Document OEEmpeL5yN7dD1o3g0keJLo4v

FORM NO.IO OLnt t e r - f j f i c e C O R R E S P O^ TD ENTCE E t h y l Ga s o l i n e Co r p o r a t i o n 25 Br o a d w a y Ne w Y o r k P enns G rove, IT. J . , March 24, 1 9 2 8. CG: M essrs A. E, M ittn a c h b J . L. Stecher D r. H o b ert ICehoe, C ollege o f M edicine, Cin e i n n a t i , O h io . Dear D r. H ehoe:- I w ish to c a ll your a tte n tio n to a co n d itio n th a t is c u rren t here a t th e D lenaer p la n t, and upon w hich would a p p re c ia te an ex p ressio n o f o p in io n from you.' '* H ere o f l a t e we have been r e c e i v i n g q u i t e a few r e t u r n e d empty ETHYL F lu id drums which c o n ta in an e x c e ssiv e amount o f s c a le and r u s t on th e in s id e w hich cannot be s a t i s f a c t o r i l y removed by th e p re s e n t equipment a t th e b le n d e r. I f th e drums are r e f i l l e d w ith o u t removing t h i s s c a le , a p o s sib le hazard w ill la te r p re se n t i t s e l f d u rin g the, f i e l d m ixing o f f l u i d th ro u g h some o f th e s c a le g e t t i n g in to , th e e d u c to r and r e s u ltin g in a sto p p ag e. The rem oval o f slu d g e o r sc a le from th e ed u cto r in th e f ie ld being obviously a dangerous p ra c tic e , th e only place to guard ag ain st i t would be h ere a t th e p la n t. At th e E astern A lcohol C o rporation's p la n t, s itu a te d ad jacen t to the T etra E th y l Lead P l a n t , we have made some drum c le a n in g e x p e rim e n ts on t h e i r c h a in -tu m b lin g m achines and found th a t t h i s equipm ent co m p lete ly removes th e s c a le from th e drums and g iv es them a c le a n smooth i n t e r io r s u rfa c e . 1Tow, o u r p la n ', o f o p e r a t io n w ould be so m eth in g l i k e t h i s : A drum, h a v in g b e e n c le a n e d a s th o ro u g h ly a s p o s s i b l e w ith o u r own e q u ip m e n t, i s in s p e c te d and fo u n d s t i l l to . c o n t a in a n u n d u e ,amount o f h a rd s c a l e , (w hich may be lo o s e n e d l a t e r by t h e s o lv e n t a c tio n o f th e f lu i d o r by th e im pacts th a t th e drum re c e iv e s d u rin g t r a n s i t ) . The drum th e n i s t o be s e n t t o th e A lc o h o l p l a n t t o b e tu m b le d . We p ro p o s e t o u se o n ly o u r own l a b o r so t h a t t h i s o p e r a t i o n w i l l be u n d er m e d ic a l o b s e r v a ti o n . The plug i s q u ic k ly removed from th e drum, ch ain s and w eak su lp h u ric a c id a re in s e r te d , th e p lu g r e tu r n e d and th e drum s e t up on th e m achine. A fte r te n to f i f t e e n m in u tes re v o lv in g , th e s c a le i s co m p letely rem oved. The drum i s th e n r o ll e d to a le a d - lin e d tro u g h , th e ch ain s removed by a hook and p la ced in a bucket of strong a c id , and th e w a s te a c id p o u re d oui^ About one q u a r t o f a l c o h o l i s th e n p la c e d i n t h e drum, t o p re v e n t r u s tin g d u rin g th e tim e th a t i t i s re tu rn e d to th e b le n d e r, w here th e drum i s a g a in put th ro u g h th e re g u la r clean in g p ro cess (a lk a lin e washing to n e u tra liz e any rem aining a c i d ) . I n c i d e n t a l l y th e weak s u lp h u r ic a c i d u se d t o hlp ''c u t " th e s e a l s s h o u ld a l s o decompose any harm ful o rg an ic le a d compounds, . H E 0000786 John S ch aefer - D r. Ilehoe 3-2 4 -2 8 2 J r a n k ly speaking, th e re is no fo rc e d -a ir hood a t th e A lcohol p la n t, th e only v e n tila tio n being th e n a tu ra l passage o f a ir through th e la rg e work-room. - Bo you ap p ro v e o f th e ab o v e p ro c e d u re fro m t h e M ed ica l v ie w p o in t w ith re s p e c t to any hazard? The only weak p o in t as I see i t i s during th e tim e th a t p lu g s are f i r s t removed from th e c o n ta in e rs to in s e r t th e ch ain ana a c id . 3ven s o , th e re i s only a momentary p o s s i b i l i t y o f exposure to any fumes from th e drum. P le a s e l e t me h av e y o u r comments and a d v ic e o n t h i s m a tte r a t y o u r e a r l i e s t co n v en ien ce. As you w i l l r e a l i z e th e se drums e v e n tu a lly must be clean ed of s c a le , anu I ask your h e lp to work out th e b e s t method from th e m edical and o p e ra tin g v iew points. At the presen t tim e, I th in k i t in ad v isab le to i n s t a l l any c o stly equipm ent o f o u r own to do th e jo b s in c e we s h a l l o n ly w an t t o s c o u r ab o u t f i f t y t o s ix ty drums a month. ,>17ith b e st p e rs o n a l r e g a r d s , X rem ain