Document 6ROO8rXyaaog4RXY8eqoXrL9g

;y MALLORY CAPACITOR COMPANY iKl'vlNlon of I*. M. MALUHIY * CM. INI . nnuu K. WatMliliiirliM) HI. JiMllaiiitiMilln. Iiiillnnii 'limiKli TnlupKiinM 'MT-WIO OSA.'I IT\ i> 31 f (VI.i PLIASI RBPLY TOi IN** Office Hoa 373. IndtdnnpollN. Imilene 40300 March 16, 1976 Mr. Dave Wood Monsanto Chemical Company 800 North Lindenbergh Boulevard St. Louis, MO 63166 Dear Dave: Enclosed find three groups of questions which we pro pose for discussion during our pending conference telephone call. 1. Three questions presented by Dr. S. P. Wolsky, Mallory Vice President in charge of our Labora tory for Physical Science located at Burlington, Mass, as well as Vice President for Environmental Affairs. 2. Four questions regarding employee physicals pre sented by Suzanne Bellamy, a member of the Mallory Legal Staff. 3. A description of our impregnation cycles and four miscellaneous questions presented by the writer. Will phone you in a few days to set up conference call. Sincerely, Q C. P. Dibble General Manager CPD/pld P.S. Just received call from James Alley stating that Mon santo personnel Involved now request Mallory personnel plan to have meeting at St. Louis. Will advise after contacting Dr. Wolsky. MOMS 092385 MALLORY CAPACITOR COMPANY n lllvwillll of r. n. MALl<OltY * CO. INC. K. WiuthlUKU'n HUlkdlnnHixillit, Indian* dlillMi Ti>lnphi>i<m 317'AUO'0.10:1 /Twxi OtrwM. ui PLlAtlt REPLY TOt Poet OfHo* Bon 378. Indltnapoll*. Indian* 40800 Personnel exposure to PCB's In our plant Is confined to the Impregnation room. Presently, exposure is either one of two forms: A. Liquid Capacitors, after completion of the impregnation cycle, are removed from the tank by use of a lift truck, with all external surfaces of capacitors, as well as metal baskets containing capacitors and inner walls of impregnation tanks, covered with oil. They are transported to and transferred from the lift truck to a roller conveyor where operators wear rubber gloves and aprons. The lift truck and conveyor is equipped so that practically all spillage or drippings of Aroclor is contained. B. Vapors The fill hole is solder-closed on the roller con veyor. The capacitors are then transferred to other baskets which are attached to an overhead conveyor, which travels through a trichlorethelene wash, and then through a gas fired oven to test for leakers. The overhead conveyor is continuous and later presents finished units to the final test. The station at the "solder-fill hole" closing oper ation is ventilated so that operators do not inhale an excessive amount of fumes. Operators wear rubber gloves and aprons at every station where wet capacitors are handled prior to trichlorethelene cleaning. Recent air sampling indicates atmosphere to be less than .5 mg/m3 with most samples reading approximately .2 rng/rn^. , A new proprietary process, scheduled to be fully In operation by April 30, 1976, will result in having all external surfaces, including capacitors, baskets and inner walls of impregnation tank, completely free of Aroclor liquid prior to opening impregnation tanks. This process has been successfully implemented and is in operation on 20% of our impregnation tanks presently. MONS 092386 Page Two When completely Implemented (April 30), all external sur faces of capacitors, baskets and inner walls of the Impregna tion tanks will be completely free of Aroclor liquid and vapors should approach "0." Plant management la particularly apprehensive toward announcing an employee physical program. They argue that such a program in a community the size of Waynesboro, Tennessee (population 1,700-1,800) by its complexity requires a longer implementation time. That the new process, scheduled for completion on April 30, results in a closed system with minute an-.-jy-nts of vapor They further argue that time required to Implement an employee physical program may approximate date of withdrawal of Aroclor from the marketplace by Monsanto. Questions: 1. With the above knowledge and description of today's pro cess under which the TLV atmosphere readings are under .5 mg PCB/m3 as compared to 0SHA TLV of 1.0 mg PCB/m', and anticipating that under the new process, which will be implemented by April 30,, 1976, that the concentration of PCB's will be .1 mg/nF cr less, do you feel that employee physical exams arc warranted? 2. HIOSH is currently surveying Aerovox, examining their employee health records over the past 25 years. Our Waynesboro plant has been in. operation approximately six years. Should a decision regarding the instituting of physicals be delayed until the NIOSH-Aerovox investigation is avail able? 3. Concern regarding dioxanes has been raised, on heating PCB'a. Under what conditions are they formed? Is air and oxygen also required? If so, are dioxanes a concern under Mallory's present impregnation process? Under Mallory's new impregnation process. 3/16/76 CPD/pld HONS 092387