Document JrEGjmoMQpygEeQQxVrpLEqNe

FILE NAME Drilling Muds DRM DATE 1974 Sept 24 DOC DRM008 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION Call Record with Shell Oil - Conducting Air Sampling Tests at Drilling Rigs During the Addition of NGSV to Muds nt i eetere re et ee ee ee ee ee ee ee re REPORT OF CALL "< wk ee cc for for J. L. W. C. File Myers Thurber Calidria Calidria ASBESTOS . . UNION CARBIDE CORPORATION .P.O Box 579 Niagara Falls N.Y. 14302 He RECEIVED RECEIVEDRECEIVED RECEIVED RECEIVED RECEIVEDRECEIVERDECEIVED RESCEIVEED P 30 1974 co ae ~ THL . oo 8 with THL ae vy with with Full Name Shell Oil . . various locations near Address Tsraverse City MI \ Mfrs of ; ee ae By E. J. Kleber Date 9-24-74 Interviewed Bob Jones - Regional Industrial Hygienist Claude Osborn - Safety Director Mich Drilling Larry Kinney - Kinco Inc. Montello agent OBJECTIVES Conduct air sampling tests at drilling rigs during the addition of NGSV to muds OBSERVATIONS Air samples were collected at 3 Shell Oil drilling sites and the results discussions reported will be in the next couple of weeks This report deals with on Shell's policies and observations regarding asbestos First some background on Mr. Jones He is a certified industrial hygienist certified hygenists are the royalty of their profession who has experience in most areas of industrial hygiene He toiled for many years in Kentucky as a state hygenist where he had a tiff with of all people Dr. Selikoff over something in the Kentucky coal mines It would be fair to say that Mr. Jones has a very low opinion of the good doctor He agrees that the asbestos and health question has been blown way out of proportion but he intends to see that rules laid down in the health and safety area are adhered to In short he sympathizes with our plight and will put in good word only if the tests prove to be within the acceptable limits Mr. Jones made some comments during the day that are worth while noting 1. At the warehouse - the first thing we did upon arrival was inspect the pallets Incidentally from a distance the pallets appear to be quite neat sitting as they were in a corner of changes In almost every bag there pellets laying in the sleeve the warehouse Up close however the was approximately 1-4 tablespoons of As soon as the bags are handled the picture the pellets dribble out to the floor He also noted that a thin layer of dust was present on every bag and as soon as the bag was moved some of it became airborne This layer of dust problem became even more evident when one of the men loading the bags held the bag against his chest while waiting for an opportunity to set it down When the bag was put down the mans shirt was covered with white dust Mr. Jones commented that every time the man moved or touched his shirt he certainly was releasing asbestos fiber in the air near his breathing zone UCC 015299 EXHIBIT ; E EJK Report of Call Shell Oil -2- -2- 9-24-74 It can be safely assumed that this white dust is asbestos since our products are the only material presently in the warehouse They were put there directly from one of our rail cars Air samples were taken during the warehouse operation 2. At the drilling sites - to make a long story short the handling of our products by the Roughnecks honest that's what the laborers are called is nothing short of atrocious Bag opening on two of the three rigs was accomplished by punching the bags with a chisel until the weight of the pellets on the inside of the bag causes the bag to break the rest of the way and in 10 seconds 50 pounds are sitting in the hopper Bag disposal is existant unless a stiff wind begins blowing them about Then they will pick the bags up and toss them in a pit dug in the ground for trash disposal Otherwise they'll sit on the ground next to the hopper until shift clean 3. Political aspects - there is an unusual relationship in the oil fields that needs some explaining An oil company does not own the drilling rigs The rigs are hired on a contract basis and sometimes communication between the oil company and the rig company is not very good Shell feels responsible for job safety and apparently any OSHA citations and fines become Shell's responsibility One of the major problems Shell has is the education of these employees who are not working directly for them The handling of asbestos is a prime example According to Claude Osborne they have been told time and time again to excerise care when handling these products This approach does not seem to be wokking The biggest stumbling block of all is medical exams Although Shell does have a comprehensive medical program they are not about to pay for rays of thousands of people who do not work for them It all boils down to the kind of numbers we get from these tests If Shell feels they don't have to pay for exams we have a chance If however medical exams are indicated I suspect they will forbid the use of New Granular.Super Visbestos There is one more factor of note The industrial hygienists in industry seem to have excellent communications with one another It fore not be suprising to find one company make a decision and others Tead the oil would therefollow the RECOMMENDED ACTION Report results of fiber counts to Montello as soon as possible and stay in touch with Bob Jones on the outcome of their counts typed 9/27/74 mly UCC 015300