Document dadONjMqeVpKKK4mmvo9NMVn6

PLAINTIFF'S EXHIBIT IfSi Johns-Manville Pipe Division 7^ ----------------- jLi. - ! ' . : JM12f82 November 16, 1981 ^.Rpa Re: How the City of Lakewood, California Handled a Potentially Explosive . Asbestos and Health Situation The City of Lakewood is located adjacent to the City of Long Beach where a major U. S. Naval Shipyard is located. There .are a number of asbestos and. health related cases amongst shipyard -workers who were employed during the war years when controls on airborne asbestos were far less rigorous than those which exist today. Also in Long Beach is an organization of former shipyard workers who claim to have an asbestos related disease. This group is known as the "White Lung Association". On one of Lakewood's A/C pipe installation projects, the contractor failed to keep his project in satisfactory condition from a housekeeping standpoint and local residents became very upset with open trenches, and pipe on the sidewalks for excessive periods of time. The White Lung Association heard of the discontent with an A/C pipeline project and entered the case with a new dimension. They told the citizens that the pipe being installed was not only a momentary in convenience but that it would cause cancer to those who drank water from the line. This factor coming on top of their previous complaints created a major disturbance in Lakewood. The City Council correctly chose to initiate a full investigation into this new charge, and appointed a study team who were to investigate, prepare a detailed report, .and report back to the council at an open council meeting on their findings. The study team not only developed a very extensive report that concluded that the city should continue its use of A/C pipe, but decided to have a team of distin guished authorities on hand to answer questions from the council and the floor when the report was submitted to the council. Thpy al sn -pTppHTP.d .an -pyfrn'h-it: consisting of an old section .of cast iron :pipe -.that was -highly deteriorated .and an equally old `section :of A/.C pipe that showed no signs of ,k deterioration. This exhibit graphically showed why the city was using A/C pipe. TR-772A LironUSA CAPCO JEN 0012816 The panel who appeared before the council consisted of: John Gaston, California Department of Health Services; Dr. Herbert Conrad, Water Quality Scientist; Robert Bryant, Chairman of the AWWA A/C Pipe Committee; Dr. Arthur Gelb, Chest Disease Consultant; Dr, Kaye Kilburn, Professor of Medicine and.Director, Environmental Science lab U.S.C. With the -report, the exhibit, and the testimony of the distinguised panel, the opposition to the use of A/C pipe was relatively mute. The council voted to continue using A/C pipe in the City of Lakewood. After the meeting was over, the city printed excerpts of-the expert witness' testimony. Copies were mailed to residents in the city so that all concerned citizens would have the complete story. Attached is a xerox copy of the excerpts of the testimony presented to the Lakewood City Council. Additional copies are .available if desired. Environmental & Engineering Development PIPE DIVISION ! Codes: 12, 153, 162, 1634, 182, 187, 522, 532-S, 535-S ba CAPCO JEN 0012817 Excerpts from Testimony Presented to the Lakewood City Council . 'Evaluating the Health Effects of . "Asbestos-Cement Water Pipe July 14,1981 John Gaston California Department of Health Services Mr. Gaston fs responsible for drink ing water quality in California. He has been chief of the sanitary-engi neering section ofthe health depart ment since 1968. He holds a mas ter's degree in sanitary engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Herbert M.-Conrad Water Quality Scientist Dr. Conrad has monitored the Lakewood water supply since 1959. He is president of Ecological Systems Corporation. Dr. Conrad received his PhD in biochemistry from the University ofSouthern California. We have no problem with the use of asbestoscement pipe in Lakewood. Asbestos in drinking water is an issue that we have been involved with for some time. In looking at the asbestos fiber and water sup ply issues we have seen in California -- (from San Francisco, Marin, Humboldt, and the Cal ifornia Aqueduct] -- there is no problem in Lakewood. A-C pipe when used in proper applications -- as apparently it is in Lakewood -- does not present a hazard to water consumers. The findings of our tests demonstrate that the asbestos fiber content of Lakewood water is minimal. Furthermore, the protective nature of the water itself precludes the subsequent deterioration of the A-C pipelines, which might have served as a secondary source of asbestos fibe*rs. Specific tests were run to determine whether our water was corrosive. We determined that the water is scale-forming and protective. We have shown that A-C pipe is safe and have confirmed these findings by three different methods, not just one. Tests were run using an electron microscope to count the fibers. In-all cases, it was found that the fiber.content of the water, in all loca tions of the city, was safe and relatively low. The only conclusion that can be drawn from these facts is that the City of Lakewood does hot have an asbestos problem with its water system. r> a d r* n ipw nnion-iQ Robert S. Bryant American Water Works Assn. Mr. Bryant h the chairman of the Standards Committee for AsbestosCement Pressure Pipe of the Ameri can Water Works Association. Dr. Arthur F. Gelb Chest Disease Consultant and Associate Clinical Professor University of California, Los Angeles Dr. Gelb is a memberof the medical staff of Doctors Hospital ofakewood. He is a specialist in internal medicine and pulmonary diseases. Dr. Gelb and his family are Lakewood residents and receive their wa ter from the city water system. The American Water Works Association func tions as the representative of the water.pur veying agencies in the United States. One of our functions is to formulate policy based on the understanding and knowledge that our' members possess. A typical standards committee such as the asbestos-cement pipe committee will develop and maintain on a five-yeaT cycle all the stand ards that relate to the manufacture of the pipe, testing and quality assurance. There are also standards that relate to the design and selection of the pipe. There are also standards for the installation of the pipe and all the components that would go into the pipeline to form a water system. We also have manuals that are used concurrently with the installa tion standards to specifically address pipe installation. I am a member of the AWWA committee or ganized to develop a policy statement on the safety of asbestos fibers in drinking water. In listening to the presentation of your report [on A-C pipe]', I felt I was on traveled ground. We have recently done the same type of work. Our final policy statement will be prepared by our committee. We offer some precautions. But our basic statement is that asbestos-cement pipe is safe when used in.accordance with the guidelines that we have established. I have reviewed the report on asbestos in the city water supply. I am in complete agreement with the conclusions of the study. I ama resident of this community and I whole heartedly support the conclusions. 1 wish to reassure the members of the City Council that the opinions reached are fair. [Asbestos in the drinking water] provides no health hazards to the members of this com munity. CAP CO JEN 0012819 Or. Kaye Kilbum Professor of Mediaoe-aad Director, Environmental Sciences Laboratory, University of Southern California Dr. Kilburrt is one of the nation's leading authorities on diseases which are caused by asbestos. In 1978, he was the co-director ofa majorsym posium on asbestos associated dis ease held in New York City. He is the author ofmore than 125 profes sional journal articles on medicine, including four on asbestos-related diseases. Under Dr. Kilbum's direction, the environmental sciences laboratory at USC focuses on the causes of dis ease in the occupational and envi ronmental sectors. Projects include control of lung cancer in shipyard workers, asbestos disease in families of shipyard workers, and the devel opment of health monitoring pro grams for workers. The first thing I would liketo say is that to inhale.asbastos is hazardous. But this is entirely different than ingesting (drinking or eating} it. If any of you think you can reduce your as bestos hazard by drinking beer, wine, soft drinks, or bottled water, I invite you to do so. But your asbestos fiber concentration will probably go upl So, if you want to be totally safe, you should go off water and all other liquids. 1 think the.point that Dr. Conrad made that . wehave nonaggressive water is very important. That means that the asbestos that we are go ing to drink in Lakewood -- or in Long Beach and Los Angeles -- is the asbestos that comes out of the Sierras by reason of the Sierras catching rain and draining a certain amount of water [into the California Aquedect]. J spend a good part of my working day seeing people who have been injured by inhaled as bestos. It is not a trivial matter. t Vie figure that Jess than one percent of in gested asbestos remains in the system. Let's compare that to our lungs.-Probably, the lungs retain 50 percent of the asbestos that is inhaled. The primary ingestion of asbestos through water or food is really trivial compared to secondary ingestion from inhalation. I would affirm that asbestos is a hazardous material. But it is basically hazardous by only one mode of entry -- airborne through inha lation. There is really not much we can do about the natural asbestos we are faced with in`the wa ster supply. It is like natural radiation from the sun or from .the .rock that we live on. It is one of those risks we have to accept. There are plenty of things that we have to be very worried about. Asbestos in water ;s one we don't have to worry about. CAP CO JEN 0012820 ! * *-.V S' ^>v -V r*<cpS~f- :^> r\,J \ CAP CO JEN 0012821