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Canadian Asbestos Linked to U.S. Rules MONTREAL (FNS) -- The fu ture of the already declining Canadian asbestosjettile indus try will de'pend'on the regula tions enacted by the U.S. Occu pational Safety and Health Administration, according to Paul Filteau, executive vicepresident, Quebec Asbestos Mining Association. Canada is a major producer of asbestos fiber. In 1976, 1,694 tons of asbestos fiber was pro duced in Canada. Ninety-five per cent was exported, 40 per cent to the United States. One company, Asten-Hill of Valleyfield. Quebec, discontin ued its textile manufacturing operation July 1. because of strict environmental controls. "There has been a tremen dous drop in demand for asbes tos yams and the health regula tion of two fibers per cubic cen timeter was impossible to meet," said Bill Clark, vice-president. U.S. regulations, now call for no more than two fibers longer than five micrometers per cubic centimeter of air to be present in a plant during an eight-hour day. "We are not filling as many orders from t4ie U.S. in textile yarns," Clark said. "Certainly strict environmental regulations in the U.S. haven't made any difference to our export market; their regulations and ours are basically the same." According to Harry M. Hay, of the textile division of Cana dian Johns-Manville, asbestos textiles and asbestos paper ac count for a very small, and get ting smaller percentage, of asbestos fiber use. "The asbestos textile indus try was never a large industry. The amount of asbestos fibe* used in asbestos textiles never exceeded 2 per cent and now it's down to 1 per cent," Have ex plained. Hays said asbestos textiles are used extensively for dryer felts in the pulp and paper industry, giving the felt dimenional stability. "But more and more, the asbestos textiles are being replaced by synthetics." Between 1967 and 1975, asbestos textiles produced in creased by 1.2 per cent. In 1963, 27.8 million pounds of asbestos , , textiles were produced. That figure increased only slightly in 1975 to 30 million pounds. BV nRIAN DUNN mere are very few asbestos manufacturers in Canada -- Canadian Johns-Manville; Amiant (French for asbestos) de Sherbrooke, a wholly owned subsidiary of Oarlock Industries for Palmyra, N.Y.; Asbestonos Corp.. Ltd.; Atlas Asbestos; Armstrong Cork; and American Biltrite. In June 1975, the Quebec government commissioned a study into the health hazards of the mining and manufacturing industry. The Beaudry report, as it was called, made several recommendations and suggested several standards for the indus try. As of Jan. I, 1978, no occupa tional emission could exceed five fibers per cubic centimeter. This level is not to be exceeded at any one time, as opposed to a timeweightet. average, which covers an average for eight hours. At, the same time, under the federal government's Clean Air Act, effective December 1978, no outside emission will be allowed to exceed two fibers per cubic centimeter to be emitted from crushing, drying or milling operations and from dry rock storage. "The asbestos industry has already set its own emission level at two fibersi per cubic centimeter," Filteau said. "In fact, Johns-Manville closed down its Timmins, Ont,, mining operations because they felt they couldn't meet this standard at all times," Filteau added. Filteau, however, didn't deny the fact that the Beaudry report had increased the cost of production. New equipment has had to be installed for dust con trol, and floor space has been expanded to allow more air to circulate through machinery. As an example, Canadian Johns-Manville, regarded as world leader in asbestos environ mental control, will spend S5.2 million on environmental control alone between now and 1980. This is in addition to the $11 million the company spent be tween 1966 and 1977 for the same purpose. But the industry has to con tend with more than just the Beaudry report and the federal government Clean Air Act. "Abestoa fiber used in brake lining has to meet the standards set by the U.S.-Canada Auto Pact," Filteau said. "Since all DAILY NEWS RECORD AUG 4 1977 brake lining is done in the U-S. because of economies of scale, the asbestos industry must adopt U.S. regulations. "In California, a substitute was found for asbestos fiber used in brake lining -- a type of pow dered steel. They claimed asbes tos dust was emitted into the atmosphere by the application of the brakes. This just isn't true," Filteau insists. Filteau-claimed there have been continuous attacks on the asbestos industry as being a primary cause of cancer. "It has affected exports to the U.S. and Europe, but so far no substitutes have been found. Sweden wanted to ban asbestos imports for brake lining, but they haven't been able to come up with an alternative." The present government in Quebec, Parti Quebecois (PQ), is seeking to increase local manu facture of finished products for export, rather than to provide asbestos fiber for shipment to manufacturers elsewhere. Ex port could apply to only a limited number of products, such as asbestos textiles, since the others would cost too much to export. At present, only 2 per cent of asbestos fiber mined- in Canada is turned into finished products. The PQ claims that while the province is the single largest producer of asbestos, the profits are enjoyed by multinational corporations outside the prov ince. Several proposals by the PQ to rectify the situation range from outright nationalization of the industry to acquisition of controlling interests in asbestosproducing companies. But pres sure within the PQ calling for nationalization of the industry has eased during the-past few months. The cost of nationalizing the asbestos industry would be astronomical, a luxury the debtridden government can ill afford at the present time. "Cost fig ures the PQ have been throwing around are too conservative," Filteau insists. "Finance Minister Jacques Perizeau says it would cost $150 million to nationalize the indus try, but since 1969, Johns-Man ville has invested that much alone in the company," says Marc-Andre Gosselin, director of public relations at Canadian Johns-Manville. CRMC-M&S-002642 P1