Document e55ordOzpLpYEx671gx7dzN7m

ST. JOE LEAD COMPANY Smelting Division Herculaneum, Missouri 63048 To: R. E. Peppers --' Dated: May 13, 1982 From: D. L. Vornberg Subject: LIA Environmental Health Committee Meeting New York City - May 12, 1982 Distribution: (Circulate) (Circulate) G. E. Welch T. E. Janeck D. H. Beilstein W. Scott Railton T. Johnston/W. Euler/H. Rowland/K. Oleson W. Allen/D. DeClue R. G. Redelfs G. D. Haines I attended the referenced meeting at the ILZRO offices at 292 Madison in New York City on May 12, 1982. G. E. Welch also attended for St. Joe. The agenda is attached. IV. Discussion of the Role of LIA Environmental Health Committee. Alan Booth, current Chairman of LIA, had requested that the Environmental Committee's role return more to consideration of health issues, research and training and let Regulatory Activities Committee plot strategy and litigation. Lawyers will not attend Environmental Committee meetings henceforth. (In spite of mandate, it was difficult to identify change in proceedings of group as meeting progressed). Regular meetings will continue in Spring with Research funding considerations in Fall. LIA environmental staff are: Jerry Cole, Rosalind Volpe, Neil Marcesa, and Bob Putnam. VI. OSHA Lead Standard. The feedback is that the rulemaking may be very broad. Cole requested that members may want to keep LIA updated by providing copies of responses to CRC study. (I think we may want to wait on this because of our Caplan Study and new lead technology cost discussions we can provide latter if desirable - any counter thought on this?) In the short run, we have been precluded from meeting with OSHA re the Air Lead/Blood Lead business. Everyone is concerned about this. Welch suggested two-step approach: first, small group meet to see where they are at - second, have highly technical discussions with statisticians. Putman feels OSHA may be tinkering with model because of feedback. DLV reported on NIOSH testing at Herky. John Bittler indicated on fit testing, that they have developed a method to test workers on 'respirator in fit test booth by using a specially designed "sock" to fit over exhalation valve which then has adapted to fit into normal sampling tube. (We should experiment with this - I will initiate). This would allow worker to be tested in his own respirator. ^ Bittler also indicated that they have been working with 2% sodium sulfide solution on workers as training tool for indicating when hands are clean. Japanese have apparently done this. (I think we ought to experiment with this and if the technique is successful, consider ways to train people using it perhaps we would start with all +60 people when they come in for respirator training or on all people during annual training which we are required to do.) Gene Beaudon of Globe Union reported that they had been cited on failure to use exact laboratory procedure that OSHA was using at Salt Lake. No one else had. Perhaps that citation could be beaten. . The battery people reported that they had all been receiving safety inspections lately in lieu of health inspections. However, if their lost time accident rate was less than 5.7, they were in fact passed over as 'promised by Auchter. (Herky's rate for 1981 was 11.7 per 200,000 manhours. Our rate for 1982 if we maintain 2 accidents per month or less would be 3.3 per 200,000 manhours). VII. LIA Blood Lead Comparison Program. Second quarter 1981 data was published as well as third quarter. Subsequent quarters are being prepared now. Publications, from 3rd quarter 1981 on, include a 6-month summary including only one blood lead per individual. The other table on quarterly basis is % of samples only. DLV requested that they consider another page comparing a fixed group of responding companies in order that trends could be established. As it is now, new companies join the list each month. It was decided to continue to make the data available to everyone for the time being. Discussing hemoglobin values, it was indicated that normal levels vary from 15 to 16 and a new worker can be expected to drop one unit on beginning to work with lead and then recover part of drop. Problems are not indicated until levels drop to 12 or below. VIII. New Directions Grant Training Program. Maresca presented a slide show which meets the training requirements imposed on us in Appendix A and B of the Lead Standard. This was developed under contract to OSHA. He received several minor suggestions which he planned to incorporate. This will be available in cassette form in a month. (We should get a copy for use in our annual training.) Other activities include the Dolan study, newsletter (circulation 800), specialty training courses (which have been disappointingly attended so far). Neil asked that firms that find these activities of value please write in order to help justify continued funding. (I will attempt something here.) -3- IX. Physicians Conference The conference will be held near Dallas on October 22-26 this year. The first day, as usual, will be the primer. The rest will be an update including neurophysiology! reproductive effects, nutritional aspects, a report on the radioimuno assay efforts to provide an assay for the suspected Pb binding protein factor in certain workers, and a section on the effects of smoking by Dr. Bates of RSR who is completing a study in this area. (RSR bans tobacco products in the offices, cafeteria and changehouse as well as in the plant!) Would this session be of value for R. G, Redelfs, or someone else? LIA needs reservations by mid-August. Several firms indicated that they have had lead knowledgeable physicians put on short seminars in their communities and invited all area doctors and pediatricians. X. EPA Ambient Air Quality Standard - Update and Status Reconsideration, EPA has undertaken the first step in reconsidering its ambient air standard namely to review the Criteria Document on which the standard is based. Seminars were held last week and again next week for the various EPA retained authors of chapters to receive expert input for the revised documents. Bob Putnam and others represented LIA. Ed McCabe Is there as an EPA consultant. The coordinator for EPA is Lester Grant who is described as a breath of fresh air. He is a very objective individual and will hopefully make the new document more scientific than the biased first version. He is not, however, pro-industry - he is apparently pro-science. The environmental forces are well organized, armed with new data, and not to be taken lightly. They will try to argue that 1.5 is too lienient. Their champions apparently made unobjective asses of themselves in pushing their points of view. The most difficult data to deal with will be a study which has been represented to show that children's blood leads are dropping in strict correspondence to air lead decrease and gasoline phase down. XI. Lead in Gasoline. A hearing was held on April 15 and 16 to support the rulemaking on the potential lead in gasoline phasedown rule suspension. The environmentalists gave their usual presentation, the TEL and LIA people theirs. The surprise, however, came when big refiners came out against the suspension because of proclaimed unfair competition from blenders. Cole is not terribly optimistic about the outcome. A decision is expected this summer. NBC magazine presented a terribly biased special on the topic. We viewed a videotape. Don't suspect that the media's gone conservative for one minute. XII. Development of Lead SIP's. The attached report indicates the status of the lead SIP's by State, NR.DC has given 60 days notice that it intends to sue EPA to force the other SIP's out. On request, I reported on the status of the 3 smelter lawsuit indicating outnegotiated victory on modeling and the attainment date questions. Ken Nelson was alarmed and surprised - thought we had lost suit since Asarco iiad recently spent a bundle on a modeling effort. OOPS! Duck! (Janeck - explains your recent report from Asarco corporate). -4- XIII. RCRA Bob Putnam reported that Task Force meeting on the data development of the ASTM method on toxic wastes has been changed from May 21st to May 27th, 10:00 a.m. at the Marriott Hotel in St. Louis. He also reported on EPA's decision to exempt batteries from the hazardous waste rules until they arrive at the battery breaking plants. Other issues in flux. Bittler reported a disturbing piece of data - that they had determined that rotting organic natural vegetation at one disposal site had been leaching lead from the disposal pile. If this is also true for primary slags, it could erode our position that a monodisposal site is free from organic acid conditions. XIV. ILZRO Lead Environmental Health Research. Status reports on research efforts were presented. Cooper is moving forward on his 1975-1980 update of the retrospective mortality study. Dr. Donic(?) is still working on the radio-imuno assay technique to qualify the lead binding protein factor in certain lead prone individuals. It is not far enough, along for screening use yet. The fertility effects study is still bogged down. Six' prospective 5-year studies on chronic lead impacts (one sponsored by LIA) are moving ahead slowly. Asarco and Noranda reported on studies they conducted. Most of the results were neutral. The only items of interest were excess death from lung cancer and strokes at Omaha from a retrospective study there. No reasons were offered. It especially surprised Nelson, since E. Helena came out completely clean. Noranda reported that a nerve condition study at a mine smelter revealed a slower response among the miners than the smelter workers which surprised them. A new book is available from Urban and Schwarzenborg, 7 East Redwood Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21202, "Lead Absorption in Children - Management, Clinical, and Environmental Aspects". Edited Chisolm, J. Julian Jr., and O'Hara, David M. Highly recommended by Cole. XV. Other Business A video tape of a news special on the new St. Helens, Oregon Bergsoe. plant was shown. The plant is to process 28,000 tons/year of secondary lead and emit 19 tons/year of process emissions. They also own another plant in Indiana which they are reworking. Bergsoe has joined LIA and has a member on the environmental committee (not in attendance at this meeting). Several secondaries took their last parting shot at Bergsoe as we are now all on the same team. -5- XVI. Discussions with Globe Union. I spent some time with Gene Beadeaun of Globe Union after the meeting to learn more about BCI's position on the lead standard. He argues that since we are all living with a 50 return why shouldn't we live with a 50 return in the future. Of course, they only have 8.5% above 50 where we have in excess of 40%. They believe irregardless of this that it will be difficult to backtrack to a 60 return when we have demonstrated that we can return people at 50. Their own experience is that they have 71 people (out of 3500) that have left on 60-40. Only six have come back now in 10 months however, they are starting to return now. While BCI did not have time to develop the position Globe Union is going to push for a 90% compliance standard. This is a modification of the concept we are playing with. Gene had several excellent suggestions which I believe we ought to move ahead with. a) Since .the 50 blood lead removal standard is an average of six months of values (3 consecutive measurements) and since our data is computerized we should report how many people would be above 50 based on that criteria rather than the last reading. b) In anticipation of this we should move to dual determinations of all blood leads on the same sample to improve our precision. (I suggest it is time to begin doing this now.) c) Instead of applying for a 70-50 blood lead MRP next spring or a 60-40 variance,apply for a 60-50 to show progress. Bill Pallies had suggested this to him (I think it is an excellent idea). DLV/cds Attachments