Document VVeBxqgOLVmQk4ro6LdQd5Qo

K'.VN .. ........... KlAv______ RGJv ...... :-NH ... -^ `.ISO ......... February 8, 1908 Mr. S. 0. Weaver Vice President and General Manager Ceaent Asbestos Products Company 2144 Highland Avenue, South Birmingham, Alabama 35205 Dear Davis: The attached progress report on the environmental health problem in the asbestos ceaent pipe area was received this amrning from Mr. Ball. I am sending a copy along on the assumption that you did not receive a copy directly. Yours sincerely, Attach. Charles F. Barber bcc: UJMessel - A/M - w/attach. KWHelson - A/M - w/attach. t ASARCO ALV 0002517 eMeftJf&it Mositwi Ball The attached is a progress report on our common environ mental health problem in the asbestos-cement pipe area. As agreed at our meeting on January 3, this information is to be kept strictly on a top executive level. It is definitely not to be distributed to the field. It is with this understand ing that the attachments are sent to you. 2/7/68 ASARCO ALV 0002518 General Headquarters February 5, 1968 H. M. Ball Herb: Attached is a progress report on our environmental health project in the asbestoscement area. In line with our agreement at the January 3rd meeting of a/c pipe manufacturers, you may want to pass this report on to them. If there are questions before so doing, please let me know. cc-Dr. George W. Wright, Cleveland,Ohio M. Harris J. Baker W. P. Raines ASARCO ALV 0002519 PROGRESS REPORT Environmental Health Project Asbestos-Cement Pipe______ At the conclusion of the January 3rd meeting of asbestoscement pipe manufacturers, several of us volunteered for specific assignments. This is the first report of progress on those assignments. Assignment: H. M. Ball to visit the General Counsel of the Cast Iron Pipe Research Association to discuss the desirability of eliminating reference to alleged health hazards in the promotion of various types of water pipe. PROGRESS Mr. Ball and Jay Baker carried out this assignment on January 18, meeting with both the General Counsel and the Executive Secretary of the Association at the Counsel's Washington, D.C. office. Mr. Ball has reported the successful results of that meeting to the other a/c pipe manufacturers. J-M Pipe Division people report no new "incidents" since that time. Assignment: F. J. Solon, Jr. to visit Dr. Murray Brown of the U.S. Public Health Service to sound him out on what PHS plans e to^ do about questions regarding the safety of a/c pipe and whether he would be receptive to the idea of broadening any PHS study to include cast iron, plastic and other types of pipe used to carry potable water. ASARCO ALV 0002520 2- - PROGRSSS At a subsequent meeting with Dr. George W. Wright, Medical Consultant to the President of Johns-Manville, it was deemed advisable for Dr. Wright, who knows Dr. Brown well, to make the contact. He did so by phone the week of January 21. Dr. Brown told Dr. Wright he was aware of the problem, that Senator Gore of Tennessee had shown interest in it and that he (Dr. Brown) had an appointment with Dr. Stewart, the Surgeon General, that week and that the subject of a/c pipe could very well come up. He promised to report after his visit with Dr. Stewart. He did not report that week so Dr. Wright called him January 31 to learn: 1. The subject did not come up in Dr. Brown's meeting with the Surgeon General. 2. If there is to be a test program on a/c pipe, it will probably be given to Dr. Brown's group - and that he has already made up his mind to include cast iron, plastic and other types of pipe in the program. 3. Dr. Brown has written to Dr. I. J. Selikoff asking for a copy of Dr. Selikoff's letter to Dr. Bistowish, Director of Health of Nashville and Davidson County. He is awaiting receipt of that letter before writing to Senator Gore, as the Senator had requested. He ASARCO ALV 0002521 -3- has had no pressure from Senator Gore in the meantime and believes the political pressure is off. In light of the above, it would not seem to be necessary for a delegation of a/c pipe manufacturers to visit Dr. Brown or anyone else in the PHS at this time regarding the inclusion of cast iron pipe, etc., in any test program. However, we will keep in touch with the situation through Dr. Wright so that should consideration of a test program become imminent, we will be on top of it and can then mutually decide strategy. Assignment; Johns-Manville will prepare a position "background" paper on the a/c pipe environmental health question. PROGRESS The first rough draft has been completed. To the comments of Dr. Wright which form a firm base for this paper, we wanted to add those of Dr. Selikoff. Ivan Sabourin, Counsel to the Quebec Asbestos Mining Association, obtained from Dr. Selikoff a copy of the Selikoff letter to Dr. Bistowish along with his (Dr. Selikoff's) permission to give it to F. J. Solon, Jr. This gave us direct knowledge of the letter instead of the indirect knowledge, we had had previously. J Now, in order to get "our own" letter of comment. Dr. Fred Pundsack of Johns-Manville who, with a group including ASARCO ALV 0002522 -4- Mr. Sabourin, has been having exploratory scientific meetings with the Selikoff Mount Sinai group for several months, wrote to Dr. Selikoff on January 30th, requesting his comments on health aspects of a/c pipe. We understand that Dr. Selikoff will answer this request - so that in the next two weeks, we should have our own letter from which we can excerpt for our position "background" paper. If this works out as scheduled we should have a final position paper ready by March 1st. Assignment: F.J. Solon, Jr. to talk with Dr. Wright re possible research programs on the a/c pipe health question. PROGRESS Dr. Wright contacted Dr. Robert T. deTreville of the Industrial Hygiene Foundation, Pittsburgh, where much ` asbestos fiber research has been and is being carried on. Dr. deTreville's letter to Dr. Wright with an attached report from Dr. Paul Gross, shows that in tests already underway, involving rat feeding, no abnormalities have yet been found in the gastro intestinal tracts of these animals in the 21 months since the test program began. This is encouraging and we hope this preliminary report will be borne out on the final report when all animals v have been processed. We have no date as yet for this final report. ASARCO ALV 0002523 -5- Since these tests involve chrysotile fiber only. Dr- Wright is now considering the advisability of a similar test program involving crocidilite fiber. This will be further discussed at a meeting on February 20. Further on the Nashville "situation": Attached are copies of two clippings from the Nashville Banner, January 17 and the Nashville Tennessean, January 19 showing that Dr. Bistowish is still openly opposing a/c pipe despite the point of view expressed in Dr. Selikoff's letter to him. At a meeting this past week with Moke Harris and Jay Baker of the J-M Pipe Division, we agreed on strategy aimed at getting the "full story" into the Nashville papers(i.e., Dr. Selikoff's letter to Dr. Bistowish which takes a much more temperate view of the hazard than Dr..Bistowish has thus far verbalized to the press and others.) WATER CONTAMINATION STUDIES At the January 3rd meeting we covered briefly the water test program we were getting underway at the Manville Research Center. Attached is a confirming memo from Ed Fenner, Director of our Environmental Control Department regarding that program. ASARCO ALV 0002524 6- - Generally, I would say good progress is being made. We will continue to report as that progress warrants. F. J. Solon, Jr. J ASARCO ALV 0002525