Document YrLa3njqQ4nxpQ7XDk930LqxV

FILE NAME Manville JMA DATE 1974 DOC JMA520 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION Meeting Minutes - Quebec Asbestos Mining Association Manville Corporation Greenwood Plaza Denver Colorado 80217 F. J. SoloJnr. Vice President Environmental Affairs March 1 1974 4406 Mr. Ivan Sabourin Q. C. 39 St. James St. Johns Canada Quebec Dear Ivan Thanks for sending the minutes of the joint meeting I had received these previously from Paul Filteau - but your side notes are of important interest All the best Sincerely QUEBEC Q GIR 2K2 Quebec Asbestos Mining Association 580 EST GRANDE - SUITE 320 Tel: 418 520-8168 CANADA February 15th 1974 Mr. F.J. Solon Vice President and Director - Environmental Affairs Dept. Manville Corporation Greenwood Plaza Denver 80217 - Colorado U.S.A. Dear Mr. Solon Please find attached a copy of the Minutes of the Joint Meeting of the AIC ARC AIA and QAMA held on January 24th 1974 in Montreal Quebec Sincerely yours PAF Paul Filteau General Manager IVAN SABOURIN Q.C. LA PREVOYANCE BUILDING MONTREAL February 26th 1974 F.J. Solon Esq President Corporate Relations Manville Corporation Greenwood Plaza P. Box 5108 Denver Colorado 87 217 U.S.A. Dear Jack RE Minutes of the Joint Meeting of the AIC ARC AIA and QAMA held on January 24th 1974 in Montreal Quebec am enclosing you explanatory copy of Minutes of said meeting Kindest regards } at y NG Ivan Sabourin gh enc MINUTES OF THE JOINT MEETING OF THE AIC AIA AND QAMA HELD ON JANUARY 24 1974 IN MONTREAL CANADA There were present Messrs C.M. Fenton D.W. Hills M.F. Howe J.H. Marsh R.H. Mereness M.J. Messel I.C. Campbell R. Michon Dr. P.V. Pelnar P.A. Filteau INTRODUCTORY REMARKS Chairman A.R.C. Member R.C. Deputy Chairman - A. President AIA Executive Secretary AIA President QAMA Chairman QAMA PR Committee Director QAMA Information Services Scientific Secretary I.O.E.H. General Manager QAMA In his opening statement Mr. Messel extended a most cordial welcome to all participants be a fruitful one and expressed the hope that the meeting would How can we get the most truthful and accurate information to the public he emphasized was the object of the meeting It is desirable to this end to coordinate our efforts towards dealing more effectively with the media and gaining their support in believing what industry says There lies the major problem Mr. Messel then invited Mr. Campbell Committee to chair the meeting Chairman of the QAMA P.R. The Chairman called on each association delegate to review the important areas of concern REVIEW OF SITUATION IN U.K. Mr. Howe explained that there were two active bodies in the U.K. namely the Asbestosis Research Council A.R.C. and Asbestos Information Committee A.I.C. and that every attempt was made to keep the two bodies apart in the public eye The ARC has a high repute as being independent although financed by the Industry As regards Asbestos & Health the public image in U.K. has been relatively quiet in the recent past sensational articles in the press and T.V. There are occasional programs but not to the extent of creating a national impact To counter such adverse publicity the AIC has a policy of releasing whenever deemed advisable letters to the Editor of important newspapers it is a standard practice in U.K. to publish these letters same are read extensively The AIC is fortunate in having Mr. W. Howard who is an expert in preparing letters very much to the point This year the AIC has doubled its budget for advertising in policy forming newspapers In the past the Committee has received a large number of inquiries in connection with the ads which shows their impact on people In every case reference is made to health risks and precautions The new advertising campaign adopts a childish approach The theme is concentrated on fire by reason of the great many fires in England in recent years An attitude survey is presently being conducted which should tell the effective- ness of the program The AIC is however worried about Doctor Selikoff attacking the U.K. standard of 2 fpcc Indeed it was felt most timely to hold the present joint meeting of the three groups since our countries endure the brunt of the attack because of the common language It seems that statements the are experience in the made in countries U.K. with is that nothing happens different languages when The ARC has just completed a film on Asbestos at Work which shows how best to deal with health hazards Copies will be given to the factory inspectorate and this should improve the relations with this Government Department The film is a pictorial presen- tation of basic factory regulations It was produced by Sorel Films with three sponsors at a cost of 10,000 200 prints have been sold in U.K. Mr. Hills added that in general people in U.K. are towards unfavorable publicity As one would expect reproduces occasionally syndicated articles from the as stories by Dr. Selikoff more tolerant the U.K. U.S.A. such N conducted in 1973 a series of seminars for the benefit of industrial A valuable medical officers relationship has in U.K. Approx a dozen thus been established meetings SITUATION IN U.S.A. Speaking for AIA Mr. Marsh stressed that the Asbestos & Health problem in the U.S. is a very serious one and that in many quarters it had not been recognized until fairly recently Many in industry simply don't understand the situation There is one exception namely Manville Corporation which has attempted to place the problem in its proper perspective The Company soon realized however that alone it could not effectively represent an entire industry in dealing with the press and Government officials In the first place there are no comparable studies to refute the mortality studies of Dr. Selikoff He often extrapolates his findings on the insulation workers death from asbestos exposure - 35 to encompass the entire industry which the reporters are happy to emphasize in the media Secondly the press relations battle has yet to be won One could refer to the attack on Manville in a New York Times article a year ago and another story later in the Wall Street Journal In another instance the AIA cation of an article in the was successful in stopping the publiNewsweek Magazine but what about the recent series called article of Paul Brodeur in the New Yorker Lately a new of three hour T.V. educational programs on lung diseases The Killers has been introduced in the U.S. a very expensive undertaking indeed In the third place the problem is with pressure groups - unions environmental groups etc. These various bodies essentially demand the banning of asbestos Yet when the Association undertook a public awareness survey on the health issue a direction of the Opinion Research Corporation year ago under the The results indi- cated that only % of the people interviewed considered asbestos as a health hazard to the general public The relations of the Association with OSHA are excellent The Association was asked to select four industry representatives on the Advisory Committee established to revise the standards on asbestos Next to OSHA the Environmental Protection Agency EPA - an enormous organization - is responsible economic impact of regulations on industry for assessing the The Association is presently working with EPA on the development of asbestos content standards in water effluents Over the past year the Food and Drug Administration has been very active as regard asbestos and health hazards Fortunately as a result of appropriate information supplied by the Association as well as the excellent supporting evidence by Dr. Holmes the FDA changed its attitude on the question of banning filter pads in the beverage and drug industries The AIA is also sponsoring some medical research namely the project on chest sounds conducted by Dr. R. Murphy of the Harvard School of Public Health As regards the news media the Association prepared an Asbestos and Health information kit which was mailed to some 3,000 magazines trade publications radio & T.V. stations newspapers science writers etc. across the United States The all important problem however is how to deal with Selikoff There is no such organization as the ARC in the USA Within the Industry Manville is the only Company with sound and acknowledged expertise Mr. Marsh suggested at this point by way of two illustrations - the cases of Union Carbide Co. and the spotted use of asbestos for modeling in schools - that it was possible and preferable to meet and discuss these situations directly with Selikoff The battle is still continuing and Industry needs help the assistance of other groups concerned with the problem in U.K. and Canada is always appreciated Following Mr. Marsh Mr. Mereness commented briefly on some of the attacks by the media entitled Death from Dust such as the article in Times Magazine Tyler Plant and in Newsweek under the title Living Dangerously As a result the number of queries received by the Association increases every week Obviously the asbestos and health problem is a good topic for journalists and thus considerably overdone To strengthen its action the Association although representing major interests of the Asbestos Manufacturing Industry in the United States is presently endeavouring to expand its membership Compa- nies like Armstrong Cork U.S. Gypsum Jim Walter etc. are still not members of AIA SITUATION IN CANADA Mr. Campbell pointed out that the question of asbestos & health was not as big a problem in Canada as in the U.S.A. Besides the audience is mostly confined to Quebec and more in the English than in the French Press It seems that the French media have never tackle too strongly the asbestos & health problem It should be pointed out however that the release of the McDonald report received excellent press coverage Yet the blue leaflet Asbestos and Your Health campaign through the two years ago resulted in only 3,200 circulation of 3,700,000 Canadian week enquiries from an press some estimated During the last Provincial election the new member of Parliament for Frontenac Thetford Mines Black Lake etc. Dr. Lecours campaigned for the protection and adequate compensation of workers and people affected by asbestos related diseases Recently Doctor Nicholson of Mount Sinai Hospital came to Thetford Mines and met with the union officers in an apparent effort to undertake a research project on asbestos mine workers The question is Was it Dr. Lecours who invited him or is Dr. Selikoff trying through such a study to discredit Dr. McDonald's report The Association will look into the implications of such practice As is known the contribution of QAMA to the asbestos and health problem is the funding of the IOEH activities Under the guidance and recommendation of its Scientific Committee presided by Dr. W. Wright it has so far granted financial support to some nineteen 19 research projects Naturally our P.R. efforts are somewhat limited geographically yet if QAMA can be of further help i.e. as with customers kindly let it be known For instance should a campaign on the useful applications of asbestos be conducted in other Provinces than Quebec Actually this type of information is disseminated through Le Producteur the monthly newspaper of the Association Do Unions think there is a problem in the asbestos mines So far the situation has been fairly well managed It seems that the area where Industry has to protect itself is with the uses of asbestos products Is there adequate liaison between AIC AIA and QAMA Certain documents for instance could be circulated for accuracy before publication No doubt the service would be welcome As compared to U.K. advertising in U.S.A. and Canada is different and truly expensive The only economical way according to Messrs Marsh and Mereness is to have articles published in the trade press Such a means in U.K. reaches the opinion formers and this is where the AIC is comparatively more effective How about advertising by AIA rather than by individual companies The efforts of the Association at the moment are placed on informing members of the medical problem To this end AIA would like to produce with the help of a good science writer a digest of articles on the health problem It remains that in Canada as in U.S.A. the problem lies with Dr. Selikoff who has all the facilities to deal and treat with people The only way to manage effectively and combat the situation is to seek a broader and closer industry involvement both in time and money INDUSTRY SPOKESMAN The consensus is that the assignment would require a medical man capable of standing off Dr. Selikoff possibly one man in North America and one in Europe Such a person should preferably not be employed by Industry He could act as an adviser to AIA and IOEH and attend the many scientific conferences held on this continent and abroad The position calls for a strong convincing speaker with persuasive power to stop irrational statements from various sources All agreed that this was a priority matter CLOSER COLLABORATION IN RESEARCH MATTERS This item refers to the exchange of views and information on research projects between the groups concerned with the asbestos and health issue in Europe and North America It was noted that there was no U.K. representative on the IOEH Scientific Committee The suggestion was made and unanimously approved that someone from ARC be appoint- ed on this Committee This recommendation will be processed through the normal channels and should be placed on the agenda of the next meeting of the IOEH Scientific Committee IOEH MEDICAL DATA BANK Dr. Pelnar reviewed briefly the operations of his medical data collecting system All published scientific and general information on the question of asbestos and health is collected for filing in a library When such is published in another language English abstracts are prepared by Dr. Pelnar A network of mediators located in various countries has been organized and a mechanical retrieval system is used to obtain information promptly Documents received are circulated to scientific people It should be mentioned that the amount of material thus collected increases exponentially In addition based on the information gleaned and the views expressed by the members of the Scientific Committee volumes one and two on the biological effects of asbestos were prepared showing the ongoing studies and the areas of adequate and inadequate action From this analysis recommendations were submitted as regards further studies pertinent to a solution of the health problem To what extent is this AIA and AIC So information used by other far the McDonald studies groups such as have been extremely useful especially in the case of exposure to pure chrysotile asbestos The findings of Dr. McDonald were confirmed by a similar study in Italy Dr. Vigliani His study of mesothelioma in Canada was also confirmed by a group of authors in Italy showing that mesothelioma is not necessarily the result of exposure to asbestos The question of Conferences was covered it was could circulate attendance to the large number of Scientific raised In order that these meetings be well suggested to set up a clearing house Dr. Pelnar the appropriate information AIA appreciates the facts that it can call on IOEH for medical information The former is contemplating the publication of a brochure on work practices in the asbestos manufacturing plants in U.S.A. ILO MEETING IN GENEVA ~ DECEMBER 1973 Mr. A.A. Cross represented the Chairman - ARC Environmental Control Committee U.K. Doctor Pelnar attended as an observer for the Permanent Commission and International Association on Occupa- tional Health It seems that the meeting offered a very reasonable and practical discussion The British view was strongly represented by the expertise of a team of seven members During the debate two points of interest were made first that the term asbestos cancer be replaced by asbestos related cancer and second that there were other causes of mesothelioma than exposure to asbestos It is possible that a draft of recommendations and proposals approved by the meeting may serve eventually in the elaboration of national regulations The ILO however may not have time to consider these proposals until 1976 . 10 . CONFERENCE ON THE BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF ASBESTOS IN NEW YORK IN OCTOBER 1974 Dr. I.J. SELIKOFF No one apparently from Dr. Selikoff to enquire has had any correspondence lately nor any word concerning this Conference Mr. Marsh has agreed A Conference on Mesothelioma is to be held in Vienna Austria in May 1974. The papers and discussion will be in German Plans are being made for a public health conference in Brighton England in September 1975 a session will be devoted to asbestos problems ASBESTOS MARKETING BOARD & FURTHER PROCESSING OF ASBESTOS IN CANADA Information and operation from U.S.A. and U.K. may be required in order to properly set forth the economic facts pertinent to these two issues Comments from the Industry to be submitted to the Provincial Government PLACE AND DATE OF NEXT MEETING The British delegation suggested that another conference be held in North America in a AIC and ARC and year or so for possibly other the benefit of bodies Brief QAMA AIA papers on public relations and asbestos regulations could be given to bring people date on recent developments It would be a wonderful opportunity to inform and advise people from all sectors of the Industry The matter was left for the consideration of all parties concerned ADJOURNMENT There being no further business the meeting then adjourned Paul Filteau JOINT MEETING OF THE AIC AIA AND QAMA HELD ON JANUARY 24 1974. IN MONTREAL CANADA PARTICIPANTS Mr. M. Fenton o Scandura Limited P.O. Box 19 Cleckheaton Yorkshire England Mr. W. Hills o Turner & Newall 77 Fountain Street Limited Manchester M2 2EA England Mr. o M.F. Howe Turners Asbestos Fibres Limited Faulkner House Faulkner Street Manchester M1 4DX England Mr. J.H. Marsh / Manhattan 205 Middle Street Bridgeport Conn 06603 - U.S.A. Mr. R.H. Mereness Asbestos Information Assoc./North 1660 L Street N.W. Washington C. 20036 - U.S.A. America Mr. M.J. Messel Lake Asbestos of Quebec P.O. Box 608 Limited Black Lake Quebec G NLAO Mr. I.C. Campbell Asbestos Corporation 1940 Sun Life Bldg 1155 Metcalfe St. Montreal Canada H3B Ltd. 2X6 Mr. R. Michon Quebec Asbestos Mining 412 IBM Bldg 5 Place Ville Assor Montreal Canada H3B 2G2 Dr. P.V. Pelnar I.O.E.H. 412 IBM Bldg 5 Place Marie Montreal Canada H3B 262 Mr. P.A. Filteau M.A. 580 est Grande Suite 320 Quebec Que G1R 2K2