Document EqNprXpk6B5xEqLQrN76jeegL

INTER-COMPANY AND OFFICE CORRESPONDENCE Dtp! Brmeh Difutse Enclosed is an article from the November 20, 1975 issue of the,Leoqjinster Tribune. These copies are for your information. HRJ/cms enc. cc: H. A. Peed . BOR 008488 LEOMINSTER TRIBUNE November 20, 1975 The do's and don'ts of big business Vinyl chloride and Borden Chemical by JOAN OLECK Tony Gaudefs worries are much in these vats. As Gaudet pub it "if more immediate. They include fees it does that to bacteria, imagine EDITOR'S NOTE,-!** of oow-third of his lung capacity, what it does to your insides." put Wt f thli MriHi loss of his job, aod the weekly Gaudet interviewed at hb home Joan Olcck cited evidence on struggle to maintain a family of six in the workingdass Cleghorn dis vinyl chloride hazard to workan hi on an unemployment check of trict of Fitchburg, is a short the ptaetict polymerisation htdaa- *113. affable man, 35 yean old. with a try. Speculated on wsa the qnee Formerly in excellent health neatly trimmed beard and thick- tlea whether polyvinyl chloride before starting at Bonlen's six- rimmed glasses. Ha intersperses fPVCJ in unique for the cancer and and-a-half yean ago, Gaudet ower the conversation with a dry, hack illnmee It has bam linked te-r his problems to a chemical called ing cough. whether it b truly the "tip of an trypsin. Aside from its use in He ttcalh that once hb symp the Qnt la a eariaa of ppfyvinyt chloride production, toms started, they became worse ^Mnkaliy wMtaf (/trypsin bean no chemical relation and worse. I'd run outside to tragically to the already lOtMw to PVC breathe fresh air," he says. "After eccupattooally-reuied deaths pea - Yet it has much in common with awhile itwasso bad 1 couldn't year. PVC. for the light shed on the way breathe at all.I kept going- to the Borden's, specifically, and' big plant physician. He said it was just Vinyl chloride is not aa un business generally; react to chemi a bad cold. He prescribed cough pleasant chemical to work with. It cal hazards in their midst-whether medicine;" doesn't clog your ears <* make or not government "watchdog" One night in '73 Gaudet became your eyes and nose run. There's no agencies are lurking dose behind. physically UI-"Evrytime 1 took a immediate problem with breathing In 1972, two years before vinyl step I couldn't breathe. I thought I and no odor other than a slight, chloride began making headlines, was going to die"-Rushed to sweet smell at high concentrations. Anthony Gaudet then a reactor Leominster's intensive care unit, For these reasons ex-Barden's kettle operator at Bordens, devel he was treated for "everything Chemical worker Anthony Oaudet oped a painfel cough. He guessed from heart condition to,allergies.'' is not overly concerned about VC. correctly that hs source was the In the hospital Gaudet reques Nor b he worried about his ftiture fine dust lingering in the air from ted from Bordens, and got, a 20 yean hen<*--the average laten the bags of trypsin workers compensation check. It was hit cy period for the rare liver cancer measure out into the blending first and bis last angiosarcoma which has already tanks of PVC. Trypsin is a Back at work again, be stilt killed. two dozen of his fellow pancreatic enzyme which effective suffered from the trypsin in the air plastics workers. ly destroys odor-causing bacteria Continued on Page 5 : <-- - - Boa 0S489 Continued from P-1 though he mi away from his old area. By this time he was under an allergist's cam and somewhat re lieved by medication. Among his fellow workers, harem, half of the 20-25 other kettle operators, were affected, four severely sa Some just gagged, a few coughed up blood. Among them was Donald Colletts, president of the union. International Chemical Workers. Local 553. He led the campaign on Borden's to get the trypsin dispensed in pre-weighed ' packages. The company refused, citing increased costs. The employees in turn refused to weigh-up the chemical and called in the Nation al Institute For Occupational Safe ty and Health (NIOSH). Four doctors took five workers, among them Gaudet, to Children's Hospi tal in Boston for skin and pulmon ary tests. Borden's refused salaries for worktime lost The medical results, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, concluded that enzyme duct is a matter of concern and demands periodic screening. Fol lowing two months of negotiations with the union, Borden's finally agreed to pre-weighed trypsin. Meanwhile, Gaudefs doctor informed him that he had last 30 percent lung capacity; he tried transferring to buildings and grounds crew. But by doing so he went off the sir-day shift system and lost S58 salary. "I was beins harassed too," he remembers. "It had been stipulated that I stay out of some areas, but they tried to' force me, especially die - young gung-ho foremen. I was nervous and scared." Last July Gaudet1 gave his notice. He has yet to see a compensation check, . or reim bursement for the prescriptions or mileage to the doctor that the company promised. He is a man unable to pursue the skills he spent six-and-a-half years obtains ing. And he is a man with record-a medical record-wbich. will effectively prohibit him from many other jobs. In essence, Anthony Gaudet is a chemical casualty. " Since ``cancer" produces bigger headlines than asthmatic hiog conditions, Borden's, Great Americsn in Fitchburg, and the thirty-plus other U.S. PVC opera tions nave taken great pains to ensure against casualties caused by vinyl chloride monomer (VCM). In the wake of last year's "plastic peril" scare, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) passed stringent regula tions. As of April 1, 1975 these called for optional respirators for workers if In-plant VCM levels eiceed 1 part per million (ppm) and requbed respirators for 25 ppm or mare. Next April they will be required for 1 ppm or more. The evidence indicates that Borden's, fat ooa Is compMng with the standard*; regular OSHA inspections may or may not be a factor. Workers like Tony Gandet say, "They're doing it because the^ have to, it** a dog-eat-dog situa tion." Others like a 25-year-old production helper who asked not to be identified, say, ,`T think the safety department b really trying.. "We have meetings. The de partment gives you a sheet about a chemical, telh you the hazard and what to wear, sbo the concentra tion. On the job, cverytime there's a (VCM) leak, a safety technician comes running out with kb port able detector. They throw you out of the building or you have to put on a respirator." The helper goes on to describe the elaborate safety procedure required of all kettle cleaners. The various intake, valves which are shut off, manual vents which are opened, and circuits locked off are not unlike what this employee remembers from three-end-a-half yean ago when he started at Borden's. Nor are the mandatory gloves and the wrist straps to haul the worker from the reactor by rope different, or the "alarm cart" which buzzes every three minutes unless the worker telb the outside world he's all right 6y shutting it off. What b new, under OSHA standards, b the mandetoiy air mask and "bubblen," or plexi glass tubes rf water placed over the reactor's intake and recovery valves. Should VCM remain in these valves after several prepara tory air changes. Urn water wBI bubble.. - In public relations material Borden Chemical sends out from its central office in Columbus (the Leominster plant will not answer inquiries though ne ad ministrator said he'd relate some interesting items on the day he quits), the company claims its PVC reactors postdate the rcacton associated with the cancer cases. Borden reacton, it says, are larger and require less entry. "Changes have been made In equipment to minimize leaks, and preventive maintenance has been stepped un. The monitoring system continu ously checks the air within the plant and warning devices have been set.." Union president Collette con firms ell theta claims--"In all honesty, the company haa done slot," he says. "But the onion b still pushing. Leveb in the reactor rooms are above 1 ppm so everyone will have to wear respir atory equipment next year. The company b putting in some extra ventilation fans. As a union man, I don't feel this b the way to resolve the problem. "You can adapt to a mask for a limited time, then you start to sweat For a half hour it's all right but for seven hours It's iotewrable." The State Office of Indus trial Hygenc abb warns against leaks In masks from dentures end beards. Another problem, says Collette, b the sloppy way In which exhaust systems are checked-"a guy just puts his hand on it to see if ft's sucking air"-and complaints by ' workers of numbness in their hands. "Yeari ago, bfcfdre gloves were required, they used to check your hands. Nowadays, the com pany doesn't seem overwhelmed." Collette tells of some lapses of attitude on the part of the com- fjany; "They had safety meetings on VO last July and I heard people say the company said there b no serious data. So 1 went to a meeting and the safety engineer was playing down the hazard. When 1 brought thb up to the company they acted like they didn't know about It" BOR 008490 A * Collette *J*o relates an Instance The citations proved undrama- ` * a significant soiree of VCM in late '74. during the 50 ppm t 1th only one "serious" viola iissions." Such vents are typical emergency standard, when work tion by Bordeo'i h> 1974 for lack of and allowed in PVC operadons. ers in the shipping department "Type C" respirators. But Spring- Donald Collette said that break were exposed to levels over 100 field TV producer Peter Ftiedland, ages here are not infrequent and ppm and as high as 2000 ppm. The wh filmed a documentary on the recalls one that poured over 10,000 company provided charcoal can- former PVC-facility, Monsanto ppm info the air. He particularly nister masks which under per filled in the gaps with an interest- objects to manual venta which manent standards are considered ing OSHA story. In a July, 1974 workers voluntarily pull to release unsafe for levels above 25 ppm. Collette knew of the standards and inspection, said Fricdland, an OSHA staffer reported how an built-up preasure from the kettle*. The pressure released into the objected. "The plant manager said emergency ventilation system was atmosphere carries traces of VC OSHA had said we could use them." Collette recalls. "I called . turned on at the exact moment he entered the PVC facility. Obvious (.06 ppm, on the average) via wind currents into-the community. The him a lier." ly, any questionable levels would same thing occurs whereever there For its part in VCM. OSHA has be eliminated by such action. are PVC facilities. This October been highly criticized from all When Friedland queried the area Dr. Peter Infante of the Ohio - sides. PVC producers have called its I ppm regulation "unrealistic," director, ha neither questioned the situation nor demanded any fol Department of Health examined 1970-73 birth records for three Others have demanded a zero ppm. Judy de Foatbriand, member low-up inspection. After OSHA, the next federal towns in that state having PVC plants. He subsequently reported of the Occupational Health and Safety Project In Cambridge, called the I ppm limit "playing agency most concerned with VC Is the Environmental Protection Agency. Its interest lies, mot so birth defects up to three times the normal rate. Though Infante's study did not games with peoples* lives" in light much in the workingplaceas in the definitely correlate PVC and birth of ignorance about cancer. . "OSHA can't he counted on to be community. . A May,-1974 EPA study repor defects and ts in fact criticized (two of nine towns lacking PVC an ally of workers." she added, "they're too susceptible to industry pressures." Dr. Ronald Ratney of ted in Borden's, "over 100 vents of * varying sizes and Bow rates which at any specific point in time, could facilities also showed high birth defects), it raised many questions. Over long distance telephooc. the OSHA office in Boston, defen Infante mentioned "three or four" ded the 1 ppm Unit: "My own other reports linking VC and feeling Is if you set a zero standard mutagenic effects. He described in you can say `my machine gave no . particular a report (at the Sym- reading'; an employer ego cop . paslum on Environmental Muta out" ' ' genesis, In Czeckoaltvakla (his "Reading" OSHA itselfcan be a past October) on the only county in chore, This reporter called the Norway showing assess birth Boston office for facts about defect!. It is the only county with a Leomlnster-Fltchburg and waa in PVCfadlity. vited to pay a visit In Bntag **Wbat needs to tte done," said however, she was told the flies, had ' Infanta, "is for people to look at been moved to Springfield and besides. Inspectors' reports are Halations u a whoto, not as hridoal towns and hospitals. If closed to public view; only final, citations may be seen. The Springfield director gave a different version: inspectors' reports could be seen but the files would be unavailable for soma weeks, due to moving. ................. - -i-i i-- yoo have PVC faculties in your community (Leominster), there ought to be a repeat of the birth defects. Remember, these are bablea born to people in the community, not just workers." , NIOSH says the incidence of cancer in PVC workers is 49 percent higher than .normal ten years after exposure and 84 per cent higher after 15 years. Hence, the babies Infante refers to may as adults witness a tragic epidemic of cancer among men who are work ing In PVC facilities today. Or they may witness nothing of the sort Speculation is a chancey business. As Collette said in a recent phone conversation, "It takes time to believe. "Workers ted me, Tve worked In it and it doesn't affect me.' You try to inform people of it* serious ness, that It's , a long-range .problem...'' Here Collette brake off hit lenience abruptly. He seemed to be waiting to ana if anyone ns listening. Bor 008491