Document KRyw79wmwJ35EXqEm1oMeYL30

ETHYL CO RPO RATION Ma n u f a c t u r i n g a n d T r a f f i c De p a r t m e n t O ctober 31, 1944 PLEA SE A DD RESS REPLY T O C H R Y SL E R BUILDING 4 0 5 L E X IN G T O N AVE.,NEW Y O R K I7 , N.Y. CONFIDENTIAL D r. R. A. Kehoe C ollege o f M edicine U n iv ersity o f C incinnati Eden & B ethesda Avenues C in c in n a ti, Ohio , Dear Dr. Kehoe: I am a t t a c h i n g h e r e t o a c o p y o f t h e m in u te s o f o u r m e e tin g o f O c to b e r 9 h e r e i n New Y ork a t w h ic h we d i s c u s s e d an i n v e s t i g a t i o n in to th e p o ssib le hazards o f te tra e th y l lea d m anufacture. This is fo r your in fo rm atio n and f il e s . Very tr u ly y o u rs, J . H. Schaefer 1-3 A tt* ^ 0001045 x SURVEY OP HAZARDS OF TEL MAKPPACTURB M inutes o f M eeting o f O ctober 9* 1944 E. R. Anderson J . T. Biehle G. C a lin g a e rt C. E . C olvin J . A. C o ste llo G. Edgar R. A. Kehoe 0. E. Kurt H. J . Madden G. R ie g e r Ho M. Rodekohr R. C. Sharbaugh J . H. S eh aefer C. Wasserman Tha m e etin g was opened w ith a sta te m e n t: o f th e problem i n mind I t was p o in te d o u t t h a t a lth o u g h th e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r o p e r a tio n o f th e TEL u n i t s r e s t s w ith du Pont* E thyl s u f f e r s th e consequences o f any aoo id en ts t o p la n ts o r o p e ra tin g personnel and shares th e re s p o n s ib ility o f being sure th a t a l l measures* w ith in reason* a r e ta k e n t o p ro v id e s a f e o p e ra tio n The du P o n t Company i s i n v e s t i g a tin g th e Baton Rouge s t i l l e x p lo sio n and examining o th e r o p e ra tio n s i n th e lig h t o f th a t experience# but th e re is th e p o s s ib ility th a t an independent su r vey o f h a sa rd o u s c o n d itio n s w ith in th e TEL p la n ts by E th y l would be a double assurance th a t a ll necessary c o rre c tiv e m easures w ill be taken This m eeting was c a lle d fo r th e purpose o f d iso u ssin g and o u tlin in g suoh an independent in v e s t i g a t i o n by Ethyl S h o u ld o u r own s tu d ie s b r in g to l i g h t f in d in g s o f s u f f ic ie n t Im portance th e y w ill probably be summarised and tra n s m itte d to th e du Pont management There was some d is o u ss io n as to th e p a r t which E th y l employees sh o u ld ta k e i n th e immediate in v e s tig a tio n o f any fu tu re serio u s accident I t was pointed o u t th a t im portant evidence, is o ften lo s t i f re p re se n ta tiv e s o f those departm ents o f b oth companies which m ight be o f a ssista n c e in tra c in g th e cause o f an accid en t do n o t have im m ediate a c c e ss to th e scen e o r some v o ic e i n d e te rm in in g th e d a ta which should bs ta k e n . Opposed to t h is i s th e philosophy th a t th o se in charge o f th e o p e ra tio n should be unimpeded in t h e i r e f f o r ts to olean up any hasardous c o n d itio n s re s u ltin g from th e accid en t and to re s to re o p e ra tio n as soon as p o ssible E th y l's p o lic y in th e p a s t h as been to re s p e c t th e w ishes o f th e o p eratin g manage ment and i t i s f e l t t h a t any arrangem ent,jshereby E th y l's te c h n ic a l people would have an o p p o rtu n ity to p a r tic ip a te more d ir e c tly i n an in v e s tig a tio n would r e q u ir e ah agreem ent betw een th e management o f th e two com panies. D isoussion o f th e independent survey o f h asard s by E thyl was opened by th e r e la tio n by re p re s e n ta tiv e s o f th e Development D iv isio n o f v ario u s hasardous con d i t i o n s a lre a d y n o te d i n th e TEL a re a . These p o in ts h a d a lre a d y b een d is c u s s e d a t B aton Rouge and many o f them a re c o n ta in e d in th e m inutes o f th e Baton Rouge oonferenoe h eld oh October 7. Dr. Kehoe s ta te d t h a t M edical rec o rd s in d lo a te th a t th e th re e p o in ts o f g r e a te s t exposure hasards have been* a The s t i l l f l o o r and t o a s m a lle r e x te n t th a a u to o la v o f l o o r o f th e TEL b u ild in g s * The sp o o l f i e p o in ts o f a i r c o n ta m in a tio n have been opening o f th e s t i l l s , leakage around the s t i l l s h a ft, autoolavo drop le g o le a n in g and sam pling o f th e r e a c tio n mass, KE 0001046 2. la The fu rn a c e a re a here le ak a g e from th e sludge p i t and around th e sludge dryers and d u st and slag on th e flo o r have c re a te d a had s itu a tio n . o. The Deepwater B len d er. He a ls o p o in te d o u t t h a t , w h ile m inor compared w ith th e th r e e p o in ts m entioned above, a i r oo n t amin a tio n th ro u g h o u t th e a re a h a d in c re a s e d somewhat due t o th e s h o rte r cycles and the re s u ltin g g re a te r amount o f gases vented to th e atmos phere. I t i s im portant th a t the p o s s ib ility o f exposure under normal oandi t io n s be h e ld a t a minimum so t h a t o c c a s io n a l exposure to h ig h c o n c e n tra tio n s o f lead w ill not have a serious physiological e ffe c t. I t was deoided t h a t , under Dr. K u rt9s d ir e c tio n , th e Development D iv isio n would work o u t a program o f s tu d y o f TEL o p e ra tin g ha sa rd s alo n g th e l i n e s o f th e agenda p re s e n te d a t t h i s m eetin g . The scope o f th e stu d y sh o u ld , b ro a d ly speaking,, provide* lo D eterm in atio n o f p r e s e n t o f f i c i a l p ro c e d u re s . 1 2. D eterm ination o f the ex ten t o f deviations therefrom . 3o An a n a ly s is o f th e adequacy o f b o th o f f i c i a l p ro c e d u res and th e h a s a rd s in h e r e n t i n such d e v ia tio n s as may ocour<> 4. A c a ta lo g o f p o s sib le improvements in the n a tu re o f double oheokin g by p e rso n n el, changes i n equipment o r employment o f v a rio u s safety devioes. 6. Chemical s tu d ie s r e la te d to th e decom position c h a r a c te ris tic s ' o f TEL, r e a c t i o n mass and v a rio u s s lu d g e s . 6o A s tu d y o f th e p o in ts o f undue ex p o su re to TEL and p o s s ib le co rrectiv e measures. The th r e e Development S e c tio n men who e re a t p re s e n t o b se rv in g th e TEL o p e ra tio n s a t B aton Rouge w i l l dev o te 1005? o f t h e i r tim e to t h i s s tu d y w h ile th e two men a t Chambers Works w i l l u t i l i s e ap p ro x im ately h a l f o f t h e i r tim e i n s im ila r w ork. O ther p ersonnel in th e Engineering and Chemical groups w ill be c a lle d upon as i s n e ce ssa ry . Dr. K urt and Dr. C a lin g a e rt w ill decide on the a s s is ta n c e to be g iven by th e Chemical R esearch L aboratory a t D e tro it. I t was ag reed th a t th e program should be o a rrie d out as com pletely as p o ssib le and a f i r s t r e p o r t p re s e n te d w ith in s i x t y d a y s. The i n v e s t ig a ti o n w i l l p ro b a b ly ' U9d b0y nd ^ i a tija b u t i t i s d e s ir e d t o have some r e s u l t s a v a ila b le w ith in a two m onths9 p e rio d , KE 0001047