Document X7qGbLV13bpkz1oXLog9Xy16w

vki v SAFETY COMMITTEE O. B . Le w i s CHAIRM AN Et h y l - Ga s o l i n e Co r po r a t i o n ' Gi i h y s l k r B u i l d i n g 105 Le x in g t o n Av e n u e N k w Y o KK August 9 , 1937 MEMORANDUM TO - Dr. R. A. Kehoev Dr. G. Edgar Mr. H. . Kaley Mr. J0hn Schaefer Gentlemen: For your in fo rm a tio n I am a tta c h in g the fo llo w in g correspondence r ec eiv ed in connection w ith the recen t accid en t which occurred during the clean in g of a tank a t G u lf's plant at Cleveland, Ohio. Mr. W. M. McEldowney's l e t t e r o f August 3r <l to g eth er w ith the various correspondence mentioned th erein . Mr. E. A. Mack's l e t t e r of August 5th g iv in g a com plete rep o rt of the en tire incident. gel Enclosure HE 00176.13 GTJLP OIL COEPCfRATIOH Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania August 3, 1937 Mr. <J. C. Taylor Ethyl Gasoline Corporation Chrysler Building Hew York, H. Y. Dear Mr. Taylor: S in ce Mr. McSldowney's telep h on e co n v ersa tio n w ith you on J u ly 2$, we have r e c e iv e d the enclosed reports iron cur Toledo o ffic e deal ing with th is p articu lar accid en t. We "believe you w i l l he in t e r e s t e d in review in g them and j u s t as soon as a d d itio n a l communications are re c e iv e d , we w i l l forward them to you. Very tru ly yours, W. M. McEldowney Per: C. E. Milne 0017614 H. H. Johnston E. C, Meyer a t Toledo, Ohio at Pittsburgh, Pa. Subject Accident - Cleveland Terminal 7/ 29/ 37 There w i l l go forward to you in th e r e g u la r wa ' ' co v erin g the death, a p p a ren tly "due to le a d p o iso n in g of' pump ana tank mechanic a t the C leveland T erm inal. On July 15th and loth we had three of our men clean tank #209 which had con tain ed Texas P ire C hief, or E th y liz e d G a so lin e. Before c lea n in g , one of the E th y l men from Dayton, Ohio, in sp e c te d the tank and gave in s tr u c tio n s a s to what should be done in th e way o f k eep in g the bottom w et, e t c . We used a vapor machine and the men were dust masks on in s tr u c tio n s o f the E th yl man. I t i s rep orted th a t a f t e r th ey g o t out of the tank, two o f the men were nervous and were se n t to Dr. C a stle who handles our com pensation work. They d id not retu rn to work the n ext day and, in f a c t , were o f f s ic k . The th ir d man, however, did return to work and kept on working. I understand fu r th e r th at Mr. to a neighborhood d o cto r and then was taken v i o l e n t l y i l l . Ke was adm itted to the h o s p it a l on Mon day, J u ly 26th , and d ied Tuesday n ig h t, J u ly 27 th . I sen t our Mr. Wager who handles a c c id e n ts , over toj C leveland y esterd a y and he secured a l l p o s s ib le in form ation which w i l l be forwarded to you, a s sta te d above, in the reg u la r way. A ls o , he bad the o th er two men examined by our d octor and the;/ are now in the Huron Eoad H o sp ita l fo r tw enty fo u r hour o b serv a tio n and laboratory te s t. At an au top sy made on Mr. by a p a th o lo g is t a t th e Huron Eoad H o sp ita l the v erb a l statem ent was made th at th ere was no q u estio n hut th a t i t was le a d p o is o n in g . However, we w i l l secure a w r itte n r e p o rt. The E th yl G asoline a t Dayton have been a d v ised of t h is death hut I am assum ing th ere are c e r ta in r e p o r ts you may have to make to them. . We, o f co u rse, are q u ite e x e r c is e d regardin g t h is and hope th e o th er two men w i l l come out a l l f i g h t . We w i l l keep you informed. From To Subject G. A. Grants,. . H. C. Meyer Personal Injuries a t Toledo a t Pittsburgh 7/ 29/ 37 On J u ly l o t h we f in is h e d clea n in g Texas sto r a g e tank #209 a t the C leveland term in a^ ^ O n ^ Ju ly 26th I r e c e iv e d a p relim in a ry a c c id e n t report from Cleveland on a ls o a l e t t e r from Mr. Auerbach in which he ex p la in e d that M |H f e .n d ^ m i m ^ w e r e i l l from the e f f e c t s of th e ir work in the tank and were th erefore, not on d u ty. In h i s correspondence he m inim ized t h e ir i l l n e s s s t a t in g th a t he thought most o f t h e ir c o n d itio n was brought about by heavy ea tin g and drinking o f beer a f t e r le a v in g work. On Tuesday Mr. Auerbach phoned me s t a t in g th a t ^ U ^ ^ w a s Quite i l l and th at he was v ery ir r a t io n a l. I im m ediately d isp a tch ed Mr. Wager, our a ccid en t insurance mah to C leveland to p e r s o n a lly in v e s t ig a t e the s it u a t io n , inasmuch as i t seemed v ery unusual to me th a t they should d isp la y th is seriou s illn e s s so long a fte r com pleting the work. I am a tta c h in g h ereto Mr. Wager' s r e p o r t. ' From a l l the f a c t s th a t I am a b le to gather to g eth er i t appears th at our men a t C leveland handled the job in accordance w ith in s tr u c tio n s and; d ir e c t ly under the su p e r v isio n o f th e E th yl G asoline Corporation r e p r e s e n t a t iv e ,: Mr. S ie b e n th a le r . We w i l l o f cou rse forward to you im m ediately com plete a c c id e n t rep o rts as soon as received in this o ffic e . K 0017616 M. A . Wager G. A. Grants EEBSONAD INJURIES f Off ic e Office * > " 1 Deceased 7/ 29/ 37 In accordance with, your in str u c tio n s I went to C leveland yesterd ay and in connection ' '' " unding the circum stances causing the seem- ingly s lig h t i^ a e , serious illn e s s of and fa ta l U ln e ss of ^ a r i s i n ^ p u t f the c le a n in g o f s t o m g ^ ta n S r #209 fo r th e Texas Company whhiicc;h n ad p r e v io u s ly con tain ed F ir e C hief E th y liz e d g a s o lin e the fo llo w in g i s to the "best o f my knowledge the true f a c t s o f the ca se in s o f a r as i t could be determined at that tim e. The th ree above em ployees u ^ "''' ->TMotision o f A. A. K otz, Terminal S u perin.ten d en t, .and fo r e mansh ip o f , b oth o f whom have had p reviou s exp erien ce in the clea n in g o f sto r a g e tan As,""were d ele g a te d to d esca le and clean g e n e r a lly the #209 sto ra g e tank w hich, as above mentioned, had p r e v io u s ly con tain ed e th y liz e d g a s o lin e . This tank had been open w ith a l l manhole c o v e r so ff fo r a p e r io d of from two to th ree months and was th orou gh ly a ir e d a t the time o f c le a n in g . A sample t e s t o f the s c a le in the tank by the E th y l man ffom Dayton, a Mr. S ie b en th a ler I b e lie v e , in d ic a te d th ere was a b s o lu te ly no danger from le a d fumes, and h is in s tr u c tio n s were to go ahead w ith the clea n in g fo llo w in g the u su a l in s t r u c t io n s . I was inform ed by Foreman was working on th is job th a t the E th yl man had e&id no. gas masks were i^ c e s s a r y but th at' dust masks should be worn a t a l l tim es when, w ith in the tank. These in s tr u c tio n s I am inform ed were d e fin ite ly carried out. I n str u c tio n s were th a t the bottom of th e tank was to be kept damp a t a l l tim es and th e se in s tr u c tio n s were a ls o a lle g e d to have "been c a r r ie d o u t. A vapor t e s t o f the a ir w ith in the tank b efo re and a f t e r w ettin g in d i ca ted between 3^' and hfy s o lu tio n which I understand is a n e g lig ib le amount. -- On the p a r tic u la r day the i l l n e s s e s were in cu rred i t whs e x c e e d in g ly hot and, of course, the humidity w ithin the tank probably was very high. The m an ifold w ith in the tank was, so I understand, t i g h t l y c lo s e d and there was no escape o f fumes from th is so u rce. The wet s c a lin g s were b u cketed out and b u ried in accordance w ith the u su al in str u c tio n s. th ree q u arters o f an hour to an hour a t a s t r e t c h . He claim ed of s l i g h t i l l n e s s (nausea) and was im m ediately taken from the job and to ld to remain in the sunshi: and r e s t fo r the remainder of the day. r - 2- , s ^ : y t fH B th e n helped Complete the job and h o th were su b seq u en tly i l l (n a u see a ;^. / l am informeed th at a l l th ree men a f t e r q u ittin g work drank con sid erab le m ilk in an attem pt to throw o f f the nausea. I t i s my fu rth er understanding th a t ate h e a r ty m eals and drank some b e e r . L ater o n s e v e r a l s l i c e s of cucum ber and v in eg a r and then drank more m ilk . On the su p p o sitio n that p o s s ib ly t h is might have had some e f f e c t on h is co n d itio n we brought t h is to the a tte n tio n o f the a tte n d in g p h y sic ia n who, however, a d v ised th a t t h is would have no p a r tic u la r e ff e c t other than the p o s s ib ilit y o f temporary discom fort. seemed to "be a l l rig h t w ith the exception of a s lig h t nausea at various tim es. A ll three men f e l t th at i t was n oth in g s e r io u s a t the: time but when Anna and spent a ra th er s le e p l e s s n igh t Dr C a s tle 's C lin ic , who handles the I n a j u H t y ^ f our in d u s tr ia l c a s e ^ w a s c a lle d and asked to c o n ta c t hoth men which, I understand was done, a3- itlto tiie C lin ic ths fo llo w in g day. As the men became more i l l D rs. C a stle & A ss o c ia te s wpre c a lle d se v e r a l tim es and I understand made s e v e r a l other c a l l s due to the f a c t th at the men were becoming more or l e s s v io l e n t , havin g h a llu c in a tio n s , y e l l i n g and scream ing, e t c . I t was brought out th a t another d octor or two from the neighborhood were c a lle d in who p r e sc r ib e d in the same manner as D rs. C a stle & A s s o c ia te s (brom ides). Both re becoming more and more V io le n t and hys t e i accompanied b y extreme n au se^ an d h a llu c in a tio n s and on Sunday, the 25th , I understand, was lo ck ed up apart from h is fa m ily fo r a p erio d o f time and on Tfonday, the 2 6 th ,m s taken to the Huron Road H o sp ita l, C levelan d, Ohio, where he was p la c e d in a s tr a ig h t j a c k e t. |a t the same time was s u ffe r in g somewhat the same d iso rd ers alth ou gh not as serious. At the time ^ Q m m ^ w a s p laced in the h o sp ita l a Dr. Bryson, atten d in g p h y sic ia n a t the time o f d e a tl^ ^ a ^ c a L le d in and he inform ed me he im m ediately s ta r te d a lab oratory t e s t on for lea d p oison in g, [indications were p r e se n t but i t was to o la t e t o .s u c c e s s f u lly a d m in ister treatalent and) succumbed between 10:00 and 10:30 PM Tuesday, J u ly 27th, was b ein g tr e a te d by Dr. Bryson a t the same time a lth o u g h no la b o ra to ry t e s t hacT been made on him. had, of course, stated w ith Drs. C astle & A ssociates for treatment. Im m ediately upon a s c e r ta in in g that n e ith e r flH w o r had been sub je c te d to a la b o ra to ry t e s t I ordered them in to th e Boron HoajiHosp i t a l fo r a 2h hour ob serv a tio n w ith a lab oratory, t e s t . This w i l l n e c e s s ita te an expense of ap p ro x im a tely $35.00 t o t a l , which I guaranteed in the name o f the company a f t e r my phone co n v ersa tio n w ith you. The r e s u lt s o f th e t e s t s w i l l bfe forwarded to t h is o ffic e . In my co n v ersa tio n w ith the d o cto rs h an dlin g th ese ca ss I in q u ired regard ing th eir conclusion for b ein g more s u s c e p tib le to [the fumes than the other two and was informed th a t undoubtedly i t was due to -the jchem ical com position o f the body which made one more s u s c e p tib le to c e r ta in d ru gs, jg a ses, e t c . than the o th er and t h is seem s to me to he a p la u s ib le ex p la n a tio n thougih n o t c o n c lu s iv e . Hr 0017618 - 3- I found th at an au top sy was under p ro g ress and d ecid ed to aw ait th e fin d ings. I was v e r b a lly informed th a t the autopsy as conducted by the P a th o lo g ist a t the Huron Hoad H osp ital reached, a d e f in it e co n clu sio n th a t the in ju r y ca u sin g the death was le a d p o iso n in g and th a t c e r ta in d e p o s its of same were found in the u rin e and fe c e s su b sta n tia tin g the above statem ent. A w ritten rep ort o f the autopsy w i l l h e ,forwarded to th is o f f ic e . The co n clu sio n s I reached in th is ca se a re a s fo llo w s : There seems to be no p a r t ic u la r n e g lig e n c e a tta ch ed to th is company a lth o u g h , of co u rse, t h is w i l l not d isch arge any o b lig a tio n we may have by reason o f our insurance coverage w ith the In d u str ia l Commission o f Ohio. ;' In c id e n ta l remarks are as fo llo w s ! The E th y l C orporation, Dayton, Ohio has been n o t if ie d o f the death o f th e employee and I understand th ey are now fo llo w in g th e case through, fo r whatever r e s o o n s ib ili t y th e y may have in con n ection w ith same. - ! "' There are a s y e t no com pleted p ap ers, a f f i d a v i t s or sta tem en ts in co n n ection w ith t h is c a se , however, same w i l l be p ro p erly and prom ptly haridled im m ediately upon recieip t. I understand that Mrs. w if e o f the deceased,' has alread y retained an a tto r n e y to handle t h is c a s e . The dependency in v o lv ed in t h is ca se i s the w ife ana;a two year o ld son . K 0017619 Dayton, Ohio August 5 1937 Mr. J. C. Taylor Re Cleaning TAnk 2O9 [. Gulf Refining Co. j Cleveland, Ohio Attention: Mr. 0. B. Lewis Dear Coard, On July 29th, at 10:57 a 776 received the following telegram from Gulf Re fining, Company at Toledo, Ohio: KRe Cleaning storage tank number 209 Cleveland which previously contained Ethylized Gasoline our records indicate your Mr. Siehenthaler oked' te st your instructions followed one employee died autopsy shows lead poisoning wire your instructions to cover handling of case, (signed) Gulf Refining Co." From the above w ire i t would in d ic a te that tank y 209 was clea n ed in accord ance w it- the in s tr u c tio n s which Mr. S ieh e n th a le r had g iv e n them on a number o f o c c a sio n s. R a tu r a lly I was su rp rised upon r e c e iv in g t h is telegram to lea rn of t h is u n fortu n ate in c id e n t and knowing th a t Mr. S ieh en th a ler was c o n ta c tin g the v ariou s r e f i n e r ie s in the C leveland t e r r it o r y I was a b le to lo c a t e him at' th e Gulf R efin in g Cbmpany' s Bulk P lan t a t 11:20 am, ju s t about 25 m inutes a f t e r I r e c e iv e d th e above w ir e . I am C a llin g t h is to your a tte n tio n to l e t you know th a t Mr. S ieh e n th a le r had in mind th a t G ulf in ten d ed to c le a n t h is tim e most any tim e fo r during p rev io u s v i s i t a t t h is p la n t he was g iv en in form ation th a t th e tank would probably be clea n ed in the n ear fu tu r e but no d e f i n i t e d ate was g iv en to him. When I lo c a te d i$r. S ie h en th a ler on the morning o f J u ly 29t h , he was s t i l l unaware o f what had happened a t t h is p la n t. The reason fo r fo llo w in g up on the clea n in g o f tanks a t tills p a r tic u la r p o in t i s because we have always f e l t i t a d v isa b le to keep in c lo se touch with a bulk plant of th is type which has a sm all blending p la n t, due to the fa c t t h a t , in our own minds, we have f e l t th ey do not keep the s a fe ty measures in mind n e a r ly a s str e n u o u sly a s our r e fin e r y p o in t s . | In making our in v e s tig a tio n we found th a t th ey had clea n ed tank #209 on F rid ay, J u ly l 6 th , and Saturday monring, J u ly 1 7 th . The men th at were in v o lv ed in the clea p isg of th is tank were M essrs. a&d J B B B B B f c t h e s e two men doin g th e a c tu a l clea n in g o f the storage tan k . The th ir d man,I Mr. fljH H B ' was put in charge o f the op eration of the clean in g o f th is ta u fc ^ T r . a s you know p a ssed away a t 10:50 pm J u ly 27th and Mr. s t i l l in "the~TIospiial but i t is Dr. Mach i e ' s b e l i e f th a t he w i l l be out o f ihe h o s p it a l and ready to go to work in about a week, Mr. flH R H P 'W as in theh o s p it a l fo r a week b u t he was r e le a s e d l a s t Saturday and i s now doing l i g h t work a t the Gulf Bulk P lan t. about On October 3 . 1936, i f you w i l l r e fe r to your f i l e s , .Mr. Siejbenthaler sub m itte d th e fo llo w in g report to th is o f f ic e regard in g h is c o n ta c t w ith Mr. 0 . A. tCotz, Superintendent o f the Gulf P lan t a t C leveland: | KF 0017620 N21120.05 If D efin in g Co. 'C leveland, Ohio Mr. 0 . A. Kotz, Supt. "Dear Barry, This i s a 1 ,0 0 0 g a llo n i n s t a l l a t i o n a t the "bulk p la n t o f Gulf D efin in g Company and no knock t e s t in g or la b o ra to ry Work i s done. Hie ru le s fo r m ixing S th y l f l u i d are p o sted .a n d the men are fa m ilia r w ith the r u le s and fo llo w them. | ' i j Mr. D ot2 was not fa m ilia r w ith our r u le s fo r cleaning lea d ed g a s o lin e sto ra g e tanks so I d is c u s se d t h is w ith him a t le n g th and l e f t w ith him se v e r a l co p ie s of the r u le s . They contem plate clea n in g s e v e r a l tanks th is Ifa l l and I asked th a t he n o t if ie d in order to "be p r e s e n t a t th e time t h is work is started. They have no s a f e t y committee a t th is p la n t a s i t i s a sm all h u lk p la n t, Mr. Katz "being r e sp o n sib le fo r s a f e t y m a tters. October 3. 1936 .D. Siebehthaler" I am quoting the above rep ort fo r you can se e that Mr. S ieb en tih aler s t a t e s d e f in it e ly th a t Mr. Kotz was n ot fa m ilia r w ith our r u le s regarding the elseaning o f sto ra g e tanks so he d isc u sse d the proper procedure f o r the clea n in g of the tanks a t le n g th w ith him and l e f t s e v e r a l co p ies of our r u le s and r e g u la tio n s which th ey must f o llo w . You can see from the date on t h is rep o rt th at i t was uade s h o r t ly a f t e r th e form ing o f the S a fety Committee. On November 1 9 , 1936 your records w i l l show th a t Mr. S ieb en th a ler co n ta cted Mr. Kotz and made out forms on tank c le a n in g and secu red the n ecessa ry inform ation on tanks u sed fo r b len d in g and the sto ra g e of le a d e d g a s o lin e s . On th e se forms you can se e th a t Mr. S ieb en th a ler a g a in d is c u s se d the clea n in g o f(s to r a g e tanks in order to o b ta in the inform ation needed on th e se forms. Mr. S ie b e n th a le r ' s w eekly l e t t e r d ated December 19 , 1936, w i l l show that he co n ta cted Mr. Kotz again to see i f the proper p la te was p la c e d on the manhole of the b len d in g tank and he found i t to be in the p rop er p o s it io n . During that v i s i t our g en era l r u le s and r e g u la tio n s in regards to b len d in g and clea n in g of sto ra g e tanks was a g a in s t d is c u s se d . On June 5 1937 Mr. S ieb en th a ler in company w ith Dr. Schradin co n ta cted t h is b ulk p lan t in order to have t ie proper exam ination made o f the b len d er and Mr. Sieben th a le r d is c u s se d the b len d in g p la n t op eration s and tank c le a n in g w ith Mr. Frank D yers, who is a s s is t a n t to Mr. Kotz, the Su perin ten d en t. On th is p a r t ic u la r v i s i t Mr. Byars s ta te d th a t th ey a n tic ip a te d clea n in g the sto ra g e tank v ery s h o r t ly and as th e ir a i r l i n e mask was equipped w ith o n ly 50 f e e t of hose and s in c e th e storage tank to be clean ed was 105 f e e t in diam eter, he ask ea where he cou ld secu re a d d itio n a l h o se. Mr. S ie b e n th a le r a d v ised Mr. Byers to c o n ta c t Mr. Metz, Superin tendent o f the Standard O il Company o f Ohio as th ey were f u l l y equipped f o r t h is type of work and no doubt would be g la d to lo a n Gulf an a d d itio n a l le n g th o f hose or i f n ecessa ry an a d d itio n a l, com plete a ir lin e mask. At t h is tim e Mr. Byers asked Mr. S ieb en th a ler f o r com plete inform ation regarding the n ecessa ry equipment to clea n sto ra g e tanks and Mr. S ieb en th a ler a d v ised him th at(ru bb er b o o ts , rubber g lo b es and^necessary c lo th in g , a s w e ll a s a mask were n e c e ssa r y and as f a r as we can determine th ey wrote Mr. Grants a t T oledo, who i s in charge o f o p era tio n , fo r H E 0017621 I - 3- n e c e ssa r y equipment oth er than the a i r l i n e mask which th e y had. You w i l l .so n o te from the records in your o f f i c e th at b len d in g rep o rts on the 1000 g a llo n i n s t a l l a t i o n at t h is p o in t were made on January 6 th , A p r il 1 s t , May 12th and J u ly 2nd. In making th e se co n ta cts the clea n in g o f sto ra g e tanks was always d is c u s s e d w ith Mr. B y ers. In Mr. S ie b e n th a le r ' s w eekly l e t t e r of J u ly 12th , you can see th a t he ag a in c o n ta cted Mr. Byers and a t th at time Mr. Byers gave him a sample o f w ater and slu d g e which had been secured by reach in g in the open mart-head and scrap in g t h is from the bottom o f tank #209. This tank, the day t h is sample was ob tain ed had se v e r a l f e e t o f water in i t and a l l th ree manhole co v ers in clu d in g the top manhole cover were o f f the tank in order to have a l l the gas fumes escape b efo re c le a n in g . At th at time they s t i l l would, n ot s t a t e a d e f in it e time as to when t h is tank would be clea n ed . Mr. Byers did n o t if y Mr. S ie b e n th a le r th at the Toledo o f f i c e had se n t him an instrum ent to t e s t t h is tank f o r gas which he had done and had fpund th at the gas co n ten t in the tank was a non e x p lo s iv e m ixture and met t h e ir r e g u la tio n s in regard to g a s -fr e e t e s t s . I have c i t e d the above c o n ta c ts made by Mr. S ieb en th a ler at the Gulf Bulk P la n t fo r one reason - to p o in t out to you th a t through th e s e co n ta cts th e y had prop er in s tr u c tio n s a s to how th ey should clea n the sto ra g e tanks and I f e e l th at t h is a ccid en t occurred t hrough lack, o f nroner equipment and t o t a l d is in t e r e s t by th o se in a b so lu te charge in se e in g that the in s tr u c tio n s g iven by Mr. S ieb en - thalelr th e o ld en in g oif st&afeg 1ca#rled;!oujtrnro^hly . : 'There a r e a number o f c o n f li c t in g sta tem en ts, however, p r in c ip a lly by M essrs. E otz, Johnston and Anna but a f t e r i t is a l l b o ile d down the f a c t remains th a t they o n ly wore rubber b o o ts w h ile cle a n in g t h is sto ra g e tank w h ile the a i r l i n e mask which th ey had on hand and which cou ld have been u sed remained in the b o ile r h ou se. When th ere we in sp e c te d th is mask and found i t to be in A -l shape. I was g r e a t ly sur p r is e d to le a r n o f the buck p a s sin g that was g o in g on among the various o f f i c i a l s a t the Gulf B ulk P la n t in . regards to the , s t a t in g th a t th ey 'did not r e c e iv e proper in s tr u c tio n s fo r clea n in g sto ra g e tanks from Mr. S ie b e n th a le r , f o r we even le a rn ed th a t tthejr made one statem ent th a t Mr. S ie b e n th a le r had a d v ised them th at th ey d id n 't need a mask on w hile clea n in g the tank, In my f in a l co n ta ct w ith Mr. L. S. Auerbach, D iv is io n Manager fo r Gulf, however, he f i n a l l y s t a t e d th a t the men adm itted th at th ey had r e c e iv e d in s tr u c tio n s from Mr. S ieb e n th a le r to wear masks and the n e c e ssa r y equipment but th a t the typ e o f mask had not been s p e c if ie d by him. T herefore, you can see t h is i s a v ery weak a l i b i fo r Mr. S ie b e n th a le r o n ly d is c u s s e s two type, of masks - the a ir lin e and c a n n is te r ty p e s. In checking w ith Dr. Machle he f e e l s th at th ese men did r e c e iv e the proper in s tr u c tio n s from Mr. S ie b e h th a le r as to the type o f eq u ip m en t[n ecessary to use in cleaning storage tanks. i Thinking th a t you might have in mind th a t a sp ik e or b len d had been made in tank #209, I want to report the fo llo w in g . F i r s t o f a l l , the b len d in g setu p i s such th at th ey can o n ly blend in tank #211 and th at is F ir e c h ie f E th yl fo r the Texas Company. We d id , however, make a b len d fo r the G ulf R efin in g Company on August 16, 1933 of> ten drums o f f l u i d - w ith a t o t a l o f l,7 ^ 1 ,S 7 7 -:g a llo n s. This b len d was put in tanks #201, #202, and #205 fo r I have a sk e tc h on hand made out b y Yince Xeenan which bears out th ese sta tem en ts. We a ls o checked t h is rep o rt o f Mr. Keenan1s the other: day and'found out th a t i t i s a b s o lu t e ly c o r r e c t and th at th ere can a b s o lu t e ly be no s p ik in g made in tank #209 fo r t h is 10 drums o f f l u i d was p la ce d in the above m entioned tanks through the G ulf pump house in which th e l i n e s pun, to tanks #201, #202, #203, # 205, and #206 which are the f u l l tankage a t t h is p a r tic u la r Bulk P la n t f o r G u lf. Tanks #209, #20g , #211, and #213 are sep ara te and d i s t i n c t li n e s connected d i r e c t l y w ith the Texas Company's pump house HE 0017622 \ - .1+ - ght also say that these are two d istin ct units of tanks and pump houses. ,re is one thing yon might: check - I belie ye Dr. Machle is plannint to check anther too, and that is they received their f ir s t barge of Fireehief leaded Regular Gasoline (SS Maine) on August 31 1933 at 9*^5 AM and this barge was emptied through the Texas pump house into tank #209. This shipment consisted of 695*529 gallons and a sample of it was taken from this barge and sent back to Lockport. Row I am wondering if you can check to see i f there was any over blending done in this barge. !7e f e e l, therefore, from the check we made that we can absolutely state that tank #209 had nothing but F ireehief Leaded Regular Gasoline in i t since 1933 (the date th is tank was completed) and that no spiking has been done in this tank by us, also, if the rules and regulations set down by Mr. Siebenthaler with the different o ffic ia ls of the Gulf Bulk Plant had been carried out this incident would never have occurred. Dr. Machle feels the same way for he made a thorough investigation in checking through on the contacts we have made. I might also add that so far we have been successful in having no pu blicity appear in the newspapers, and direct your attention to the lapse of nine days before Gulf notified us of this occurrence. very truly yours1* \i (S) IT. D. Siebenthaler (S) H. A. Mack ! i KE 0017623