stringent than the federal program. In addition, provisions were approved to regulate underground pipe connected to aboveground tanks, pipelines, surface inpoundments, pits, ponds, lagoons, and basins. I Page 4 Other changes adopted by the House include providing at least $30 million annually, beginning FY 1986, for the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry to prepare toxicological profiles of wastes; clari fying "how clean is clean" language; directing EPA to inventory federal sites at which hazardous waste has been handled; and authorizing EPA to enter into settle ments for the cleanup of hazardous waste sites with re sponsible parties agreeing to pay 80% of the costs. Senate action on a Superfund reauthorization is progres sing at a slower pace, with action on a bill, S.2892, still at the committee markup stage. The administration, which initially opposed renewing the fund, now states it supports an extension of the program, but wants Congress to wait until next year to act when the current program expires. USC Offers Airborne Asbestos Sampling Course A five day course on "Sampling and Evaluating Airborne Asbestos Dust" is being offered by the University of Southern California's Institute of Safety and Systems Management on October 15-19, 1984. The objective is to enable participants who complete the course to use sam pling and evaluation equipment so as to professionally collect and analyze asbestos dust samples. The course treats asbestos sampling and evaluation tech niques in detail. The theory and explanations given in lectures are applied in a "hands-on" laboratory to rein force each major concept. Subject areas to be covered are: identification procedures, sampling equipment and sampling procedures; calibration procedures; the micro scope; filter preparation and mounting; and sample eval uation. Tuition for the course, which also carries a credit of 2.8 C.E.U.'s, is $650.00. For information, or to regis ter, contact: University of Southern California Institute of Safety & Systems Management Director, Extension & In-Service Programs University Park, MC 0021 Los Angeles, CA 90078-0021 Telephone: (213) 743-6523/6524 House Approves FY 1985 0SHA, NI0SH, MSHA BUDGETS On. Aug. 1, the House of Representatives approved H.R.6028, an appropriations bill that allocates $219.6 million to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), $66.7 CAP CO JEN 0013075 Page 5 million to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)/ and $150.5 million to the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). With the exception of MSHA, the amounts represent increases over the present year's agency budgets. A reduction of nearly $1 million for MSHA reflects a reduction in the number of authorized positions in the agency due to .a lower than expected number of mines available for inspection. H.R.6028 would prohibit OSHA from granting variances, in terim orders, or letters of clarification to employers that would allow workers to be exposed to chemicals or other hazards in excess of OSHA standards, or for the purpose of conducting experiments in worker health or safety. The re striction was introduced by Rep. David Obey (D-WI), who cited OSHA's endorsement of a variance for the Dan River Company that would have permitted workers to be exposed to cotton dust at higher levels than permitted under the work place standard. The variance is related to research on the causes of byssinosis. Obey also cited a 1983 agreement be tween OSHA and the Adolph Coors Corporation which permitted Coors to exceed permissible noise exposure limits at a facil^x ity while researchers studied exposed workers. , The bill would also continue several restrictions placed upon OSHA by earlier appropriations measures. These restrictions include: exempting farm operations that employ ten or fewer workers from OSHA requirements; prohibiting routine safety inspections for small businesses with low lost workday injury rates; precluding penalty assessments for first-instance nonserious violations and for small employers who have re ceived consultation visits; prohibiting inspections at work places on the Outer Continental Shelf; forbidding the issu ance or enforcement of standards that would restrict work ac tivity associated with recreational hunting, fishing, and sports shooting; and prohibiting state plan monitoring visits at establishments that have had a state inspection within a prior six month period. Funds approved for NIOSH include $8.7 million to support the activities of its Educational Resource Centers, and $1.5 million for industry-wide studies. With regard to MSHA, the appropriations bill continues last year's prohibition of funds to carry out the training provisions of the Mine Safety and Health Act for shell dredging or sand, gravel, surface stone, surface clay, colloidal phosphate or surface limestone mining operations. , A bill similar to the House measure was passed June 6 by the Senate Appropriations Committee but still awaits a vote by the full Senate. Any differences in the bills would have to be resolved by a conference committee of House and Senate members. CAPCO JEN 0013076 Page 6 EPA Issues Effluent Guidelines For Inorganic Chemicals Manufacturing In the Aug. 22 Federal Register, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued final regulations to limit the discharge of pollutants into navigable waters and into publicly owned treatment works by existing and potential new sources that manufacture certain inorganic chemicals. The regulations are required by the Clean Water Act (CWA) and under the terms of a consent decree issued as a result of a suit filed by four environmental groups in 1976. According to the preamble to the rule, this round of rulemaking aims for the achievement of the best available tech nology economically achievable (BAT) that will result in rea sonable further progess toward the national goal of elimina ting the discharge of all pollutants.' At a minimum, BAT re presents the best economically achievable performance in any industrial category or subcategory. Starting with a review of all of the inorganic products listed under four groups of Standard Industrial Classifica tion (SIC) code numbers (SIC.2812 - Alkalies and Chlorine! SIC 2813 - Industrial Gases; SIC 2816 - Inorganic Pigment^; SIC 2819 - Industrial Inorganic Chemicals, Not Elsewhere- : Classified) EPA identified 124 chemical subcategories which could be subject to the regulation. Of these 124 subcate gories, 106 were excluded from further study under the terms of the consent degree for one or more of the following rea sons: (a) The pollutant is not detectable in the effluent with the use of analytical methods approved pursuant to 304(h) of the CWA or other state of the art methods. (b) The pollutant is present only in trace amounts and is neither causing nor likely to cause toxic effects. (c) The pollutant is present in amounts too small to be effectively reduced by technologies known to the Administrator. (d) The pollutant will be effectively con trolled by the technologies upon which are based other effluent limitations and guidelines, standards of performance, or pretreatment standards. Appendix B to the regulation lists the 106 chemical subcate gories not subject to the regulation for one of the reasons listed above. Asbestos appears on this Appendix, and reason (c) is given as the basis for its inclusion. CAP CO JEN 0013077 f i t J.VJL Vf/I l/l/g/M/V' i/W WW f l.l/wt v^v'W'w StiK Intertwined and Stitt Unresolved BylTarrmBnmm'^-'' WtKili^iB fataurMMr Two years ago today, ManviUe Corp. filed for pro*' tectioa under Chapter 11 of the federal Bankruptcy Code, saying its existence was threatened by a rising fife ofdamage suits by asbestos workers and their fun- ffies. ' I -" Today, that bankruptcy cate has taken on some of . the characteristics of the asbestos-related diseases that triggered it: - - It is long in development After two years, there is ;' sCiB no end in sight that would provide compensation for ' the asbestos victims and remove the financial threat to the company's future. It is complicated and costly, involving legions of law yers, thousands of pages of court documents and, so far, $30 million in legal fees, paid by ManviUe. Finally, the case isn't doing any good for the vic tims--one of the few points of consensus among the various parties involved. . "We've been Mickey Mousing up and down, like a yo-yo, since Day One on this thing," said George H. Cohen, a Washington lawyer representing the AFL-CIO in the case. "This has been an excruciating process, which has yet to produce anything of benefit for the people who ... . should really matter--the people with the cancers and other diseases' linked to inhalation of sharp, microscop ic asbestos fibers, Cohen said. The bankruptcy case currently is in legal limbo, put - there by a tentative agreement among ManviUe and three of its insurers, who have agreed to pay the com- . pany $315 million to set up a fund that would help com pensate asbestos victims. The agreement would settle a . suit by ManviUe against the insurance companies. The agreement is controversial because it also allows the insurers to use the fund to defend themselves against future asbestos-related lawsuits: Critics say that provision could drain the fund before many of the victims get a chance to draw on the money. A hearing on the fairness of the insurance plan is "' '* scheduled Sept. 12 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for. - the Southern District of New York, where the ManviUe . _ case is being heard. .- Lawyers for asbestos victims and their families say court approval of the insurance plan would hurt chances of reaching a "consensual agreement" that would re solve the entire bankruptcy issue without litigation. Litigation would be more costly and more time- consuming. In addition, it would further delay the day that anything could be dooe to help the victims in the ' case, all sides say. "But we're not going to approve a trust concept that - was supposed to be for the benefit of the victims, but that now seems to be more for the benefit of the insur ers." said Robert J. Rosenberg, a New York lawyer rep resenting the asbestos plaintiffs. "If the court approves the ManviUe insurance plan, then, from our viewpoint, that would pretty much do away" with the company's overall reorganization plan that has been under consideration for about the last nine months, Rosenberg said. Under that plan, a new ManviUe corporation would be created, which would be immune from future asbes tos claims. A trust fund also would be established to pay the claims with cash and stock contributions from Man- ville and insurance company payments. Roeenberg shied away fromcommenting on whether "7 the insurance issue might explode into an all out, no-- ' ; ' holds-barred legal battle among ManviUe, its commer~ 'y' -cial creditors, asbestos plaintiffs and several other v groups involved in the bankruptcy proceedings.' "Anything is possible.... Everyone seems to want - ' *ne kind of a consensual agreement," Rosenberg said. But at the very least, approval of the ManviUe insur- , ance plan "certainly would mean a search for other al- ' ,'77 ternatives* to reorganizing the company, he said. ManviUe contends that once the details of its still- : tightly-covered insurance plan are brought to light, all - parties will realize that much room remains to reach an overall agreement without litigation.' 7--; - "We were very near a consensual'plan in the early . summer. We still think that is possible. But we're wait-' -. mg for the outcome of the fairness hearing* on the in- v surance question, said Curtis Linke, ManviUe vice pres ident for corporate affairs. . Linke said ManviUe could read: a consensual agree* - - ment by Dec. 31,1985. But that was not a prediction, /. be cautioned. Rosenberg said he believes Linkewas 7 : . wise in adding the disclaimer. " . Denver-based ManviUe, formerly Johns-MamSUe * 7 Corp., is the Western Hemisphere's largest manufsc- ;' turer of asbestos products. The'company was financial- . ly healthy when it filed the bankruptcy petition two . years ago. And despite a steep decline in profits to $31 r miOioo in the first six months of 1984 from $46 million in the same period last ,year, the company is healthy "7 'today.' - - - - But ManviUe said it could not endure the claims filed - by or on behalf of people who had contracted asbestosrelated diseases such as mesothelioma, a fatal lung ailment; lung cancer, usually fatal; and the debilitating asbestosis, a disease that scars the lungs. The claims totaled 16,500 two years ago and were / rising at the rate of 400 to 500 a month. When Man-. . viUe's lawyers filed for bankruptcy, they predicted then that, if no relief were granted, the company would sink under the weight of $2 billion worth of liability in asbes- - toe-related lawsuits. The company since has raised that projected figure to $4.8 billion. The claims come mostly from shipbuilders who were '' exposed to airborne asbestos fibers during World War . . IL Other victims were exposed in the construction and . - - railroad industries and in the direct manufacture of as bestos,. According to researchers at The Rand Corp., a Cal- -. ifornia-based think tank, and public policy research -.'I - group, the rate of claims filed against ManviUe and otb* er'asbestos manufacturers picked up speed in 1978, largely because the asbestos-related diseases can take anywhere from 20 to 40 years to manifest themselves. As of March 1983, some 24,000 asbestos-victim court cases had been filed against aU manufacturers, ' and about 3,800 of those had been settled, usually with- out a trial, according to Rand researcher William Fel- stiner. The number of claims continues to grow at. .... about 400 a month. Felstiner said. 1 CAP CO JEN 0013078 Bat bankruptcy proceeding! are balding back the * "Between'1940 ami 1980, some 27.5 miffioa people rah of daima--at least far MknriDe as web aa for Amo- were significantly exposed to asbestos,* Selikoff said. tea Corp., a manufacturer of asbestos, textile and gtoaa-^ :?*r A"About TSpaBxn.ci them have already tied, many of products in Norristown, Pa., and Chicago-baaed UNR vf - -V * ' them from* ninety of causes heart disease, cancer' Industries Inc., a steel fabricator that inherited ha **. bestoo-related liabilities from Unarco Industrie Inc. as the result of a merger. ''v-' l'"A' UNR, which no longers makes asbestos products, and other causes tint may or may not have links to tobestoc, Selikoff said. -. .v ' But he predicted .thaTtbe' remaining asbestoo-ex- " posed population will suffer "excess deaths of cancer* at filed under Chapter 11 in July 1982. Amatex filed in : the nte of 9,000 to 10,000 deaths a year. ". November of tbs! year. j ft- - -r.. The three cases are independent, represented by THE WASHINGTON POST Smmday^AmgmM fftl4 * CO* o cn <D t-Q to three separate filings in three different jurisdictions.' But they share a commonality of purpose. '' . . One aim is to find a way to work out current asbes tos-related liabilities while allowing the companies to > * a. on stays bnaaeae. Another equally crucial goal is to allowthe companies to emerge from Chapter 11 free and dear of any future asbestos-related claims that might ' h..!. KILLKILLER ... . geologists had theorized about the . 'SfKMMTtaIMvTKkitaMivY, -'.r-T.J , makeup of the moon, and careen WASHINGTON -- Malcolm Ross-^l wereridingan those lunar samples; be filed by people who were exposed to asbestos fibers before the court cases began, but who showed no symp toms of that exposure until after the cases ended. .,- ManviUe'a position on the future claimants issue is dean "Regardless of the details of any particular plan ... there is the certainty that there will be an operat would Ilka to make something dear. . - Of Roek-Fonnirig Minerals He does not believe asbestoslx good'.'' .' for humans. He agrees that exposure '' `to tbe'fiber can cause cancer and crippling lung disease. Asbestos*!* .. < says, is "bod news/* <... - ' . In the mid-1970's, Mr. Ross said, ha - began reading studies ofthe beahhef' fects of asbestos, which falls within his ipedklity* .rock-formin* min-, .cerals. It bothered him; be said, that * Nonetheless! Mr. Rosi,~a 'research % the health experts lumped together ing entity emerging from these proceedings,* the com . mineralogist for the United-States several types of asbestos that* to Ms- pany said in a July 16 memorandum to the court Geological Survey, does not believe aye, were dearly different. The new Manville "can and must be protected from tbe news b quite so bad as health' -i . scientists say It is. He argues that a' ' Reviewing others* studies of ashes- toa miners, shipyard workers who the spectre of asbestos-related liabilities to be able to. . TUwainc mlnrreU--..vtlng nf Mbit- ' sprayed asbestos fireproofing" sad* attract credit and capital... and to maintain and to. - toa baa bred a panic among poUtt--;- . handlers of asbestos fasdajfan (be attract customers, suppliers, and employes* the mem orandum said. ...... The trust fund to be crested under ManviUe'a plan would be backed by about $100 million in cash and two- thirds ai ManviUe'a outstanding common stock offered ' riaaa and tbtpabBc. which may lead '. aa waoecoaearUy costly effort to .bat done no field research of Ms - own),. Mr; Rot-concluded that tbe ; _ ' 1 eradicate the substance from schools ' . tad other pibtic biriMingx,' where it' was aoca used extensively far tamdeAt'- - Hoo purposes. . <`..y -' most severshaim seemed to be as-. sodated with the bine and brown .-forms of asbestos. White, or chryso- tile, asbestos, which makes up 93 per- ; ~ , at 100 percent of current market value at the time the Even qualified 'by 'footnotes and oect of that used in this country, arms modulated by Mr. Ross's soft vdce,' -vV i ' Isas hazardous, Mr. Roes decided,. proposal is approved. that view funs so contrary to the pro.--*-, especially considering that most poo- There is much debate oyer how much money that vailing opinion that the geologist has ~ - * pla who do not. work with it are ex- arrangement would generate, with estimates in the court record ranging from about $833 million to $1 become an object of suspicion and i ccntroversy. For the prevailing opinion is that ashe.tros is indeed danger-' : .posed to It very Uttle; ' Vs*; .- "Despite the wide dissemination of '' whiteasbestos fa our environment'-- bQlioo. But Cohen, Rosenberg and others--including [ ous and can cause cancer fat even" * . `fa scbools, homes; public buildings,' attorneys for the nearly 300 asbestos-product compa-. ; brake lining emissions and so forth-- nies still being hit with claims--say that the proposed Manville fund would not be big enough to provide fair '.' there is little evidence that tbe very I -?PcrfsJoa and lonosodet' ..-.frequent;noo-pccupational exposures ! -/-The House Energy and Commerce ' compensation for the present and future asbestos vic Committee is investigating his infls--' - - to fills form of asbestos have caused tims. - In particular, critics say the Manville proposal leaves^ unanswered the fate of future claimants.' The court, erne in the Government's regulation . of asbestos. Tesrtfng scientists at'.. Federal health ageoaes have pubHdyderided hiswork. Andthere bava " `any barm/? he wrote fa a recent,re port. ' ' - Costly proposals to remove the ' fiber from public-buildings, be added* after much controversy , has sought to protect the in terest of future claimants by appointing a special legal' representative for them. The appointee is New York lawyer Leon Silverman, who led the government's in vestigation of Labor Secretary Raymond Donovan hr' been innuendos that he is overly sym`pathetic to the asbestos industry. ' When Mr. Rot gave an interview'.', recently, a Geological Survey public affairs official sat in, with a tape re--: carder running, reedy to interrupt if "l. rwere tbe result bf "propagandizing';' of the notion that "one fiber can mb . you." . . .- .. V.Promoted His Findings ' Mr. Ross mighthave aroused little attention, except that he went on to 1981-1982. Silverman is moving into deep, uncharted waters in his new job. "There are so many unknowns that have to' the geologist (bowed signs ofexpress-' fag a policy opinion. ? .'promote his findings, briefing offi.rials at tbe White House, Congress In tbe Washington vernacular, Hr-~ . and several Federal'agendes over . Rossis "off the reservation,?' a - - ' the past- few months. According to be reconciled,* Silverman said at the beginning of this maverick,'a rogue. those who have heard Ms presents-: month, when he stepped into the special representa The Geological Survey, at branch of.-. -1 . tion; he leaves the .dear impression tive's post. "The complexities are greater than any in -the-.-Interior; Department, studies-I--- , that.he feels Federal regulators are - my practice.... It certainly is one of the mostcompK-" cated and, in a sense, one of the most innovative ap .rods,.- makes-'-'maps,.-calculates : going overboard. ,,: : stream flows and'mineral deposits*^'' "" ".' "It would just be a matter of em-' .and assesses earthquake risk.. Far.*' 'phasis-if you only looked at what be. proaches toward mass product-liability suits," he said. ' most of Ms 30 years there, Mr. Roe*, ^ - writes," said Dr. William Nicholson Irving Selikoff, director of environmental sciences ' who is 5* years old and is the son ofa i of the Mount Sinai. Environmental and professor of medicine at the ML Sinai School of . geologist, has found theagency to bet-c . - ' Sa'ence Lab in New York City, a lead- 1 a place where a scientist can tofl baa--.. , ^ fag source of information on asbestos Medicine in New York, said he doesn't know about all of Ypflyover accretions of the past with-";"1'" * hazards.."But what he says at meet--. the legal ramifications of the case. Selikoff is largely Joucoften encountering the tremors ofJT K ' fags is sometimes pretty wild--basi-" responsible for the scientific research linking asbestos to severe illnesses. 'contemporary politics, 'y. .r cally that there's little ii any problem j 'The last time passion spilled bitnr-' - Ms professional life, he says, was ' conference fa-Houston fa Jararary/'1970, where bo and Ms peers examtoed the first moon rocks. Many-. .at all associated with chrysotUe." . At theifrst signs that Mr. Ross was ' getting serious attention, there came -.strong rebuttals from health sden* tists and regulators. I . o A o r' rv i r~ vi r\ r> ^ rx ~~r . - -'r^HIaMy^^MpprapiUl^^'^arV-::^ ATV^TMlf^rl S;2^ Z ~ 1 InepgropiUuf V At'.i-',nrtIranth* Federal'c*o-:-'* tare Hr IHiwe Control in Atlanta '"'" ini Hr. Soars health analysis bad ^ been made "using many statistical . ; nuunpulatian* that are highly inajy -- propriat*.'' The CD.C. contended -i* that Mr. Reas had not consMeredbow The Environmental Pro !Kjga^ ** (ft* wasfjmgton |Jost ............................. ...i-- ^ ^IJIJ August 16,1984 ^ , While thatwisinitiatlytrue, flef%\. <- ,.- . i loos victims were exposed to asbee- _ " tection Agency, *tfll plugging toe. an important {actor in latent dis> ' away on a rule aimed at control-' ease* such as cancer- DtWchotsonsajdlfc.Raerteoo- ' chain* might remit ftom differ-*, ling exposure to. asbestos in commercial products, has ea-' eocea ia Bber size unrelated to tbb' - countered resistance from a chemical type of asbestos involved. ^ new and unexpected source: the. iCiiFi- -- us.*-:- * sda was opposed to additional, elevated ntesof both lung can- lsbest0# reguhtioa *to the ex- cer and mesothelioma, . rpre _ ^ ^ po^bly harming: cancer cl the chest fining. - ~ trade." Canadian mines ship ' The Environmental Protection^--. U.S. Geological Survey. '; ni lions who do not understand the Agency agrees with these criticisms, ? In a recent --'" ~e---------* -*------------*----*- as does the National Institute for cup tnoaiSafety aod Health. .- O-c,-.-v'- , - for .officials House down . ~P. ^ii m maasiaie. Gascge' Bfilfer; * -;- Democrat of Canfomia who has been < - writers, USGS officials have ari/g. induced diaeaies are tfiseases of.: _ ^ /avocal advocate of strict regulations r gued that the most common ' long latent periods ranging tny-: / ; " co asbestos exposure, said, "I hope : form of asbestos---chrysotile or fc.-fj' -where from IS to over 3Q yean 5 > rj the Administration would not allow ~ . ."white* asbesto*--is really not * from first exposure." r-_- ."5'*r~..\ the opinions of an individual with no very dangerouaat afi. v Ross waa^co vacation this v ' background, in public health to influ- - ence policy in this area."-, . ' The briefings represent sn vr .week and unavailable :far com-', #. unusual lobbying effort by:sn tv9 men.t.,....b...u..t.....U..S--GS - spo'kesman * - . Despitean occasional innuendo, no -. one has come up with evidence that Mr. Boss has any special allegiance agency that is.not directly,in-:;. ' Donovan Kelly said the study 'V .v volved in health regulation..' ~ `1 .-1 was based on "a search'of the ." to the asbestos industry, * or'. any Moreover, the USGS coodu- Ifteraturt."'.-/' = - ' ' ' prrtiniar ideological bent. Most of sions, based on a study by min- _. "Asbestos is one of several st co O) his critics say that while Mr. vRoss . . seems to be sincere, bis-reasoning ; gives succor to those who oppose as- 'bestos abatement for ncwdentiflc : reasons, such as the avid watchers of eralogist Malcolm Ross, ran' C .-hundred minerals we've been directly counter to the findings j studying for years," Kelly said. of virtually every federal health-^ ; "We don't do health studies.. research agency, not to mention. 4 -' He's a mineralogisC'. ; tv ' the Government purse strings in the . a host of medical specialists who ~r j Nonetheless, Ross' foray Into. : OfficeofManagement and Budget, or *' have been tracking mounting . 4 medical research apparently has companies wocxsed about UaMity.' ;' cases of asbestosi* and cancer, ; r been well-received by the'Of-_ 1 Here Been Made* ",.r '*' Bis opinions have adherents, how- , ' ever,includingthe authors ofa recent . government health report in Canada, ,, . `a leading producer of chrysotlle as--, among asbestos workers.'According to Ross, "brown"' fice of Management and . and "blue" asbestos, two less' Budget. EPA's asbestos pro-. common forms of the beat-re- .;- ' posal, which would ban about - * sistant mineral, are the real cul- . half of the asbestos products on - s = Shr 3SfsBgff" - |= - r.'-= >. S = s. - -bestos. That study recommends as- r bestos abatement measures some- what less strenuous than the Environ- - mental Protection Agency is urging, in this country. Mr. Ross also hassome admirers among fellow geoto*, gists in this country, and among Gov- - emment officials who, at least in pri vate^worry that the asbestos, alarm. has gone overboard. , - - . "A lot of money has been spent" in... prits in asbestos-related dis-' the market, went to the OMB . ease. Studies on miners of white - for review more' than." two ' asbestos, he contends, don't months ago and hasn't been show any evidence that the sub- ^; heard from since..- ;.. .j stance causes unusual or uncon-^. * * ; a *' ' ' trollable health problems. '- LOW KEY ON THIS ONE . If well-founded, the theory-., _____ The pending asbestos rule, could have broad .implications' ; . meanwhile;' has wedged Cana- for the EPA'a regulatory ef-!.' . dian officials into a somewhat iiiitsi5lst 9:2 326e-| n c c 9t 2 - -- ~ 53=2 E=!-S= > g 'S m-o-IE 2:. gg-a "a.Sg{5p2ifec'-isss <= cs the fight against asbestos, said Mar-. . forts. About 95 percent of com-, uncomfortable position. Canada,.'' tin S. Rutstein, chairman of the geol mercial asbestos products, from.. ogy department at the State Univer- - ' floor tile to water pipes, are sity of New York at New Paltz, who hasbeena co-authorwith Mr. Ross 1x1 asbestos subjects. "A lot of repots- ", manufactured from -variety; f i -- the : white* VT tions have been made. How do you ' The Ross study, however, run around and say that asbesto* - j - has been flatly rejected by the a major supplier of asbestos to U.S. manufacturers, is opposing the EPA's efforts to' ban or phase out the mineral in comraerdalproducts.> That means Canada, where II!** C,,3o SIS|- "I??.. ?Sf:< 5->i^ isn't the killerpeople have said it is?"'. -. Officials at the Geological Survey-' say with some relief'that Mr. Ross has finishedhisworkonasbestosand Centers for Disease Control,. the National Inatitute for Occupational Safety and about half of the asbestos-min- ' ing industry is nationalized, ii playing the heavy on a sensitive.. 5 ES ir i wi-0- aS *5 <> t ; 1 B C5 C S' , is moving on. Theffl relief may be -.. short-fived, sincehirnext assignment. is as pditicaHy charged as asbestos:.- . He will be assessing-.the ravages of * Health and the National Toxicology Program.! Ail of those agencies have declared that asbestos is a . environmental-health issue at1 . . the same time that it is trying to; J ; j pa -S. ^ ' 8 -2 -- f n<\ ec Vlr C fufl c- O5 -- J5 V >,3 cultivate a national image.of ptK rity over another such issue,1 ! J' " add rain. .. ' . 1 .. . ,>: - cause of cancer and a serious . add rain. ' ._ v 2^ iSCp pgsf 1 human health hazard, and in ' "As far as- Canada a con-' recent letters to interested ' cerned, it's a trade issue," said, i IS= a* ` THE NBW\ YORK. TIMES, members of Congress they took Bruce Jutzi/an environmental [ turns shooting holes in Ross' . affairs official'at the embassy/ conclusions: who promptly referred calls to. ' The CDC, for example, noted trade expert Paul LeFleur. - i#--': r ~ AUGUST 22, 1984 ad i-- - that Rosa interpreted an Italian ' study as showing that asbestos miners had fewer lung cancers than the general population. CAP CO JEN 0013080 CAP CO JEN 0013081