Document 8V10MmpYjgz26r3YqVRwYqbbe

A/C Pipe Producers Association Executive Committee \ f\, P--M * International Affairs Committee __ Internes! Correspondence T C^Jj. F. Welch, Vice President FROM ,o <9 0' June 18, 1982 DATE SUBJECT State of Connecticut - News Article on A/C Pipe Ban REF: JFW correspondence, State of Connecticut - Petition for Declaratory Ruling on the Safety of A/C Pipe, May 21, 1982. ACTION REQUIRED: Review for information Enclosed is a news article from The Telegraph (Nashua, New Hampshire), of Friday, May 28, 1982, recently brought to Staff's attention by Wyatt MeCallie (Wanville Corporation). Since the article carries an Associated Press (AP) byline from Hartford, Connecticut, Staff concludes it resulted from the May 13 and 17, 1982 conversations described in the above reference. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call. JFW/ajb Enclosure cc: A. Kahn, Esq. Brandon Hickey, Esq. copies to: Executive Committee L. Ambler J. Cran ,L. Taylor International Affairs Committee E. van der Rest R. Dorner L. Giannitrapani N. Officer P. Hart A. Saoulis R. Jalan V. Pattabhi H. Hudson C. Barton S. Al-Tarkait M. Delcourt J. Cuvelier B. Giboin G. Zaviezo CAPCO JEN 0012225 Asbestos cementpipes \ trigger controversy HARTFORD. Conn. (AP) -- Every led to current research Into way* to lew Veeks, Sharon tyaeh drive* to a prevent corrosive water from catlap naturalspring In Bristol to xtoek up on away eltbe pip*, water. Fearing thatmlcrescopleasbes- 'Wo Haven't done any additional re- tosfiber*threaten harftrallywith can- seapch reeenUy.' tald Ray Jaremf ctr. she woaTus* Up waterfordrink- chlelomewatersupplydMsloaatthe Ingot cooking. *tete HealthService*Department. ' "Ihave topoonatlsdofgutreaction "The testing t* very expensive and to the whole thin* and say I Just don't very time consuming. We really don't want to drink water that might have have the ability to do It.'he said, asbestos la It." said Mrs. Lynch. 'I' TbestnteroonltoriagregutaUoa,tflt wouldJust prefernot tohaveany la my become* final, is expected to Increase klUs.'* customer*1 bill* as water companies She is chairwoman of Citizens for seek to recover their testing costs. Clean Water, a group of Farmington residents whose water supply system use* asbestos-reinforced concrete pipe, commonly called asbestos cement ptpe. Since 1979. she hasbeen negotiating with the water company In Farmington'aUalonvlllesectlonovertheasbeslos Issue, which arose when federal testing showed high levels of the sub stance In the water supply. Asbestos levels are down, but Mrs. Lynch's Water companies would not be re quired to conduct thetypeoftestlnglhe EPA performed four years ago to dis cover tiny asbestos particles. They would have to check water before and after It flawed through the pipes for Indications that concrete containing asbestoswns dissolving. "This Is reasonably Inexpensive monitoring." said Daniel Millstone, a lawyer with the Connecticut Fund for theEnvironment a vigorousbacker of group still wants iha pipe replaced. the ban and the proposed monitoring Only a few of theapproxlmately 009 program. families on the water system have The results ofsclontlllcresearch on avoided drinking the tap water since then,the said. But Mrs. Lynch periodi cally makes the round trip of about tS mites to the spring to get water for thepotential effeetonhuman healthof asbestos fibers in drinking water are far from conclusive. .. "I think It's Insignificant -1 don't hersclLberhvsbaadaadihelrtwochUdren. Connecticut authorities are about to believe that's a realisticrisk. In light of all the other risks that we have to con template." said Dr. J. Wister Meigs, a Implement a much-disputed regula cancerexpert ntValeUnlverslly'sEpl- tion requiring water utilities lo moo!- demtology and Public Health Depart tortheplpes forslgnsot contamination that might pose a cancer risk, ment In New Haven. "We'rebelngbombarded withcarci nogens (cancer-causing agents) dally, Buuhcplpe Industry andsomemcd- and the body has Its own defenses, it's lcal expettsquestlonthe need formoa- not practical to ban alt substances," Itortng and criticize the state's 23- Meigs said. monib-old legislative ben against In While breathing asbestos fibers Is- stalling any more of the controversial .widely believed by scientists to be a pipe. Pipemanufacturers are pressing cause of cancer, research on the ef acourt challenge totheban,sayingthe fects of the fibers la the digestive sys pipe Issafe. temis inconclusive. Connecticut Is the only state to baa Meigspoints to a study tn the Seattle the lightweight pipe,which uses asbes areathattouadnodlfterencelacaacer tos as reinforcement and has become rates between places with high asbes popular because It Is easier lo Install tos levels lo drinking water and those thta msch heavier iron pipe. About with no asbestos la the water. 900 mUesofthecomroveraUlpipe are However. Marty St ttanarek, a Uni buried in the ground In about SO of versity of Wlscoosla professor, de Connecticut's 169 communities, ac fends* three-yearstudy ha conducted cording tostnte oincUls. An estimated In the San Francisco area, which S75.000 of the state's 3.2 million resi reached an oppositeconclusion. Meigs dents get their water from supply sys criticized tha way the Saa Francisco tems usingasbestos cement pipe. study was conducted azid said animal The ban was Imposed after federal research supports the claim that In officials In 197$ and 1979 found high gesting tiny amountsof asbestos (s not levels of asbestos fibers In the water dangerous. systems of six Connecticut towns -- Kaanrek concluded that, alter rul Farmlngton'SUnloRvlUesectloa.Slms- ing out otherpossibilities, residents of bury.Newtown.MIddlebury.$tratford communities with high ashestoslevets and Sprague--and detectedsomeas In drinking water had higher rales of bestos to 17 other water systems. cancer than nearby places withoutthe No one knows It any Connecticut asbestos problem. watersuppliesstilt have high asbestos He believes more research Is need- level* became the complicated feder ed,hutsupportsConnecticut's Cautious al Environmental Protection Ageaey approach to the Issue. monitoring program wa* not Intended "There Is Just this one study.' Ka* to be permanent. It was designed to narek said In a telephone Interview. find cut U a problem existed with as 'At this point,we'reJust not sure. Cbn- bestos cementpipe dissolving and has nectlcuttsjust being prudent." - .36 eThpCTc!einptl Not From the Tap SharonLynch,oneelthe tenders ofa Fermington.Conn. groupprotesting quality oi watertransmitted through asbestoscement pipes, pours a drink for her ton Christo pher. 11, as daughter Chandra. 7. watches. Mrs. Lynch travels 15 miles every fe weeks to gel "pure" water from a sptina in Bristol. Conn. .... CAPCO JEN 0012226 mxmHgBLBflgmiT rain No. of Pages: _________________ :______________ Author: A- E ______________________ Addressee: ^ __________________ Date: fZ/v/y^ ______________________ Distributees: A T&c, . $ - fct'r&L Privilege Asserted: AC K WP CAPCO JEN 0012227