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UNION CARBIDE CORPORATION______________ Corporate Communications Department MEMORANDUM TO: S.L. Baye W.F. McClure R.F. Wolff Old Ridgebury Road Danbury, CT 06817 November 3, 1983 C ElV Ed NOV 3 1983 F. wolfs CC: A.S. Hart J.W. Goetz R. Leviton FROM: Ed Van Den Ameele SUBJECT: Statement for Approval re OSHA Asbestos Standard Following, for Law Department and Metals Division approvals, is a statement prepared by John Meyers at King City to respond to press queries re the temporary standard on asbestos filed yesterday by OSHA: - '- / .^ / / MWe do not expect anyf short term yidverse effects on our operations in California nor on the operations of most of our customers. We do not oppose a review of the asbestos standard through normal rulemaking procedures, but we feel that the issuance of an emergency temporary standard is unnecessary and inappropriate at this time. "We are not aware of any scientific proof that the current permissible exposure level of 2 fibers per cc is unsafe, especially for chrysotile asbestos.iftowever, it is prudent to reduce exposures below this level to the extent feasible. "Normal rulemaking procedures would provide-atu excellent forum for discussing the many complex issues surrounding the asbestos issue: health effects, monitoring limitations, risk assessment, technical feasibility, fiber type, industrial process, etc. h^a^ngs shpjild atfi^gi^^orl^^x^rts^And v "`jLle to all partieV: standard cona-ists of^ysome erlfcirety." irewing 'bhar'aocument in-- The Asbestos Information Association has already responded to media queries from USA TODAY, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL and BUSINESS WEEK. There was a short item on CBS-TV News this morning and also the attached front page story in today's NEW"YORK TIMES. Since views from individual companies will undoubtedly also be sought by the press, would appreciate a call (Ext. 6985) with your approval as soon as possible. Many thanks. A / EWV/m UCC 001130 ; AY, NOVEMBER 3, 1983-- W TIMES EMERGENCY RULING SET BY JOB AGENCY ON ASBESTOS PERIL `Grave Danger' to 375,000 Is Cited as Permissible Level of Exposure Is Cut 75% ByTbe Anociatad Ptm> WASHINGTON, Nov. 2 -- The Labor Department, warning that 375,000 workers faced "grave danger," issued an emergency standard today that slashes >by 75 percent the permissible exposure to asbestos fibers by employ ees in the manufacturing, construction and maritime industries. An agency of the department, the Oc cupational Safety and Health Adminis tration, put out an Emergency Tempo rary Standard lowering the legal asbes tos exposure level over an eight-hour day from 2 fibers a cubic centimeter of air to half a fiber. The emergency rule, the first by the Reagan Administration, is enforceable immediately upon publication in the Federal Register. A spokesman, Doug las Clark, said the agency hoped that would occur Friday. Agency Risk Assessments In announcing the action. Labor Sec retary Raymond J. Donovan said the job safety agency's risk assessment predicted "three excess cancer deaths per 1,000 workers exposed for one year at the current permissible exposure level." Those studies also showed "risk of grave danger" to people who have even short-term asbestos exposure, the agency said, adding that the mortality rate was 53 times higher for smokers who are exposed to asbestos. ; Such studies indicate that lowering the asbestos level to half a fiberto cubic centimeter of air will "save many lives," the agency said. Asbestos, a fibrous mineral widely used as a fire retardant in buildings and reinforcement in concrete pipes, has been shown to cause cancer and de bilitating lung Unions representing workers in con struction and manufacturing indus tries had been pressing the Adminis tration to take such emergency action. An asbestos health standard has been on the books since 1972, not long after the Occupational Safety and Health Ad ministration was created, but has re mained unchanged since 1978. Under Government procedures, the job safety agency must propose a per manent asbestos standard and seek public comment on it within 00 days of publication of the emergency rule. The agency administrator, Thorne G. Auchter, said last April that he was speeding OSHA's work on tightening the existing asbestos standard. Inalet- Continued on Page BIS, Column 1 Stiff Job Rule on Asbestos Set Continued From Page Ai , Issuance of the emergency standard was spurred in part by increasing con ter to Sheldon Samuels, director of cern about the exposure of construction health and safety of the Industrial industry workers to asbestos at work Union Department of the American sites where buildings were being Federation of Labor and Congress of demolished. The agency said in Octo Industrial Organizations, Mr. Auchter ber that it was stepping up Government said, "Personally, I am very con inspections of these sites. cerned about the asbestos problem." He said at the time that the agency planned to issue new rules by June 1984. Mr. Samuels said he was pleased by the agency's move, against asbestos, but added: "The real test is whether The emergency standard also re jquires that employers train their work- era in the handling of asbestos. The standard permits wide flexibility on how companies achieve the lower exposure levels. Such methods include removing fibers from workplace sites they have put into place the enforce with suction equipment, reorganizing ment mechanism. It's the quality, rather than the quantity, of enforce work practices and furnishing respira tors to workers; ment." Unions contend that strict engineer Mr. Samuels also said, "I want to see 200 hygienists out there" inspecting work sites immediately. ing controls are the best solution to the problem. Mr. Donovan noted, however, that the Occupational Safety and Health Act ! He said he was "withholding judg required that such health standards ment" on the meaning of OSHA's ac call for corrective measures that are tion until he learned more about how "dearly feasible" to industry. Similar the agency planned to bring about com standards have been successfully chal pliance with the regulation. lenged in court by industry. Thousands of Lawsuits Three large asbestos concerns, the Manville Corporation, UNR Industries Inc. and the Amatex Corporation, have filed for bankruptcy law protection in the face of thousands of lawsuits by for mer workers who claim they con "That is why the decision to issue an E.T.S. was made only after careful deliberation within the department and detailed review of our work outside the department by experts from the public and private sector scientific communi ties," the Labor Secretary said. tracted respiratory problems as a re sult of theirjobs. UCC 001131 ;------------ ttfsa------------- ' New Rule Limiting j Asbestos Exposure l Is Issued by OSHA f By Joann S. Lublin I StaffReporter of The Wall Street Journal * WASHINGTON--In a step rarely taken, ' the Labor Department placed immediate ? tougher limits on occupational exposure to l asbestos, which has been linked to fatal dis- eases. & The department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued an emer gency temporary standard that sets maxi mum workplace exposure for asbestos at kg fS) 500,000 fibers per cubic meter of air. The current level, set in 1972, is two million fi bers per cubic meter. The temporary rule, r sought by 14 unions, takes effect Friday and remains in effect for six months while the job-safety agency decides whether to make the tougher standard permanent. This marks the first time OSHA has is sued an emergency temporary standard since 1978. The asbestos industry is expected to challenge the ruling in federal court. Al though unions won the desired emergency V if ruling, they remain unhappy with OSHA be cause they wanted even more stringent new limits and fear the agency won't step up its enforcement efforts. The emergency rule reflects new scien: tific evidence linking low-level exposure of asbestos to asbestosis, a lung disease, and mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lungs. An OSHA analysis found 50,000 work ers in the U.S. are exposed to between 500, 000 and two million fibers per cubic meter of air, averaged over an eight-hour day. "That really is the basis'' for the .emer gency rule, said Patrick Tyson, OSHA's dep uty chief. "We had to demonstrate that there are a number of workers at risk." The agency believes the new exposure limit may prevent 200 of those employees from dying from cancer, Mr. Tyson added. OSHA has agonized for months about whether to issue the emergency ruling, be cause of its poor track record with such steps in the past. Industry groups have sued the job-safety agency over five of the eight emergency standards issued since the agency's inception in 1971. Only one of those five rulings has been fully upheld by the courts, a standard limiting exposure to acry lonitrile, a chemical widely used to make w synthetic rubber, plastics and other prod ucts that has been linked to cancer. a ji ( ] Wincorp Dissidents Clr>t