Document NNL44enMqX54KNMkenY9pdq8

PLAINTIFF'S EXHIBIT ir THE UNION CARBIDE "CALIDRIA" ASBESTOS BUSINESS In 1957 a Union Carbide exploration geologist was in central California looking for nickel or other metallic mineral deposits which could be of value to the Corporation. He took note of a peculiar white, leathery mineral which was eventually determined to be chrysotile asbestos in a unique physical form. Exploration activities were centered in the nearly town of Coalinga, and the deposits have become known as Coalinga Asbestos. Asbestos (from a Greek word meaning non-burning) is a commercial term applied to several fibrous metal silicate minerals which are fire-proof and capable of being processed into flexible fibers. There are six varieties of asbestos which are dividedintotwo groups, serpentine and amphibole, based on their crystal structurenPBIHW Chrysotile is the only member of .the serpentine group while the amphiboles include crocidolite, amosite, anthophyllite, tremolite and actinolite. Chrysotile accounts for over 95% of world consumption; and, of the amphiboles, only crocidolite and amosite have any commercial significance. Sources and general uses of the three varieties are shown in Att. 2; nd Att. 3 summarizes comparative data for them. Based on epidemiological and other data, many medical and scientific authorities aaree that crocidolite and amosite are more harmful to human health than chryso tile. Although U.S. regulations do not reflect this, the UK and other countries have severely restricted the use of crocidolite and amosite. Chrysotile has several characteristics which are responsible for its widespread usage in over 3000 applications: worldwide availability, positive surface charge, flexibility, softness, high tensile strength (see Att. 4). Chrysotile occurs only in serpentine (California's official State Rock), which is a fine-grain rock composed almost entirely of hydrous magnesium silicate minerals similar to chrysotile in composition. Canada is the free world's largest producer of chrysotile asbestos, and supplies about 90% of the U.S. asbestos requirements. The Canadian and most other deposits of serpentine contain chrysotile in cross fiber veins that are rarely more than half an inch thick. A typical ore contains only 6-10% fiber, of random lengths and tightly bonded together in a parallel configuration (see Att. 5). The Coalinga Asbestos deposit bears little resem blance to other serpentine bodies found throughout the world since most of the mass has been highly-sheared and pulverized by nature. It consists of soft, friable sheets and clumps of asbestos fibers, and the only other known ore body of this type is the Stragari deposit in Yugoslavia. In contrast to the cross fiber arrangement of conventional ores, the Coalinga deposit occurs as a swirling mesh of disoriented fibers (see Att. 5T- Each fiber or fiber bundle is only in point contact with its neighbor, and the fiber content ranges from 50-60%. The Coalinga deposit is located in the southern part of the Diablo Mountain range, in Fresno and San Benito Counties (aaMMil^^. It is in what is known A: 40.39 UCC 013085 2I -- as the New Jdria mining district, which has long been famous as the oldest producing mercury mine (since 1853) in the United States, and is thought to be the largest single mineral deposit in the world. (Union Carbide's tradename "CALIDRIA" is a combination of "CAL" from California and "IDRIA" from New Jdria.) Rich asbestos ore has been found over an area of 40-50 square miles, and to deDths of over 500 feet. Conservative estimates indicate that over one Hundred million tons of Chrysotile asbestos are available, while Canada's ore reserves have been estimated at less than 50 million tons. In addition to having a very low fiber content, Canadian ore deposits contain fibers of various lengths, from a few microns up to several inches. These are defined by Canadian screening tests and designated as Grades 3 through 7 (see Att. 8). Conventional Canadian processing techniques include blasting, crushing, grinding and air classifying. A typical Canadian Grade 7 product will contain about 30-40% serpentine rock dust and 60-70% asbestos fibers. Most of the fibers will still be in bundles as shown in Att. $7 Union Carbide mines the Coalinaa ore by conventional open pit methods (m HtfMf). After removing 20 feet or less of overburden, ripper-equipped bull dozers and self-propelled scrapers are used to remove ore from the deposit. Before hauling the ore 55 miles to the plant near King City, it is screened to minus 3/4-inch. Mining oDerations are carried out every other year during the dry season (May to October), and ore is delivered to the plant every year during this same period. Mining and hauling are sub-contracted, but supervised by plant personnel. Union Carbide evaluated various dry processing methods but the best product looked little different than that depicted in Att.5T and performed very similar to Canadian asbestos. An investment to produce such a product for conventional asbestos applications was not .iustified. In order to take full advantage of the unique features of the Coalinga ore deposit (summarized in Att. 11), a hydraulic beneficiation process was developed. Conventional mineral processing techniques were combined with the innovative use of special equipment and a plant was designed with three basic systems: rock fiber separation, refining, and special treatment (see Att. 12). This enables production of three basic product categories: fiber, colloidal, and modified, all v/ith liberated fibers as'shown in Att. r The semi-works plant M) was started in 1963 and was expanded to its present capacity, except for RG-244, in 1966. The asbestos business was in the Nuclear Division until 1965 when it was transferred to the Metals Division. UCC 013086 A 4CUr n L/ ASBESTOS".-- HYDRATED__ METAJ___ SILICATE S E R P EJLUJLE Chrysotile AMPJi IBQ.LE Crocidolite Amosite Anthoph/llite Tremolite Actinolite 3B UCC 013087 A ' 404-1 GENERAL ASBESTOS INFORMATION - U.S. AII^ Chrysotile Major Sources li.S., Canada, *>{HSsrA- ^.tipo rt. Crocidolite Amosite So. Africa So. Africa Applications 1978 Estimated U.S. Consumption CEMENT, TILE, friction materials, TEXTILES, PLASTICS, INSULATION, ASPHALTICS 632,000 T REINFORCING, INSULATION INSULATION, PACKINGS 16,500 T 1,500 T TOTAL (prwlucVi, mF rvutr AJWurJ" 'Unn LA GjtvuJy UCC 013088 tftiTflOO'T b50, GOD A '4 04 2 3 FORMULA COMPARATIVE DATA FOR ASBESTOS MINERALS CHRYSOTILE 3Mg0*2Si02*2H20 ^CROCIDOLITE Na20*Fe203*3FeO* 8Si02* H2O ^AMOSITE 1. 5MgO5i5FeO* 8Si02*H20 ANTHOPHYLLITE 7Mg0*8Si02* H20 COMPOSITION,% Si 02 MgO FeO Fe203 A1203 h2o CaO Na20 Ca0+Na20 37-44 39-44 0-6 0-5 0-2 12-15 0-5 - 49-53 0-3 13-20 17-20 - 2-5 - 4-8 - 49-53 1-7 34-44 - 2-9 2-5 - - 0-3 56-58 28-34 3-12 - 0-2 1-6 - - CRYSTALS FINE FIBERS BRITTLE FIBERS PRISMATIC CRYSTALS PRISMATIC CRYSTALS COLOR TEXTURE FLEXIBILITY HARDNESS,Mohs FIBER DIA., A TENSILE. Mpsi SURFACE CHG. RES. TO ACID RES. TO ALK. GRAY/GREEN SOFT/SILKY VERY GOOD 2.5-4 180-300 800 POSITIVE POOR GOOD BLUE HARSH GOOD 4 600-900 600 NEGATIVE GOOD GOOD GRAY/BROWN HARSH GOOD 5.5-6 600-900 200 NEGATIVE GOOD FAIR GRAY HARSH POOR 5.5-6 600-900 <4 NEGATIVE VERY GOOD GOOD SOURCE: MODERN PLASTICS ENCYCLOPEDIA (1972-3), AND ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY, VOLUME 2, P. 136 (1948). Kidif hurm-fiil Amw* ,, UCC 013089 A 04 4- Positive Surface Charge Flexibility Tensile Strssth Lew Reftuotve Index Voitov* **"' ij- e> .fc,_ -aC A ' 4 l) "4 4 UCC 013090 ELECTRON MICROGRAPH ILLUSTRATIONS Dry processed asbestos fibers Wet processed Calidria asbestos fibrils UCC 013091 O4b MAJOR WORLD SOURCES OF ASBESTOS (Based on 1977 USBM Estimates) COUNTRY USSR Canada So. Africa So. Rhodesia F.R. of China Italy Brazil U.S.A. Australia TOTAL SHORT TONS 2,710,000 1,700,000 A19,000 220,000 220,000 170,000 105,000 102,000 61,000 5,879,000 UCC 013092 A O+O m CHRYSOTILE ASBESTOS CLASSIFICATION o UJ UJ UJ CJ O <PQ z UJ cc 'sj D> Q_ OC hsJ C3 --1 - z o 1-- r o Oa. 33 352 218 i-- ooLO <--1 CD CD --1 CO O LTV --1 r--1 1 11i ooND rv. CO CD CM CD CO OO ND ND K> i--1 */ i i--i <--i CO 1o-- n2 o o ce o_ z o f o1-- t--i cx u_ ** 1-- z1-- _l UJ % Ul u_ e Ul C_J % ex Ul CO CO CL. 5 Ul o < _J I-- o_ -- CO 1-- UJ X m CD Ul CO 1-- <n <c a o u ex h-- Cl. UJ z *N o CO 1C o1- _J => a: < CD U*s s Q o ZD z EZ -- LL o oz o *--i ex _J _J ~y 1- c; _J CD Ul LU > cs ofl z cc Ll_ Ul o a. o < Cl Cl s 'S UJ a _J a: o 1---- _PQl _l ex oo _j 2T. UL- ex zo; UJ ex m Ul ca OC - U_ *--* UJ u LL- PQ to Ol z UJ U_ CJ _J CO CO z ID ce Ul 1-- UJ C=3 z--> Z-- UJ a. lc-o ex o Q- DC < z CO CO Q_ CO i Q (=5 crt Z3 in ID K K o cao: -4 v> UCC 013093 g A ',404-7 U.S. Chrysotile Consumption - 19Z8 Asbestos-cement pipe Flooring Products* Friction Products Roofing Products* Asbestos-cement sheet Coatings & compounds* Packings S gaskets Paper Insulation (Thermal & Electric) Textiles Plastics* Other* Tons 153,000 147,000 86,400 61,000 41,400 35,200 25,600 22,400 19,200 9,600 6.400 32,000 % of Total 24.0 23.0 13.5 ' 9.5 6.5 5.5 4.0 3.5 3.0 1.5 1.0 5.0 TOTAL 640,000 100 **"Asbestos", December 1978, pp. 16-18 * Markets in which UCC participates UCC 013094 A * 40^3 UNUSUAL CHARACTERISTICS OF CALIDRIA COALINGA ORE 1. ALL CHRYSOTILE 2. ALL SHORT-FIBER 3. RANDOM-ORIENTED FIBERS 4. OVER 50% FIBER CONTENT 5. STRIP-MINING UCC 013095 A i 4 049 Z2. CALIDRIA ASBESTOS PRODUCTION wanffltBZ '**"*** 3ea- I /' | UCC 013096 # a -/ tr* *> - A : . '-: IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTICS OF CALTDRIA FIBER HIGH SURFACE AREA, 60-80 n2/gn * HIGH TENSILE STRENGTH, UP TO 800,000 p*i CATIONIC SURFACE CHARGE COLLOIDAL FORM, AVERAGE L/D OF 200 EXTREMELY HICH PURITY, 90-991 FIBER ESSENTIALLY INERT HIGH TEMPERATURE STA3ILITY-TO ABOUT 700C LOW REFRACTIVE INDEX. 1.51 - 1.55 UCC 013097 A' CHRYSOTILE ASBESTOS PRODUCTS PROPERTIES' UCC 013098 magnetite reflectance specific dry bulk grit (brightness) surface density (%) (% MgO) (m */g) (Ib/ft*) 1 1 -- UCCHIGH PURITY 0.5 75-76 50-70 3-4 wet bulk volume (m i/2 g ) 990 water oil * retea adsorption fg/20g) _C_m_l/_IO_g_) i 40 10-14 "OO ootoi UCC STANDARD 2-3 60-70 40-60 10-12 CCMJ 7-9 QUEBEC NO. 7 3 -4 55-65 10-30 14-16 0 orSOo1 4-5 CALIDRIA ASBESTOS DOMESTIC APPLICATIOMS AREAS 0) Floor Tile (1) Phenolic Compounds (1) Roofing Compounds 0) Asphaltic Coatings (1) Rubber-Sheet Goods (2) Adhesives (2) Sealants (2) Polyester Laminates (2) Coatings (1) Drilling Muds (1) Miscellaneous SG-100 SG-200 SG-210 HPO SG-210 HPO SG-130 SG-144 RG-110 HPP RG-100 RG-144 RG-244 RG-144 RG-244 RG-244 CG-135 RG-144 RG-244 Visb. CSV SHUR (1) Asbestos Industry (2) Non-Asbestos In<^is,tAyO 5 UCC 013099