Document RadnBjbeGmB46wGr1nBYKKKXn

Et h y l Ga s o l i n e Co r po r a t i o n Da y t o n Div is io n Mu t u a l Ho m e B u il d in g II. A.M a c k DIVISION MANAGER S.T. P r u i t t A SSIST A N T DIVISION MANAGER PERSONAL - CONFIDENTIAL Da y t o n ,Oh io March 22, 1943. Dr. R. A. Kehoe. D ear Doc: This w ill confirm ay conversation w ith Dr. K arl K itzm iller re la tiv e to our d is c u s s io n on Monday, March 1 5 th , re g a rd in g th e c le a n in g o f Tank No. 101 a t th e G ulf R e fin in g Company te r m in a l, L o u i s v i l l e , K entucky, by L. M. S la c k , J r . At my r e q u e s t B i l l Newman c o n ta c te d M r. 7/. P. Lynch, G u lf' s C o n s tru c tio n forem an on t h i s p a r t i c u l a r ta n k c le a n in g , and Mr. J . G. Schang, G u lf 's T erm in al Super in ten d en t, and obtained th e fo llow ing inform ation. On F e b ru a ry 4 th and 5th ^ H | ^ H H B ^ . c a s u a l l a b o r e r , and*___ G ulf em ployee, e n te re d ta n k 101 p r o p e r ly c jS f n e c R n d w earing blow er ra a sk ^ n d removec approxim ately 20 b u sh els o f slu d g e over a p e rio d o f 10 to 12 h o u rs. D uring th e tim e th e s e gen tlem en were rem oving th e s lu d g e , M r. Vi. P. Lynch o b serv ed t h e men w orking i n th e ta n k v e ry c lo s e ly , and Mr. H. G. S o u th w o rth , S u p e rin te n d e n t o f O p e ra tio n s f o r G u lf, made c o n sta n t checks w ith Mr. Lynch by a c tu a lly v i s i t i n g th e ta n k and by c a ll in g him on th e te le p h o n e . On F e b ru a ry 5 th o u r M r. L . M. S la c k , J r . was p r e s e n t f o r th e work and o b serv ed t h a t t h e men were p r o p e r ly c lo th e d and wear i n g mas k s . A f te r th e slu d g e was removed a c c o rd in g t o th e men w orking i n th e ta n k , entered the tank w ith o u t p ro p e r equipm ent f o r a s h o r t in s p e c tio n . F in d in g t h a t some s lu dge s t i l l r e mained in th e tank he im m ediately went out and asked th a t and a g a in e n t e r th e ta n k and remove th e re m a in d e r o f th e s ^ S ^ ^ T h e s e men were p ro p e rly clo th e d and wore masks f o r t h i s p a r t o f th e work. A fte r th e rem aining p o rtio n o f th e sludge had been removed th e tan k was th e n flu s h e d w ith a h ig h p re s s u re f i r e hose f o r a number o f hours from th e o u t s id e o f th e ta n k , th e w a te r th e n pumped t o a p i t a llo w in g th e slu d g e t o s e t t l e . At t h i s p o in t t h e G ulf R e fin in g Company r e q u e s te d t h a t th e work b e h u r r ie d a s much as p o ssib le due to th e f a c t th a t th ey had 40 alco h o l tank cars on th e s id in g w aitin g to b e u n lo a d e d . The f o l l owing men th e n e n te r e d th e ta n k w ith o u t any p r o t e c t i on o th e r th an r ubber boots: ana a n o i~ u u ir ahn ,, o u r r e p r e s e n t a t i v e . T hese men s p e n ^ ^ ^ o u a ^ o r f i v e h o u rs i n th e tank"w ithout proper c lo th in g andm asks sweeping and brushing sawdust so as to dry up th e ta n k . D uring t h is work Mr. and The m a jo rity o f th e saw dust was removed around Sunday noon, F eb ru ary 7 th , and th e Government a lc o h o l in sp e c to r en tered th e tank w ithout p ro te c tio n and approved th e tank f o r th e storage of alcohol. . Dr. R. A. Kehoe Page Two March 2 2 , 19A3 _ On Monday, Feb ru a ry 8 th , en^ere(^ the c B P ^ S d re ra o v e ^ sffle ^ ^ H ie se gentlem en d id t h i s work w ith o u t p ro p er c lo th in g o r blow er masks. D uring Mr. Newman's c o n ta c t w ith Mr. and Mr. on March 12 th th e y a d v ise d him t h a t 'f l H H H I P had b e e K ^ ^ B g nervous and had a lo s s o f app e t i t e a few days a f t e r th e tan k c lea n in g had been com pleted. They a lso s ta te d t h a t ^ f l H m B B h had been s e n t to a l o c a l d o c to r b y t h e G u lf R e fin in g Company a s k in g th a t n ^ o e checked fo r lead poisoning. T h ed o cto r advised th a t he should be o p e ra te d upon f o r a p p e n d i c i t i s . M r . i n f o r m e d t h e d o c to i^ h a t _ h e was n o t h a v in ^ a n y p a in i n th e l o c a t i o n o f t h e a p p e n d ix ^ and. i n s t e a d b o th and M r.^ B H B jsta rte d ta k in g cold m edicine, and a f te r a sh o rt w hile were fe e B n ^ g o o d ag ain . These gentlem en b e lie v e th ey had bad colds due to th e f a c t th a t th ey were working on th e o u ts id e o f th e ta n k w h ile i t was r a in in g and snow ing. None o f th e o th e r gentlem en mentioned above co n tracted a cold or had any nervous fe e lin g . 7,h e n Mr. Newman made t h i s c o n ta c t on M arch 1 2 th a l l o f t h e above g e n tle men who e n te r e d th e ta n k w ere f e e l i n g good and w ere 'w orking, and t h e r e was no s u s p ic io n among them t h a t th e y had been d o in g so m eth in g dangerous o r had b ro k en any r e g u l a t i o n s . Mr. Nevman o b ta in e d th e above in fo r m a tio n by s t a t i n g t h a t i t was n e c e s s a ry t o com pile a d e ta ile d re p o rt f o r th e c lea n in g o f ta n k s i n which a lc o h o l would be s to re d , and t h i s in fo r m a tio n vas g iv e n w i l l i n g l y . D r. K itz m ille r a d v ise d me t h a t h e was o f t h e o p in io n t h a t I sh o u ld n o t co n tact G u lf's D ivision o ffic e in L o u isv ille and d iscu ss th is su b je c t u n til I receiv e a d e c is io n from you. T h erefo re, I w ill abide by h is in s tr u c tio n s and w ill aw ait word from you on th e above s u b je c t. Doc, th e re a s o n we checked im m ediatel y on t h i s ta n k c le a n in g a t th e G u lf te r m in a l was due t o t h e f a c t t h a t i n lo o k in g o v e r ^ H B p t i n i e from J a n u a ry 1 8 th to F eb ru ary 1 8 th , we fo u n d t h a t he had s p e n t 13 days i n o b s e rv in g ta n k c le a n in g . You ad v is e d me t h a t t f H J P ^ f i r s t t e s t was ta k e n on F e b ru a ry 1 1 th and th e second on F e b ru a ry 2 3 rd . The ta n l^ a b G u lf to o k th r e e days s t a r t i n g F eb ru ary 5 th and was t h e most l o g i c a l p la c e to make an im m ediate check which r e s u lte d in our fin d in g what had happened. I d id n o t check th e ta n k c le a n in g o f F eb ru ary 1 7 th which was betw een th e two ex am inations L ouis had a t y o u r o f f i c e b e ca u se he s t a t e d t o me t h a t i t was n o t n e c e s s a ry t o e n t e r th e ta n k s w h a tso e v e r. I am g iv in g you t h i s in fo rm a tio n s in c e t h e r e was no p o s s ib le chance of Louis being exposed to le ad a f te r th e tank clean in g fo r Gulf on th e 5 th . I am happy to h e a r t h a t has improved and I c e rta in ly ap p re cia te your cooperation in keeping th is m attej^T O hfidential as I b eliev e th is experience has taught a le s s o n . On t h e o th e r hand I t h in k i t would b e a good id e a f o r you to c a ll have a ta l k w ith him sometime i n th e v e ry n ear f u tu r e . Very tr u ly yours, HAHsf 00G7305 H. A. MACK.