Document mqV5NpgVQ99jMLjEQBzrK5Dng

A/C Pipe Producers Association Public Affairs Committee frl... r\ welch, Vice President subject- pjeW proj3iem - Baytown, Texas ACTION REQUIRED: Review for information PLAINTIFF'S EXHIBIT CAP-1494 Internal Correspondence date November 12,1981 At the October 13,1981 meeting of the Public Affairs Committee, Hal Olson (JM) circulated a news article (enclosed) in which Lee McCabe of the EPA Health Effects Research Laboratory (HERL) is quoted as stating: If the utility doesn't know they have to worry about it (asbestos fibers in drinking water conveyed through A/C pipe), then you have a problem. Concerns were expressed about the timing of McCabe's statement, that is, whether it was made after receipt of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) response to AACPP's letter about inappropriate public statements by HEBL researchers. The news article was published on June 28, 1981. AACPP received a response to its letter on August 5,1981 so it is unlikely that EPA took corrective action by the date of publication. Thus, it does not appear to be appropriate to bring the Baytown matter to the attention of EPA on the grounds that McCabe ignored whatever "warnings" were given to him by EPA-Washington. As an aside, a water utility official and a consulting engineer for the Baytown Area Water Authority met with Staff during the Texas-Southwest Section, American Water Works Association on November 10,1981. They stated that the problem appeared to have run its short course, but they were interested in having access to the "A/C. Pipe and Drinking Water" audio-visual presentation. Frank Duffy (Certain-teed Corporation) agreed to take care of this matter. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call. JFW/ajb Enclosure cc: A. Kahn, Esq. N. Rahn, Esq. N. Battle Kinnan Golemon (Brown, Maronev, Rose, Baker & Barber) CAP CO JEN 0012373 copies to: Public Affairs Committee H. Olson I. Adams W. Perrell J. Woods J. Baker T. Dougherty D. Stinson W. McCallie B. Collier International Affairs Committee R. Dorner B. Giboin P. Hart E. van der Rest R. Hobbs A. Saoulis R. Jalan V. Pattabhi H. Hudson C. Barton S. Al-Tarkait HEGA/6 Chrono CAP CO JEN 0012374 O'iLiAUJUi /o>tp Most Lines Made Of Cement-Asbestos "If wo newt to take steps to eliminate ar-Wos as a public health harnrd. then we wilt do II i;?:f we dinT ByTIM POTTER A federal r-fficinl claims concrete-asbestos wsites pipes that carry much of the drinking water in Baytown pose pnssiHe health hazards. An official wills the federal Environmental Protec tion Agency in Cincinnati. Ohio, says officials in chat go of the Baytown Area Wafer Authority should check the city's drinking water, to determine if It contains asbestos fibers. Baytown City Engineer-Public Works Director Nor man Dykes says the asbestos pipes arc usee! in the ci ty's main water lines and in most subdivisions. Dykes soys Baytown, like cities throughout tire na tion. uses the asbestos pipe because it is relatively cheap and is eery durable. He says the pipe, a mixture of concrete and asbestos libers, has "always been an old stand-by." . J But Leiand McCabe, a director of the EPA Health Ef I feels Rescrarch Laboratory in Cincinnati, says the pipe I `is potentially dangerous, "If the utility doesn't know i they have to worry about It (asbestos fibers), then you have a problem." [ According to Allen Gammage. the laboratory super- V visor of the Baytown Area Water Authority plant, lab technicians have never measured the walcr for asbestos since the surtax water treatment plant began operating about three months ago. f f' Gammage claims that sampling the water for asbestos is impractical and unneccessarv. But the EPA's McCabe says asbestos fibers in the drinking water pose a health risk. McCabe has authored studies to determine whether asocstos water pipes may be responsible for .such pro blems as cancer. Scientists have proved that inhaling asbestos causes lung cancer, but no study tms ever shown that asbestos in drinking water lends to cancer. Although McCabe concedes there is no solid cv ider.ee Ihnl shows swallowing asbestos is harmful, he says some studies have suggested that it causes gastro intestinal cancer. Tin taking the stance that It's just not good to he drinking fibers,*' h6 says. Bui slate water official Charles Matlox in Austin says people like McCabe arc unduly alarmed. "We know about asbestos being in the drinking r water," says Maddox, chief of data reports for the Water Qualitv .Branch of the Stale Department of ' Health. "U it is a possible hazard, it hasn't been demonstrated to us.__________________ see it os a hazard at lliir. time." Mattox rays the American Wnvr Works Association, which sets standard:: (or water quality, lias always cn- dorsrd-th" use of asbestos pipe. Although the state routinely takes water samples from cities to test it for bacteria. Mattox says the state health department has never tested for asbestos ror.- trnl. But he says the state tab in Austin has plans to buy an electron microscope for about $t.V).Q('.0 to f20i.cno to begin measuring for asbestos fibers. Local water treatmenl plants like the one in Bay town cannot afford to buy such expensive equipment. Mattox says. Gammage, who is in charge of testing water at the Baytown plant, says only water that is high in pH or acidity would cause asbestos fibers to be in the drink ing water. According to EPA engineers, acidic water tends to dissolve concrete in the pipes, causing asbestos fibers to fall into the water. Gammage claims water in Baytown is only slightly acidic, meaning it will not cause corrosion in pipes. The city buys its water from BAWA which pumps Trinity River water into its plant from an adjacent canal. , .The BAWA lab currently has no test to determine th<* amount of asbestos fibers in the water, Gammage says, because the tests are not necessary... '' Basically, the lab runs tests to look for bacteria in the water. . - Gammage says he and other technicians add certain . doses of chemicals to purify the water. - Although he says asbestos water pipes have been us ed nationally since the 1920s without any complaints, he agrees that asbestos should be studied. .. *`i don't want anything to happen to mecither." But Gamm3ge and other officials associated with the BAWA plant claim the F.PA is impractical when it asks local treatment plants to measure asbestos. Gammage says the- EPA has the "tendency to get people upset over nothing. "I don't anticipate any problem with the pipe we're using." But EPA's McCabe says local officials should not be so confident. At the least, he says they should take routine tests to determine the amount of minute asbestos fibers in the water. " - Every time there is a break in one of the asbestos pipes, the chips should b? removed from the water line. McCabe says. Also, he recommends'that'thl-.city workers be re quired to remove any asbestos duster fragments caus ed from cutting the pipe. - CAP CO JEN 0012375