Document ba7RdqJGp0kvQxJY4rBR2MwLk

mCC 950970 Monsanto FROM {NAME 1 LOCATION) Fred Herzog/Texas City SUBJECT REFERENCE November 15, 1975 Safety hazard reported during off-hours. TO E. R. Albritton j/1' -G. A. Danner J. A. Glass C. M. McCullough Jim Robinson PLAINTIFF'S EXHIBIT MON-1276 (' At 10:00 hours, 11/15/75 I was contacted and requested to go to dock #1 to observe a safety hazard there. At the dock I was shown twenty-five nitrogen cylinders stacked lengthwise, three high, on the delivery section of the dock, in close proximity to the inclined ramp leading onto the dock. The stack was not orderly as some cylin ders were opposed as much as ninty degrees to others underneath, and some were resting with one end on the dock and the other end on top of other cylinders. (A"pile" would be a more apt description of the stack.) An attempt had been made to chock the bottom layer with oyster shells to prevent shifting and rolling. Only six of the cylinders were equipped with protective caps over their valves and six of the unprotected valves were bent, damaged and/or broken in the metal threads. The physical condition of all cylinder metal was bad with extensive corrosion of bottoms and tops. It is not known whether all cylinders were depressured as no attempt was made to open all valves for testing due to the -unsafe condition of most valves. Two that were tested were empty. In determining the ownership and origin of the cylinders, I was told by Material Handling Supervision that the ship "Stolt Spur" had off-loaded them on 11/13 for pick-up by truck the following day. To secure the cylinders until they could be removed from the dock, the third level was removed to a lower level and wooden wedges were liberally placed under the bottom level to prevent rolling. Material Handling Supervision contacted the ship's agent to' request that they be removed A.S.A.P. At 16:30 hours, 11/15 a Ferguson Hot-Shot truck arrived at the plant to transport the cylinders under the authority o f Mr. Bubba Massey, Dow International, to the #A-8 dock at the Dow, Freeport plant. The truck driver was warned of the condition of the cylinders and called his office to explain this to his people. The truck exited the plant at 17:15 hours, with the cylinders, without incident. / SC 003083 ( S\s Fred Herzog LAM004533