Document XRGkkeYDKJLwL8b29m7dd4EKG

COPY ETHYL CORPORATION 100 P a r k A venue B uilding at 4 1 st S tre e t N e w Y o rk 17, N. Y. A ugust 29, I960 D r. K. V. Kit zm idler The K ettering Laboratory Eden and B ethesda Avenues C in cin n ati 19, Ohio D ear K arl: Subject: A lleged W ater Well C ontam ination Hum ble Oil & Refining Com pany We a re attaching, for your reco rd s, copies of correspondence covering the above subject. Yours very truly, / s / H. K. Ball H. K. B all HKB:vb A tta ehm ent K0 0020198 COPY M r. H. K. Ball J. M . Rollins A lleged W ater W ell C ontam ination H um ble Oil & Refining Com pany New York T u lsa A ugust 23, I960 On A ugust 9 Ken Jo st rep o rted by telephone som e of the details in th is m a tte r to Doug King indicating th at it was hoped we could handle the m a tte r locally with the cu sto m er, and that no action would be req u ired by anyone else in o u r Com pany. In o rd e r to com plete your file in the m a tte r, we a re attaching a c o p y of M r . J . E . H e n d r i c k 's l e t t e r o f A u g u s t 18 w h ic h in d i c a t e s H um ble thinks they can settle the m a tte r without fu rth e r referen ce to u s. H ow ever, they have ask ed th at we keep in o ur files the la b o ra to ry re p o rts on two gasoline sam p les subm itted to our H ouston L a b o ra to ry . It m ay be n e c e s s a ry fo r th e se to be produced in ev i dence if the m a tte r goes to court. We a re attaching a copy of the re p o rt by the G asoline Testing D iv isio n on L a b o r a to r y No. OH 3371, and co p ies of the follow ing le tte rs which will supplem ent the inform ation previously given: T. E . D aw son's le tte r of July 7 to J. E. H endrick D r . J. C. B u rd ic k 's le tte r of J u ly 22 to H o w ard G e rb e r J . H . L a u b a c h 's l e t t e r of A u g u s t 3 to W. S. E s k r id g e W. S. E s k rid g e 's le tte r of A u g u st 3 to J. O. B a lz e r / s / J. M. Rollins J. M. Rollins JM R :jw A ttachm ents KE 0020199 M r. J. O. BaTzer J. E. H endrick A lleged W ater Well C ontam ination H um ble Oil & Refining C om pany T u lsa H ouston A ugust 18, I960 D ear Jake: B ill Steen of H um ble v isited m e today and a g re e d to let us off the hook on his reqtiest fo r a le tte r giving E th y l's official opinion on what changes occur in gasoline afte r it has been through sev eral feet of soil. The m a tte r has been tu rn ed o v er to H u m b le's L egal d ep artm en t who pro p o se to offer the N acogdoches d e a le r the opportunity of going to co u rt to se ttle M s claim . H um ble h as tak en 6' co re sam p les of soil betw een the serv ice station and w ell and find that when filtered through 21" of this soil gasoline losses all color, all upper cylinder lu b rican t, and a ll T E L , qecoording to M r. Steen, H um ble feels they have am p le evidence to support th e ir claim . M r. Steen did ask th at we keep in o u r files the la b o ra to ry re p o rts on the two gasoline sam p les rece iv ed by our H ouston la b o ra to ry on July 19. Sincerely yours, / s / J. E. H endrick J. E. H endrick JEH :ka K 0020200 rrcrFT M r. J. O. B alzer J. E . H en d rick - W. S. E sk rid g e A lleged W ater W ell C ontam ination H um ble Oil & Refining Com pany T u lsa H ouston A u g u s t 3, 1.960 Dear Jake: l am not su re ju st how m uch background inform ation you have on the attached so h ere is the story. S everal w eeks ago B ill Steen contacted o u r office with the req u est that we run a sam ple of gasoline that had been skim m ed from a w ater w ell at N acogdoches, Texas. F o r reasons b e st known by th em selv es, H um ble w ished to no longer have this m an handle th eir products. It is our understanding that very soon after haying been notified of that fact the d ealer discovered gasoline in his w ater w ell. This m an has com plained to H um ble re p re se n ta tiv e s and has, I believe, threatened suit. The w ater w ell m entioned is located approxim ately forty feet from the gasoline pum ps and the d ealer claim s that leakage from the gasoline tanks o r pum ps has contam inated his w ell. B ill Steen p erso n ally se c u re d the f ir s t sam p le of gasoline and brought it tp o u r lab o rato ry . You will find a copy of the re p o rt attached dated Ju ly 7, A bout July 6 M r. Steen b ro u g h t a n o th e r sam p le to us and req u ested analysis. This second sam ple included both w ater and gasoline In the sa m e b o ttle. The w a te r p o rtio n of th e sam p le w as su b m itted to our M edical departm ent - D r. J. G. B urdick. A ttached also is an analysis of that w ater. This whole problem has been handled in a not v ery wodcmanlike m an n er. The w ater sam ple that we had analysed is certainly not representative of w ater th at is draw n fro m the w ell for drinking purposes since it was exposed for an unknown length of tim e d ire c tly to the gasoline under conditions of high h eat and agitation. The req u est which prom pted Jack D aubach's le tte r attach ed cam e also fro m M r. Steen about A ugust 2. To put the sto ry in a nutshell, M r. Steen strongly suspects that the dealer h as sabotaged the w ell and that the gasoline appearing in the w ater did not com e through fo rty feet of e a rth to get th e re . I do not know ju st what we can do about this p roblem but since a d irect re q u e st h as been m ade we would ap p rec iate your handling. I know th e re w ill be som e questions you w ill w ish to have an sw ered b efore pursuing the m a tte r fu rth er. P lease feel free to ask them . Yours very truly WSE :ka J. E. H endrick By W. S, E sk rid g e COPY M r. J. E . H e n d ric k - W. S. E s k r id g e H ouston Jack Laubach H ouston Hum ble R equest fo r Ethyl' s Opinion A u g u s t 3* I 960 D ear M r. A skridge: H um ble has concern reg ard in g the alleged contam ination of a w ater well by gaoline thought by an E a st Texas d ealer to have com e fro m the serv ice station tanks an d /o r pum ps operated by him . M r . W,, C . S t e e n o f H u m b l e h a s s u b m i t t e d s a m p l e s o f g a s o l i n e f o u n d i n t h e well to o u r H ouston la b o ra to ry on two o ccasio n s. Since the d isag reem en t betw een the d e a le r and H um ble, as to how the gasoline got in the w ell, m ay re su lt in legal action, M r, Steen has asked fo r fu rth er help fro m Ethyl C orporation. He would like our C o rp o rate opinion as to w hat changes w ill o ccu r in gasoline a fte r it has p assed through se v eral feet of soil. W ill the color change? W ill the lead be rem oved ? etc. This co nsideration is im portant in that the serv ice station gasoline sy stem is ap p ro x im ately fo rty feet fro m the w ater well; the d e a le r apparently claim s that gasoline found in the well som ehow cam e through the ground fro m leaks in the se rv ic e station g aso line sy stem , while Hum ble p ersonnel feel that te sts of gasoline taken fro m the w ell indicate that this could not be. We req u est that a le tte r be p re p a re d which states what Ethyl C orporation believes will happen when gasoline flows through soil. M r. Steen asks that our le tte r also m ention that actually flowing som e gasoline through soil m ight be a helpful experim ent. This le tte r should be d irec ted to M r. A. R. M alley, H um ble Oil & Refining Com pany, P .O .B o x 2025, T y ler, T exas, but sent to our H ouston office fo r tra n s m itta l to M r. M alloy. M r. M alloy is a la w y er with the H um ble organization. ( Very truly yours, JLrfld /a / Jack Jack Laubach Ktr 0020202 Mr . H ow ard G erb er J , G. B urdick, M .D . Su b ject W ater Sam p le H ou ston H ouston July 22, I960 The sam ple of w ater you subm itted to us two o r th ree days ago has been rep o rted by the la b o ra to ry to have 2.5 m gm of lead p e r lite r. T h is is 25 tim e s th e m a x im u m a llo w ab le le v e l s e t by th e U .S . P u b lic H ealth S ervice. The continuous u se of w ater containing quantities as s m a lt a s 0. 5 of a p a rt p e r m illio n (0. 5 m g m p e r lite r) h as cau sed serio u s in ju ry to health. / &/ J. G. B rudick, M .D J. G. B urdick, M .D . JG B :W 0020203 N20192.05 ioline Testing Laboratory; COPY ETHYL CORPORATION Houston 28, Texas J, 3910 W est A labam a July 7, 1960 M r. J. E. H endrick Ethyl C orporation 3910 W est A labam a H ouston 27, Texas D ear M r. H endrick: O ur la b o ra to ry h as the following re su lts to re p o rt on the E sso sam ple taken fro m th e ir D ealer Station #9165. , They req u ested T E L an aly sis and g rav ity only on th e sample:: T E L m l / g a l - 3. 84 G ravity A P I - 47.3 V ery truly yours, / s / T .E . Dawson T. E. Dawson TED :ed 0020204 E sso (Humble) M T. L. M ontgom ery, D eale r #9165 Sample 2 TEL 3.75 FOZ GUM 17 FOZ Nacogdoches, Texas Nacogdoches, Texas C o m p la in t s a m p le f r o m W. C. H um ble TEL G ravity and Gum only OH 3371 SR -2-? Steen 7-15-60 7-19-60 7-20-60 BD GRAV. 47.4 COLOR Am ber FOZ FOZ HE 0020205 t" O ci tH o