Document MJLB4e5LG9bRvw0RpawzoG3Qx

sa f et y division Ro b e r t A .K e h o e ,M.D. CHAI RMAN Osca r l. Lewis MANAGER rssELL S c h e l l ASSISTANT MANAGER EtHYLGaso l ine Corporat ion Giir y s u h Bu il d in g 405 Le x i n g t o n Av e n u e ; Ne w \ o r k May 9,19^0 ; : ! : Dr. ?.. A. Xehoe Dear Dr. Kehoe: You have a copy of Mr. McCooley1s letter of May Hth, in which he discusses at length the arrangements for cleaning a tank at the Orange State Oil Company, Jacksonville, Florida. As yon know, Mr. Costello and Mr. McCooley have "both had a number of dis cussions with the officials of that company since their -o-ery recent accident. Desoite the trouble they have had, they do not seem in clined to take our warnings and instructions very seriously. It! seems to me to be an extreme example of lip service on the part of certain of our customers that they are willing to co o-cerate with us 100$, but that '"hen the actual job arises, they either forget us or revert to inadequate or dangerous uractices. The one redeeming feature in this present instance appears to be that Orange State at least did notify us a tank was to be cleaned. Thus, our safety engineer was able to prevent what might have been another serious situation. Very truly yours, T7:CCL Enelos'ore KIT- 0021078 c Excerpt from McCooley' weekly letter of May U, icUo 0 Y Costello "Dear Joe-. The pa't week was spent. working in Jacksonville, Port Everglades, Miami, iiami Bejach, Hat)!", Port. Tampa, Tanna and Bade City, Florida. Monday of this week was spent at the OrangeState Oil Company ter minal in Jacksonville. Here Orange State was Planning the purchase of a 6000 "barrel storage tank from the Commodore Company, this tank had previously teen Xoolleased from Commodore, and was known as tank, that had "been used for motor service, out has "been empty for the oast year. Orange State wanted to get ready to clean this tank, in order that it may "be inspected, and an esti mate made on the necessary repairs, "before they would consider purchasing the tank. This pariti cuiar tank had a. "boiler type manhead with only a 1RMx IS" opening. I therefore suggested that the tank "be steamed and gas freed, and that a larger Hole "be cut in the tank at the opening, in order to enable the men to enter the tank for cleaning, and later a new manhead could, "be installed. My discussion at this terminal was carried on with Mr. Harry Glover, construction sitoerintendent for Orange State, and Mr. E. Glover, construction foreman. Earl Glover was the man in charge of the Orange State tank cleaning in Tampa, recently. Both these men wanted, to turn the tank cleaning operations over to the Rubin Iron Works, who was to give the estimate on the repairs ne cessary to the tank. I convinced these men that they should clean this tank, nrier to an inspection tour, and that additional cleaning should "be done to them, as was necessary depending upon the nature of the repair to be done on the tank, before turning the tank over to the Rubin Iron Works. The blower type air mask that was on hand at the Tampa cleaning, was bro\ight out, after I asked to see the equipment they had. for tank cleaning, and it was found that this equipment was in very bad condition, having the head straps on the desk broken, the inside of the mask was very hard, the hose lead ing to the face| was taped where it had been cut or torn, only foot of hose was in the box and the tank to be cleaned was Ho foot in diameter, and Earl Glover claimed |that, the blower did. not give sufficient air for a man to breathe, the box had alii the hinges and locks broken of? of it, and neither of the men knew where the mask came from or who bought it. I suggested that, the equipment be shipped back to the Mines Safety Appliance in Pittsburgh, to be repaired or replaced as was necessary, as this equipment could not be used in its present condition. I also arranged for them to buy the necessary rubber boots, rubber gloves and clothing. They had a pair of rubber boots that had been worn in the tank at Tampa, having been removed inside of the tank and the man worked in his bare feet and then put on the boots before coming out of the tank. I had these boots destroyed. 0021070