Document YDN1Yg5kDbEvvQezvrkmBxkaK

FILE NAME: Sprayed Asbestos (SPRA) DATE: 1981 Mar DOC#: SPRA044 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Unpublished Internal Report - History of Sprayed Fiber Insulation Industry for the Period 1950-55 Mo r r is L ie f f , P h .D. TECHNICAL CONSULTANT March 17, 1981 Ronald B. Grayzel, Levinson Conover Axelrod & Wheaton Medi-Plex Building 98 James Street Edison, NJ 08817 Esq. Dear Mr. Grayzel: Re: Robak v. City of Trenton, et al. In accordance with our understanding, I am enclosing a "History of Sprayed Fiber Insulation Industry for the Period 1950-55." This information is drawn from my personal background and from research which I conducted to corroborate some data, and to fill in some information gaps. I will await the opportunity to examine the sample of the product taken from the Plant. o I am enclosing an invoice to cover the work to date. Sincerely 0 li Enclosure MORRIS LIEFF 1 Reg. P.E., Cert. No. 62-13087 State of Illinois A12 Summit Hill, lOOStonehill Road, Springfield, N J. 07081 /I MORRIS LlEFF, PH.D. TECHNICAL CO NSULTANT March 16, 1981 HISTORY OF SPRAYED FIBER INSULATION INDUSTRY FOR THE PERIOD 1950-55 A brief view of the beginning of the sprayed fiber industry in the United States will be helpful in understanding the . development of this industry during the period of specific interest. Limpet, a 100 percent asbestos product, manufactured in the United Kingdom by the J.W. Roberts Company, an affiliate of Turner and Newall, was imported into the United States by Keasbey and Mattison (national distributors) beginning about 1936. Large quantitites of Limpet were used in shipwork during World War II. K and M controlled Limpet continuously from 1936 until about 1964 o when K & M went out of business. Limpet distribution tights were acquired at that time by Armstrong Contracting, a unit of Armstrong 0 Cork Co. During the early thirties the only American made sprayed insulation product was Sprayo-Flake manufactured in Chicago. It consisted of shredded paper and asphalt emulsion binder. Because of a number of serious fires, due to its high combustibility, the product was replaced with one composed of mineral fibers (rock wool) and latex binder and marketed under the trace name Spray-Acoustic. This product disappeared from the market about 1948-49. S 12 Summit Hill, 100 Stonehill Road, Springfield, N J. 07081 2 In 1943, Sprayed Insulation Inc., was incorporated and began manufacturing (in Newark, NJ) and selling, a product called SprayKote, which contained asbestos (probably chrysotile) in addition to the mineral wool fibers. In the late forties, National Gypsum Company became involved in the marketing and application of Limpet, apparently as a sub-distributor of Keasbey & Mattison. As late as 1949, National Gypsum's product brochure devoted a page to Sprayed "Limpet" Asbestos as one of their Sound Control Products. Which brings us up to our period of 1950-55, which is of primary interest. In 1950, National Gypsum Company began marketing, Thermacoustic, which apparently replaced Limpet as their principal sprayed-on material for acoustical control. Initially Thermacoustic was formulated simply by blending Limpet with rock wool. However, in subsequent years, non-proprietrary asbestos replaced the Limpet in the product. During the most part of the period 1950-55, ThermacoustiS: and Limpet were the most important sprayed fiber products. 0 In 1950, Sprayed Insulation Inc. , a small company, with very low capitalization, was still manufacturing and marketing SprayKote. Apparently because of some trade mark conflicts the product name SprayKote was changed to Spray Craft about 1952. On June 16' 1953, the courts adjudicated Spray Insulation bankrupt. On June 17, 1953, Sprayon Insulation and Acoustic Inc., was chartered and became active in August 1953. The new name of their product was SprayDon. In July 1953, Smith and Kanzler Jetbestos Inc., Linden, NJ, purchased 3 at public auction of Sprayed Insulation Inc., assets, some equipment and the trademark SprayCraft. This company began marketing under the tradename SprayCraft, but had little impact on the industry until 1959-60. Asbestospray first appeared on the market about 1951, and was manufactured by Asbestospray Corp., Newark. The product, like SprayCraft, was a blend of mineral fiber, asbestos fibers and inorganic binder. The company marketed this product continuously throughout the fifties, however, I would rank it less active than Limpet, Thermacoustic and Spraykote/SprayCraft/SprayDon. Columbia Acoustical and Fireproofing Co., a subsidiary of U.S. Mineral Products was organized in Spring of 1954, and began marketing their Cafco products that year. Cafco consisted of mineral fiber (rock wool)tasbestos and inorganic binders. This company was not a major factor in the industry during the period ending in 1955. However, by 1960, they had overtaken Limpet and other products. o Finally, Air-o-Therm, a Chicago-based company appeared on the scene in 1953. They are still in business, but are primarily a 0 Midwest company, having had no impact in the New Jersey market. The chronological history of Phe period 1948-1956 is summarized in the attached graph. '.am uU k