Document e11rJr9VvYNEv1KoqOM6YbGqm

M. ) . CAI'KIO PROCUREMENT DEPARTMENT - 19 M K M 0 K A N D II M 1981 MARCH 30 RE: JOHNS-MANVILLE'S MARINITE PRODUCTS With the exception of the critical header applications for both HDC and FDC ingot operations, Johns-Manville's (J.M.) asbestosfree Marinite-C board should replace the asbestos Molten Metal Marinite. By means of this letter we are advising all plants to replace asbestos Molten Metal Marinite (S/N 094-210-xxxx) with asbestos free Marinite-C (S/N 094-218-xxxx) by 1981 September 01. The applications for Marinite-C include molten metal transfer troughs, baffles, basins, dams and floating skimmers. J-M's asbestos-free Marinite-I is not recommended for molten aluminum operations. In certain applications, an acceptable alternate for Marinite-C is Pyrotek's asbestos-free Pyrotherm B-3 manufactured by Cape Boards of England. Any questions on the acceptance of this board should be directed to Mrs. Virginia Hammersmith at ATC or the writer. If all things are equal, we favor the use of J-M's domestically produced Marinite-C. An asbestos-free material for the critical HDC and FDC header applications has yet to be developed for commercial use. Until this product is available, we will continue to use asbestos Header Grade Molten Metal Marinite, (S/N 094-220-xxxx). To insure continued availability of the header grade material, we request your estimated usage through 1982 June 30. In this manner J-M can be advised of our needs and insure adequate supplies of the Sll-65 amosite fiber. Your cooperation in forwarding the estimated usage for Header Grade Molten Metal Marinite to my attention by 1981 April 30 will be appreciated. If there are any questions on this matter, please contact me directly. i.*-*** Zr ' </ (/ .VIRGINIA L. HAMMERSMITH CHEMICALS AND CERAMICS DIVISION ALCOA TECHNICAL CENTER - B MR. ELWIN L. ROOY PITTSBURGH - 23 1981 JUNE 15 RE:__ ASBESTOS REPLACEMENT - MOLTEN METAL MARINITE Alcoa's ongoing policy for several years now has been "to actively replace any asbestos containing material wherever possible". As we are all aware, the largest usage of such materials by Alcoa has still been with asbestos containing molten metal marinite manu factured by John's Manville at their Billerica, Massachusetts, plant. For the past few years, regular grade asbestos marinite has been no more than 5% of their total business, with the prime type, header grade molten metal marinite, no more than 2%. Certainl it is in both John's Manville's and Alcoa's interest to remove these from their product line and, more specifically, to replace the materials with an asbestos-free type prior to any government edict. Comparable performance of their new Marinite C (a calcium silicate, fiberglass reinforced refractory board) to the regular grade molten metal marinite is certainly welcomed by some of our ingot operations However, it has been brought to my attention that some locations are exceedingly slow to recognize a need to change quickly and to implement the new material across the board. OSHA maximum limitations presently are no more than 2 fibers/cc air averaged over an eight hour period without being in violation. The OSHA action level, maximum of 0.1 fiber/cc, requires that we monitor the persons exposed for physical symptoms of lung damage and disease. In the case of our plants and most exposures, the short term limit is a maximum of 10 fibers/cc air over a 15 minute period. Most countries have reduced this limit much further. How we, as a corporation, can afford this slowness of implementation is questionable. . Many people feel that OSHA, Alcoa Safety, and Alcoa Research are over ly conce rned and, hence, they have turned their ears and eyes away from ci ting violations such as the continuing use of asbestos mate rials wh en an alternative is available and to assume that " sma 11" in fr actions (drilling, sanding, air hammer removal, etc.) shou Id go un noticed. Also, the notion is unfounded that as long as w e, as a corporation, are not actively machining the material, the asbestos t i ed up in the m atr haza rd. Eve rel e ase surf asso ciated w n g a sma 11 item of e s pec ial iy in th e 1 u n g d ise ase . Ce rta do n ot appre c t th at we are a 11 B ALCOA received JUV 2 s m pURCHASltiQ DISTRIBUTION J.D. Boyce - ATC Is W.K. Benefield - Badin T^W. Lee - Davenport j/RTC. Miessler - Lafayette H.L. Gallop - Lebanon T.E. Klenske - Massena D.J. Fisher - Point Comfort J.R. Fry - Rockdale W.S. Zuber - Tennessee yK". D. Wooden - Vancouver Heron - Vernon W..y. Pataki - Warrick 'sQ- Lutz - Warrick ^^T.R. Pargman - Wenatchee C.J. Cox - 3 WPH A.J. Sartschev - 3 WPH V.L. Hammersmith - ATC-B R.W. Flanagan - AB 6 "