Document J3O9ZbmpmQQj6kkvBo42j3m32

FILE NAME: National Gypsum (NG) DATE: 1969 Apr 10 DOC#: NG047 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: NG Company Memo - Asbestos Problems, AsbestosCement Products Association >: Gold J N Sg-vd p N ational gypsum I N T FFICE C C S S E - ' . N O E N C t Send z. J. lillia n V ice-President Subtec*. Asbestos Problems wot* A sbestos Cement P ro cu res A ssociatncnfrcm A pril 10, 196q ?* 5i# X* y :o : L. 3. Crowef / In re rtrd s to i -8 s~v.zy th a t Dr. C-ecrge Wright i s c c r.s ic -rin i Ter the Nev Crls.tr.s tree,, I would suggest th a t we cooperate tc the f u l l e s t extent tn&t ve enn, with ycur approval, a f ie - rtccr.T.endtticas fro r ysur urrcuotior. r e c t i : . I fs= l i t would also he acTt3a'sIe to cons---t our -nsurznes wet a r vie". _n regards te v n -t could he eerie very sig n r ts * premusi p ro o ie ss. {'** have th is problem in th e M illin g to n P la n t, with 17 suspected eases, which prorated liv y c s o f London n o t to re in su re us 1a th is a re a . I t was necessary f o r our brokers to fin d other insurance coverage a t a higher presium ). I night also adu th a t in tal.<lr.v to Johns-M anville today th a t they ar e going to coccerate in the study -- to vr.at e x ta n t, I co n o t sr.ow as y e t but w ilt hear I n "the" very near future. The b a s is f o r the study i s t h a t the two s c ie n tis ts f r e a Tulane Medical School discovered f i r e cases of lung cancer in asbestos workers su fferin g from a s c e s te s is . They contacted Dr. ' rig h t. He irr-.edia.cely flew to New O rleans, stu d ied t h e i r re p o rts and fin d in g s and concurred w ith th e n . They were not N ational Gypsa employees, b a t employees of th e F lin tk o te Company who p re v io u sly were operating in th e New Orleans a re a . These doctors are to be complimented in the nethod th e y handled t h i s -- in advising D r. Wright in ste a d of seeding f r e s t page p u b lic ity , as others-have in th e New York a re a . Dr. W right, i n h is t r i p to New O rleans, requested from us p e ra issio n to v i s i t our New Orleans P la n t, in th e company c f the two doctors from Tulane. As a r e s u l t of the v i s i t a t our p la n t, and Joans-MsnviLle, i t was decided th a t i t would be advantageous to the in d u stry i f a study were made in th is a re a . Thus the p roposal th a t you have. In regards to the Health and S afety Council of the Asbestos Cesent Products A sso ciatio n , a b r ie f summary o f hov t h i s o rg a n isa tio n came in to the p ic tu re would be as fe llo w s; Cn A p ril 3, l " t l, C liff Scheduler, Manager, O ccupational T nviroraentel Control f o r for.ns-M anville in v ited th e re p re se n ta tiv es c f Certair.-Teed, G eneral A n iiv * Tilm, T ltn tk o te , Cvons-Ccmir.g and N ational Gyprua t ; a n e e tin g in N-:- fork c i t y , a t th e ir head q u arters, p rim a rily to give ar. in d u stry -w icc acceptance to a booklet e n t i t l e d '-- "Secsssaended Health S afety Practice:r fo r Handling and Applying Asbestos Cement P ro d u cts." A p erso n al and c o n fid e n tia l l e t t e r i s attach ed th a t I wrote in objection to thus publ:oa tio n . Tt ev en tu ally tame to the a tte n tio n cf Mr. Colon Brown who c a lle d a mee'-iag v ita Jack Hayes, B ill Dunean ana ry se_ ; in attcncar.ce. Pros t h a t n e t ::g, A1 Pay was also made aware of the p r o b le a .* CR A p ril 17, a l e t t e r was it t-fie d , copy a tta c h e d , se n t to Mr. Scheekler o u tlin in g our company's oej tisn s to tn e bo o k let. In th e s e e n tin e , A1 Pay re a c tiv a te d IHE M l KORK.ER 1 36G33 ir c \ 2. J. Killian Tice-President Asaestos Problems o rril 10, ?n 2 an organisation scovn as ins "Mineral " io e r Produces Bureau" to a le m ev-ryene in me incuse-- cf th e problem eaused by -he booklet JohnsMi._." _ lle wishes to p r i n t . A l's grrup n e t in New lor:-; a t a l a t e r dale end reao tiT aie d the group, char.gang i t s naae to the "Asbestos Cener.a Products A ssociation", mainly to handle on an in c u siry -v ic e b asis the problems being eaused 07 aaverse asb esto s p u b lic ity and the JohnsMsnTlUe beck.* The group then organised two sub-committees to w rite a coda on "Recommenced H ealth S afety P ra c tic e s f o r Handling and Apply ing Asbestos Cement Products" and a code to be e n title d "In P lan t S n T irc ise n ta i Control11 This i s about th e s ta te where vs are a t the p re se n t tim e. Arrangements hare been nade today f o r meetings of both committees to be held A pril 23 and 21, a t Jccns-M aaviH e1s Kev Je rse y Research C enter. As t h is i s j u s t a sh o rt' synopsis -- tnere are lit e r a ll y tons of newspapers, magasines, statements fre e 7sricus health a u th o ritie s, fed eral and sta te rsccanendations -- most of which were sen t to Mr. Brown by Xarl 7. Linde11, Chairman of the 2nscuti"e Committee, Jchr.; -M ar.rille. This f i l e i s in my o ffic e and you are welcome tc any portion ef i t . * In ay opinion, th is i s the time to keep cool on a l l th e heated emotion th a t -is being eaused by' the medical fra te rn ity . I t is q u ite apparent th a t in the very near f u tu r e , th ere are going to be many, fe d e ra l re g u la tio n s co n tro llin g the h e a lth and sa fe ty aspects of a sb esto s w orkers. The;-', la v s are now m th e 91 st C on-ress. I f ve can keep in d u s try caln and do a i l in cur power to clean up our own p la n ts , and suggest th e in d u stry do the same, and make people a v a ila b le fo r Advisory Committee work when c a lle d upon to w rite the standards th a t w ill p ro te c t the worker, and s t i l l be w ithin reason fo r the in d u stry , we w ill have a f ig h tin g ehanee to s ta y in business a t a reasonable cost. I hope t h is run-down w ill be of some use to you and we can f u rth e r discuss i t Saturday morning, a t ycur convenience \ ItiZirs Attachments D irector of Safety ? S . P lease excuse the notes and sc ra tc h in g on seme of the attac h ed booklets they are th e only ones I have l e f t . I would ap p rec iate th e f i l e retu rn ed when you are through with it ^ 't h 3GC3-1