Document 8R1vgqmm0Baz5mvx5mzgk6Nvk

VIA FACSIMILE (202) 887-1237 February 14, 1995 Hasmukh C. Shah, Ph.D. Manager Vinyl Chloride Panel Chemical Manufacturers Association 2501 M Street, NW Washington, D.C., 20037 EMSR Ciin>iihiuu anft Enuini'irui;; lliirlmr li.n Pjrku.tv Suitr 2|U Aiamrilu. C \ i.i in 18h.i-im FAX i.iliii T4J;-h7`" Dear Dr. Shah: This proposal is prepared at your request to transfer all of the records from the Vinyl Chloride study in ENSR's possession to CMA. This letter also summarizes the conversations you have had with Dr. Donald Whorton, formerly with ENSR. SCOPE OF WORK Taskl: Returning All Records Except Death Certificates and Data Tapes ENSR will review the offsite storage records for each carton of records and will have the record storage facility directly ship records to the address provided by CMA. Most of these cartons will contain work history forms by individual plant. ENSR will also directly ship the 12 cartons of records currently located in ENSR's office. These primarily are work history forms. Task 2: Death Certificate Assessment ENSR currently has four file boxes identified as containing death certificates. As ENSR has informed CMA in the past (letter from Dr. Donald Whorton to Dr. Hasmukh Shah, February 10, 1994) returning the death certificates is not as easy as the other records due to the different requirements from among states for confidentiality. The following summarizes the information known at that time for all states but Hawaii, Nebraska and Vermont. Group A: States will allow ENSR to give the death certificates to individual companies or CMA as long as we document what is being transmitted. CMA 020231 Hasmukh C. Shah, Ph.D. February 14,1995 Page 2 This group includes the following states: Alaska, California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, and Washington. Group B: ENSR can provide state file numbers, dates of death, and names to companies or CMA. This group includes the following states: Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Group C: These states require both ENSR and the companies or CMA to write and request the death certificates based on the studies. This involves completing application forms for each state (not all the same), entering the state file numbers, and communicating with each company or CMA. There is then the additional cost of the death certificates. This group includes the following locations: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York City, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Puerto Rico ENSR will contract with Donald Whorton, M.D., Inc. to have ail of the death certificates separated into categories A, B, or C as noted above. Whorton s staff will further separate each category into individual states. Whorton will return all death certificates in Category A once this sorting is completed. Whorton will also determine the appropriate category for Hawaii, Nebraska and Vermont. CMA will contact each of the states in Categories B and C to obtain permission for transfer of the death certificates from this important study. Once CMA provides ENSR with written approval from a state in one of these two categories, Whorton will transfer the appropriate death certificates to CMA investigator. Hasmukh C. Shah, Ph.D. February 14,1995 Page 3 Task 3: Transfer of Data Tapes ENSR will hire a statistician consultant to review and process the tapes so they can be transferred to the new investigator. The specific death information from death certificates in states in Categories B & C above will be removed. Once the tapes are properly formatted, a CMA representative v;',(! personally pick up the tape for hand delivery to the new investigator. Dr. Whorton will provide guidance to the statistician to assure that the process is completed properly. COSTS In his February 1994 letter to Dr. Shah, Dr. Whorton estimated the costs for this transfer to be $19,300. Therefore, our initial cost estimate is $20,000. However, it will be necessary to refine this cost estimate once the extent of the work required on each of the tasks has been carefully determined. ENSR will submit a revised cost estimate before expenditures exceed $5,000. ENSR will not to exceed $20,000 without prior approval from CMA and Dr. Shah. ENSR will do this work on a time and materials basis using the attached general terms and conditions. CMA will pay ENSR $8,000 upon signing of the agreement. ENSR will bill CMA on a monthly basis for the work. Sincerely, ENSR Consulting and Engineering Christian Seigneur, Ph.D. General Manager CS:cm Enclosures SHAH2-14.LTR CM|\ CHEMICAL MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION December 2, 1993 Donald Whorton ENSR Health Sciences 1320 Harbor Bay Parkway Alameda, CA 94501 Dear Don: The Chemical Manufacturers Association contracted with the Environmental Health Associates in 1982, 1984, and 1987 to update an epidemiology study of vinyl chloride workers. The agreement numbers and their execution dates are as follows: VC 9.0-EPI-EHA VC 10.0 VC 11.0-EHA March 11, 1982 April 9, 1984 October 21, 1987 Subsequent to these agreements, EHA merged with ENSR Health Sciences. CMA currently is considering a further update of, "An Update of an Epidemiologic Study of Vinyl Chloride Workers, 1942-1982". In. order for CMA to make its final decision to update the study to 1992, we need the following information from you: 1. Have all data been transferred from EHA to ENSR on the above-referenced studies? If yes, are these data easily retrievable for a further update? 2. Will raw data submitted by participating companies from the CMA sponsored studies be available to CMA or participating companies either in hard copy form or on computer disk? 3. Did ENSR or EHA enter into any confidentiality agreements with NDI, SSAN or individual states which would prohibit ENSR from sharing fact or cause of death information on cohort members with CMA or individual companies? 4. How many cohort members were actively employed in areas of vinyl chloride exposure as of December 31, 1982? Would it be possible for you to prepare a table showing the distribution of these workers by plant identification number? 5. Can you provide a listing of 37 plant sites with the identification of the companies and the plant identification numbers, if not confidential? CMA 020336 2501 M Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037 Telephone 202-887-1100 Fax 202-887-1237 Responsible Care APublic Commitment ENSR December 2, 1993 Page 2 6. Which companies and plant sites provided data with no personally identifying information on the workers? 7. What experience does the current ENSR staff have in conducting epidemiology studies? Please call me at (202) 887-1192, if you have questions or need additional information to respond to the above questions. I would like your written response to these questions by January 14, 1994. Thank you for your cooperation in our efforts to obtain the necessary information to update the vinyl chloride epidemiology study. Sincerely, Hasmukh C. Shah, Ph.D. Manager, Vinyl Chloride Panel cc: VCRC CMA 020337