Document aD973JRa0V7Y4qa0r4QdNGJMa

FILE NAME: WR Grace (WRG) DATE: Unknown DOC#: WRG231 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: 0000 Speech Transcript by Pickthall regarding Mono-Kote. GENT i . : My name i s P i c k t h a l l . I am D i s t r i c t M a n a g e r , Z o n o l i t e C o n s t r u c t i o n P r o d u c t s D i v i s i o n , W. R. G r a c e Company. Our i n t e r e s t in t h i s matter, fo r the b e n e f i t of those p e o p l e in the room who d o n ' t know us, is o c c a s i o n e d by the f a c t t h a t we a r e t h e m a n u f a c t u r e r s o f a c e m e n t i t i o u s f i r e p r o o f i n g m a t e r i a l s o l d u n d e r the t r a d e name M o n o - K o t e . I t c o n t a i n s some a s b e s t o s ana l i k e o t h e r r e s p o n s i b l e p e o p l e we h av e been c o n c e r n e d . . Con ce rn ed f o r o u r in p l a n t p e o p l e , f o r the workmen who a p p l y o u r m a t e r i a l s and f o r the g e n e r a l e n v i r o n m e n t o f the communities in which our m aterials are used. In the face o f overwhelming evidence to the c o n t ra ry i t woul d be s o m e t h i n g s h o r t o f i n t e l l i g e n t f o r anyone to d i s c o u n t the p o s s i b l e h e a l t h h a z a r d r e l a t e d to u n c o n t r o l 1ud and in d is c r im in a t e exposure to asbestos dust and fiber. B e f o r e we go a n y f u r t h e r w i t h t h i s d i s c u s s i o n I want to make i t e x c e e d i n g l y c l e a r t h a t the Z o n o l i t e C o n s t r u c t i o n Products D i v i s i o n is t o t a l l y committed to the complete e lim in a t io n of asbestos from the product line. U n f o r t u n a t e l y , no one knows w i t h a b s o l u t e c e r t a i n t y j u s t where the danyer p o in t is, in tPe level of exposure. Lacking t h i s k n o w l e d g e we t h i n k the soui d a p p r o a c h i s c o m p l e t e e l i m i n a t i o n o f a s b e s t o s , and t h i - is what we a r e g o i n g to do. We hav e made c o n s i d e r a b l e r t o g r e s s in t h i s d i r e c t l oo in the l a s t 18 mo n t h s b u t t h e r e a r e 15 y e a r s o f d e v e l o p m e n t , t e stin g , f i e l d experience and cede approval work involved in t h e p r e s e n t p r o d u c t . We f ee t h a t the r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r p r o v i d i n g e q u iv a le n c y in f i r e p r o t e c t io n is j u s t as great, if not greater, than the p o s s ib le hazard of asbestos exposure. I t w o u l d be n i c e i f we c o u l d sweep a l l t h i s u n d e r t h e r u g and a n n o u n c e t o you t h a t we now hav e t he p a n a c e a f o r t h e d i l emma, m We s i m p l y t o o k o u t the a s b e s t o s and t h e r e i s n o t h i n g to w orry about. S o r r y , but as you a l l know i t ' s not that simple. We a r e n o t a l o n e in t h i s a p p r o a c h to the p r o b l e m . A l l the major factors in the industry are working in this d ire c tio n and the good o i d A me r i c a n c o m p e t i t i v e s y s t e m w i l l make it c e r t a i n that no one goes to s l e e p . So in truth, the matter under c o n s i d e r a t i o n here tonight is an i n t e r i m t h i n g . What s h o u l d be done to c o n t r o l t h i s p o s s i b l e h aza rd u n t i l I n d u s t r y can remove the o f f e n d i n g ingredient. . - 3- In l a t e 1963 when t h e New Y o r k e r A r t i c l e was pubi is bed, few o f us wer e a wa r e o f t he h a z a r d s o f a s b e s t o s . I t ca-ve as q u it e a shock. Asbestos had been co n sid e re d a very useful and i mp o r t a n t i n g r e d i e n t in many b u i l d i n g m a t e r i a l p r o d u c t s . Floor tile , c e ilin g tile , water pipe, wall panels, all contained asbestos. It is contained in sprayed f ire p ro o fin g , simply because it is e conom ically sound and performs well under f i r e exposure. . F o l l o w i n g t h e New Y o r k e r a r t i c l e , in r a p i d s u c c e s s i o n came a r a s h o f m a g a z i n e a r t i c l e s on the same s u b j e c t . M o s t , i f n ot a l l o f them, p o i n t i n g the f i n g e r a t the s p r a y e d f i r e p r o t e c t i o n i n d u s t r y as being bad guys. A ll o f these a r t i c l e s , some o f w h i c h b o r d e r e d on b e i n g i r r e s p o n s i b l e , had one t h i n g i n common. C o m p l e t e a b s e n c e o f f a c t u a l d a t a on s p r a y e d f i r e p ro o fin g . They related in unpleasant detail the high m o r ta M ty r a t e among a s b e s t o s w o r k e r s and then by i n f e r e n c e c l a i m e d the same fate f o r the sp r a y e d f i r e p r o o f i n g workmen and even worse f o r the p u b l i c in general. All of t h is without one p u b iisn e d iota of test data r e la t in g to sprayed fire p r o o f i n g . The i n d i c t m e n t was b a s e d s o l e l y on a s s o c i a t i o n . You use a s b e s t o s ! A s b e s t o s Workers have a h igh m o r t a l i t y rate. So, You too are g o i n g to die. Not o i l y you but everyone around you. Complete d i s r e g a r d o f the amount o f a s b e s t o s i n v o l v e d , the tools being used or the c o n d it io n s of a p p lic a t io n . All o f which has c o n s i d e r a b l e b e a r i ' g on the hazard l e v e l . The o t h e r t h i n g which a l l . f these a r t i c l e s had in common w i t h t h e New Y o r k e r O r i g nal was t h a t t h e y a l l referred to the in t o l e r a b l e c o n d it io n s created by spraying o p e r a t i o n s i n New Y o r k C i t y . I t h i n k i t ' s o n l y fa.i r to p o i n t o u t t h a t New Y o r k is not San F r a n c i s c o and n e i t h e r a e the c o n d i t io n s created by fireproofing operations. Some o f y ou on t h i s B o a r d . e l l remember the l o n g t e d i o u s h o u r s in t he e a r l y 1 9 6 0 1s s p e n t in t h r a s h i n g o u t d e n s i t y and damageabi1 i t y requirements ' o r d i r e c t l y a p p lie d f i r e p r o ,, ' i n g . Those o f us in I n d u s t r y s t i l l have s c a r s on o u r p s y c h e s to a t t e s t to o u r b o u t s w i t h Mr. G o l d b e r g ' s s c r a t c h t e s t . Some o f us had a name f o r t h a t i n f e r n a l c o n c r a p t i o n w h i c h c a n ' t be r e p e a t e d in p u b l i c . I ' l l t e l l you in p r i v a t e i f you h a v e n ' t heard it. S e r i o u s l y , San F r a n c isc o has not had the problems referred to in these magazine a r t i c l e s sim ply because of the damageabi1 i t y requirements which t h i s Board passed in 1961. - 6- ln a l l the thousands of words that have been w r i t t e n on th is subject by the j o u r n a l i s t i c f r a t e r n i t y I have yet to f i n d a s i n g l e r e f e r e n c e to an a s b e s t o s ex posu re count on e i t h e r the journeymen do in g f i r e p r o o f i n g , o t h e r tradesmen on the job, o r the g e n e r a l p u b l i c . One woul d t h i n k t h at at l e a s t one o f these e n t e r p r i s i n g in d iv id u a ls would have taken the trouble to get the f a c t s . To t he b e s t o f my k n o w l e d g e up to t h i s moment no one has completed such a study. When I a p p e a r e d b e f o r e t h i s B o a r d in May I t o l d you t h a t we we re g o i n g t o g e t the t r u t h and t h a t w i n , l o s e o r draw, t h i s B o a r d w o u l d g e t the r e s u l t s . We h av e done s o and we have the report a v a i l a b l e fo r you t o n ig h t. I'm c e r t a i n you r e a l i z e that a study of this kind ' requires a high degree of technical s k i l l to gather the data and long years of s c i e n t i f i c t r a in in g and e x p e r i e n c e t o i n t e r p r e t i t . We were mo s t f o r t u n a t e in b e i n g a b l e to s e c u r e the c o n s u l t a n t s e r v i c e s o f two o u t s t a n d i n g a u t h o r i t i e s on the su b je c t . Drs. Tabershaw and Cooper. Both m e d i c a l men w i t h l o n g an d s i g n i f i c a n t c o n t r i b u t i o n s t o P u b l i c Hea1th. Our o n l y c o n d i t i o n s were that they get the tru th and p r e s e n t it in a manner which would be m e an i n g f u l to n o n - m e d i c a l ' p e o p l e . We t h i n k t h e y d i d the ob w e l l and we a p p r e c i a t e i t . - 7* We b e l i e v e t h a t t h i s r e p o r t c l e a r l y i n d i c a t e s that we ar e not c r e a t i n g the h e a l t h hazar ds to e i t h e r workmen or the p u b l i c w i t h which we have been charged. The a c t u a l s a m p l i n g and m i c r o s c o p i c work was done by Mr. LeRoy B a l z e r and Mr. Doug Fowl er. Both o f these men are h i g h l y q u a l i f i e d and soon to be Doct or s in t h e i r own r i g h t . Since th is report is of medical s i g n i f i c a n c e I c e r t a i n l y do not f e e l q u a l i f i e d to p r e s e n t i t . Mr. Fowl er He wi l l go o v e r the r ep or t wi t h you and answer any q u e s t i on s you care to ask. When you a r e t hr ough wi t h him I would a p p r e c i a t e a few more moments to c o n c l u d e our p r e s e n t a t i o n .