Document JN39BKnveyZyaejJ1JEBpvDYO

FILE NAME: RT Vanderbilt (RTV) DATE: 1976 Apr 6 DOC#: RTV093 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: US Dept of the Interior Inspection Report *r i United States Department of the Interior MININC ENFORCEMENT AND SAFETY ADMINISTRATION I 529 U.5. POST O F F IC E AfflD COURTHOUSE 1 ALBANY, NEW YORK 12201 . II A p ril 6, 1976 I I j Mr. George Erdman, V ice President '. Gouverneur T alc Company, In c. . P .O . Box 89 ' 1 Balmat, New York 12226 ^ i i ` '. Su b je ct: NSaof. et3y MIinnespaencdtioNno. R3epMoritll iI . Gouverneur Talc Company, In c . ' ' Em eryville, S t . Lawrence, New York September 15 6 17, 1975 ` ' . ' By James M. S a lo is , John S . Rouba, Metal and Nonmetal Mine Inspectors and . Lewis Roberts, Mining Engineer \ Dear Mr. Erdman: . iI t The enclosed report? covers a Federal in sp ection o f the above-named operation made pursuant to Section h o f.th e Federal Metal and H onnetallic Mine S a fe ty Act (80 S t a t . 77C ) I Sincerely^yoUrs^ . I Edward J . Podsorski S u b d istric t Manecer Metal and Homnetal Mine Health l and S a fe ty , northeastern D is tr ic t 1 Enclosures cc t . t J . A lie va , Dept, o f Labor (report only) E. T. Beaudett, Dept, o f Labor (report only) t J , D ella-G ala, Dept, o f Labor (report only) r R. Trombley, USWA (report only) ^6-19'l<b WES000874 i > United States Department of the interior MINING ENFORCEMENT AND SAFETY ADMINISTRATION ' Michael P. Trainor, D is t r ic t Manager Edward J . Podgorski, S u b d istrict Manager _ ' Metal and Nonmetal Mine. Health and Safety ' Northeastern D is tric t . 329 Pederal Building ' - Albany, New York 12201 * Inspection No. : 16 Health ' Id e n tific a tio n N o .: 30-00609 ' . " SAaFETY INSPECTION REPORT This report is based on an inspection made pursuant to Section 4 o f the Federal Metal and Nonmetailic line Safety Act (80 S c o t. 772), A State Plan Agreement is In e ffe c t in New York which plan includes proce dures fo r enforcement by the New York Sta te Department of Labor, of State health and sa fe ty standards which are su b sta n tia lly as e ffe c tiv e fo r the purpose o f the protection o f l i f e , the promotion of h ealth and s a fe ty , and the prevention of accidents as the mandatory standards promulgated by >-he Secretary of the In terio r. Company:_______ Gouvornour Talc Company, In c .________ __ _____________________ ________ Mine Name: , No. 3 Mine and No. 5 M ill_______________________________________________________ Location: (City) Em eryville_________ (County) S t . Lawrence (state) New York J)ate(s) of Inspection: Name o f in sp ecto r(s): Company O f f i c i a K s ) : September 15 ^ 17, 1575__________ ^__________________________ James M. Saiois.^IetalTarid Xonraet^i Mine Inspector John S . Rouba, Metal and Monmetal Mine Inspector____________ Lewis Roberts, Mining Engineer George Erdpan, V ice President-General Manager.___________ ____ Work Schedule; Sh ifts/ d a y 3 Days/week 5__________ llours/shift 8 No. of Employees: 16________ Union O f f i c i a l ( s ) : Roy Trombley, Presid ent, U .S .W .A ., Local 4979__________________________ ____________________________________;__________ _ Inspector(s) Accompanied by; Stanley Z a lu s k i, M ill Foreman; Floyd Robinson, Safety Director _____________________ _______________ .____________ Type of Mine: Underground l ining Method; Open Stopo Pr o d u c t;T alc ' WES000875 / ASBESTOS FIBER EVALUATION METHOD Measurement o f the airborne asbestos fib e r concentration consists o f drawing a sample o f dust laden a ir through a f i l t e r , counting the fib e r s on the f i l t e r using a microscope, and c a lc u la tin g the airborne fib e r concen tr a tio n . The re s u lts are fib e r s per m i l l i l i t e r o f a i r . . Samples are co lle cte d to represent personal breathing zone measurements o f fibrous dusts. The f i l t e r media is 37 mm M illip o re type AA mounted in an , ` open face f i l t e r holder. The sampling a ir flow Tate is 1.7 1pm, using a b attery' powered personal pump- The sampling tin e i s a function o f concen tration so that the f i l t e r contains a quantity that is satisfa cto ry fo r . counting with a microscope. F u ll working s h i f t time weighted average exposures are calculated by re la tin g appropriate sample results to estimated ,, exposure times on the day o f the evalu ation. Counting i$ performed by the phase contrast illu m in atio n method (the membrane f i l t e r method) described by NI05H in th e ir c r it e r ia document "Occupational Exposure to A sbestos", U. S . Department o f HEW, H5M 72-10267, G .P .O ., Wash in gton, D.C. 1972. This method requires phase contrast illu m in a tio n , 400-450 m agnification and a 4 mm o b je c tiv e . Fibers greater-than 5 microns in length and with an aspect r a tio greater than 3 to 1 are counted. MESA Mandatory Standard 55, 56, 57.5-1 (b) s t a t e s , in p a r t, the follow ing: . 55, 56, 57.5-1 Mandatory, (b) "The S-houT tim e weighted average airborne concentration o f asbestos dust'"to which employees are exposed1sh a ll not exceed 5 fib e r s per m illile t e r greater than 5 microns in len gth . K'o employee s h a ll he exposed at any time to '' airborne concentrations o f asbestos fib e r s in excess o f 10 fib e rs longer than.5 micrometers, per m illilc t e T o f a i r , as determined by the membrane f i l t e r method over a minimum sampling time o f 15 m in u tes............" WES000876 y*rrm; Ho, 3 Mine NAME Gilbert Streeter Murray Sykes Duane June Johnnie Arquette No. 3 M ill Cary Rust Dale Harroer ' Gary Hopper Larry Perrin ' NO. 3 MINE AND NO. 3 MILL OCCUPATION Laborer Trammer D riller Trammer EXPOSURE. FIBERS/nl 1.4 3.2 2.1 0.7 Packer - 13,0 Hardinge Operator 3,2 Packer 2.0 Packer . 3.4 . : \ tlv i FIBERS/ml 1.1' 5 .0 5.0 . 5.0 M | 5.0 t ( 1 I 1 . 5.0 1f 1 5.0 11 I 5.0 - . i>1 5.0 i Ii iI i Ii 1I WES000877  Mine IO N o.: 30-00600 Mine Name : . No. 3 Mine end No. 3 M ill METHOD OF DETERMINATION [ " I M icroprojector Counting f f i j i Fiber Counting Date: 9/17/75 Product: Talc r TYPE OF SAMPLE ANALYZED n Midget Impingcr ( / / Total Airborne Dust ) ' Name anti Social. Secu rity No. G ilb ejt Streeter 100-40-6719 \ ` * ` - Occupation and Location D rille r/ N o . 3 Mine ' O ff Totals Date/ Time Sampled 9/17/75 7:15 A Sam pling Time (Min.} 50 tfccupancy Time Spent 8:05 A \ 65 9:10 A 65 10:15 A 70 11:25 A 65 12:30 75 2:40 445 Concentration Fibors/nl Percent Silica ml \ TW Cot 1.0 2.6 1.2 1.7 0.2 1.2 5.0 1. i r . w WES000878 I . ' i (SAMPLING RESULTS CONTINUED) ' I Name and S o c ia l Security No. Murray Sykes # Occupation and Location Date/ Time Sampled Tram er/No. 3 Mine * i O ff Totals :*See Discussion 9/17/75 7:05 A 8:15 A . 9:10 A 10:18 A 11:10 A 12:30 P 1:35 P 2:40 * . Mine.IU No.: SO-00609 Sampling Time (Min. ) Occupancy Time Spent Concentration Fibcrs/iul P e rce n tj 7LV S ilic a ibers ml TWA Con< 70 55 08 52 80 65 65 ' 445 *TUTC m ire ' 4 .0 . 5.0 2.3 2 .2 3.0 5.0 3.2 - ' WES000879 t t # J . -- ! . I (SAMPLING RESULTS CONTINUED) Mine ID No.: SO-00609 Name and S o c ia l Securi ty No. Duane June 124-34-5112 ' 0 Occupation and Location Date/ Time Sampled Sampling Time . (Min.) Occupancy 1 Concentration Time Fibors/ml Spent 1 Percent TLV S ilic a ibers ini . TliA Cone D r ille r - X o. 3 Mine 9/17/75 j . 7s03 A l 72 8:15 A 60 9:15 A 60 ' - 10:15 A 60 * 11:15 A i 75 t t 12:30 P 60 _ 1:30 P 70 \ ' O ff 2:40 Totals 457 % *Tirrc 1.5 2.9 3.7 : 0.2 4.3 1 0.7 . : 5=0 2.1 : WES000880 ) ' > * 11 I - . (SAMPLING RESULTS CONTINUED) Mice ID No 50-00609 . - WES0008827T' ' - i (SAMPLING RESULTS CONTINUED) iI Mine ID N o.: 30-Q0G09 (SAMPLING RESULTS CONTINUED) Hine ID No.: 30-00609 Name and So cial Secu rity No. Cary Hopper 117-44-010S Occupation a n i Location Dato/ . Tine Sampled rapting Time (Hin.) Occupancy ? Concentration Time Spent Fibcrs/inl Percent TLV S i l i c a ribcrs ml Tw Cone Packer-No. 3 M ill O ff Totals 5/17/75 3:47 SS 4:45 50 5:15 60 6:15 60 7:25 60 5:15 60 9:15 ' 60 30:15 6S 11:20 453 *THTC TliTC 1.7 0.6 3.1 0.6 3.9 *THTC 5.0 WES000883 J . (SAMPLING RESULTS CONTINUED) Mine ID No.: JO-00609 Name and S o cia l S e c u r ity No. Lnrry Perrin 062-42-5209 , - tr ' * _ Occupation and Location Date/ Time Sampled aapiing Time (M in .), * Occupancy I Concentration Time J;ib c rs/ m i Spent Percent TLV S i l i c a 'ibers ml ts* i Conel i Bagging/raill 9/17/75 . 3:55 p 40 . TIITC 1:35 p 53 8.2 S:10 p 60 *Tirrc 6:10 p 40 6.2 6:50 p 70 '2. 1 8:00 p 45 5.0 * i - 8:45 p 30 . l.S 9:15 p 60 TITC 10:15 p 30 *TUTC 10:45 p 35 *7HTC ' O ff 11:20 p I Totals 44S s .o Z .i Sec dust d iscu ssio n - ' . WES000884 . WES000885 DUST DISCUSSION As indicated in the Fiber Survey R e su lts, the fib e r concentration reported fo r Cary Rust, exceeds the cu rrently enforced threshold lim it value (TLV) o f 5 fibers/ml fo r a ll forms o f asbestos fib e rs according to techniques presently employed by the Mining Enforcement and Safety Adm inistration (MESA) for determining fib e r exposures. Differences in laboratory re su lts between MESA and the N ational In s titu e - fo r Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSll) were discovered as a re s u lt o f a technique comparison study conducted a fte r completion o f the fib e r survey. The r e s u lts o f the survey reported herein may be a ffe cte d when these differences are resolved. . ., ,, Employee R ust's exposure also exceeded tho c e ilin g lim it o f 10 fibers/ml as defined in Mandatory Standard 57.5-1 subpangraph (b ), therefore* the operator was n o tifie d by telephone o f th is v io la tio n and th at engineering or adm inistrative controls were necessary. A recommendation to reduce th is exposuro to an acceptable lev e l through fe a s ib le engineering and/or adm inistrative controls is enclosed along with a recommendation, under Part 57.5-5 (Mandatory), fo-r the operator ' to provided and enforce the continued use o f respirators approved fo r th is contaminant. The supplied re sp irato rs sh a ll be required fo r a l l employees working in the packing area and should be required in any areas o f the m ill or mine when dust generation is evident. A good resp irato r program must meet the requirements as defined in Appendix A. In ad d itio n , a recommendation is enclosed requiring the operator to conduct dust surveys in the packing area o f Xo, 3 M ill as frequently as necessary to determine the adequacy o f control measures. The re su lts o f these surveys should be submitted to the Albany Su b d istrict O ffic e o f MESA fo r review. Inquiry with the operator's compensation insurance company may fin d th is service a v a ila b le . Plans for abatement should be submitted to the Albany Su b d istT ict O ffic o along with monthly progress reports as these plans develop. Some samples were too heavy to count (TIJTC) because o f excess m aterial on the f i l t e r th at made fib e r counting in accu rate. I t is probable tho re s u lts obtained fo r the su b ject employees would be somewhat higher than those shown- The sampling time fo r these f i l t e r s were excluded from time weighted average c a lc u la tio n s . * Plans fo r abatement should be submitted to the Albany S u b d istrict O ffic e along with monthly progress reports as these plans develop. WES000886 ' . I Comparison of Fiber Counts for j #3 GTC Mill Monitoring. Monitoring by i MESA, September 15, 16 & 18, 1976 : Sample Numbers MS 155 MS 171 DJ 104 DJ 92 DJ 170 DJ 190 MS 70 JA 106 OA 188 JA 188 DJ 114 GR 195 GR 178 GR 184 GR 185 MESA 3,0 (F1bers/ml.) 2.3 4.3 0 (Dusts too heavy to count) 3.7 1.5 0 (Dusts too heavy to count) 0.7 0.8 0.09 2.9 2.8 4.1 35 25 NIOSH 10.2 (F1ber$/ml.) 6.4 10.5 14.9 10.7 9.0 15,7 6.5 8.5 1.0 17.7 13.7 19.0 . 20.6 16.4 Average Factor Factor 3.4 2.8 2.4 - 2.9 6.0 9.2 10.7 11.1 6.1 4.9 4.6 - - 5.8 WES000887 Comparison of Fiber Counts for #3 GTC Mill Monitoring, Monitoring by MESA, September 15, 16 & 18, 1976 Sample Numbers MS 155 MS 171 DJ 104 DJ 92 DJ 170 DJ 190 MS 70 JA 106 JA 188 JA 188 DJ 114 GR 195 GR 178 GR 184 GR 185 MESA 3.0 (Fibers/ml.) 2.3 4.3 0 (Dusts too heavy to count). 3.7 1.5 0 {Dusts too heavy to count) 0.7 0.8 0.09 2.9 2.8 4.1 35 25 NIOSH 10.2 (Fibers/ml.) 6.4 10.5 14.9 10.7 9.0 15.7 6.5 ' 8.5 1.0 17.7 13.7 19.0 20.6 16.4 Average Factor Factor 3.4 2.8 2.4 2.9 6.0 9.2 10.7 n.i 6.1 4.9 4.6 - ---- 5.8 WES000888