Document pmQErr7nGLj8vkwkX0kZgm4VX

Gr a h a m E d g a r . DIRECTOR O F R E SE AR CH E t h y l Ga s o l i n e Co r p o r a t i o n Ch r y s l e r Bu il d in g 405 Le x i n g t o n Av e n u e N e w Yo r k March 23, 1936. B r. R o b ert A. Kehoe U niversity of C incinnati C ollege o f M edicine C in c in n a ti, O hio. My d e a r D r . Kehoe* I e n c lo se a copy o f some co rresp o n d en ce r e l a t i n g t o a b reak o f a g a so lin e p ipe 1 in e co n tain in g E thyl G asoline which is a lle g e d to have contam inated a C ity w ater supply. I do n o t assume th a t th e re i s anything f o r us to do a t th e moment in t h i s m a tte r* b u t I w ant to keep you inform ed* ge/ l r j Enc. HE 0 0 116 15 g a s o l i n e COR POR ATION NEW YORK : CI TY March 13, 1936, MEMO t o MR. J , C. TAYLOR . ATTENTION: MR, H. W. KALEY I am a t t a c h i n g tw o memorandums from M r, L i t t l e f i e l d and su p p o rtin g new spaper c lip p in g s r e f e r r in g to th e break in th e Keystone Pipe Line a t Sinking S p rin g s, P ennsylvania, Th K ey sto n e P ip e L in e i s a s u b s i d i a r y o f A t l a n t i c R e fin in g and l i k e a l l p ip e l i n e s i s a common c a r r i e r . The p a r t i c u l a r 'g a s o l i n e i n th e p ip e l i n e a t th e tim e o f th e b r e a k was Good G u lf w h ich s u b s ta n t i a t e s th e new spaper sta te m e n ts to th e e f f e c t th e g a so lin e was p o iso n ous o Mr, L i t t l e f i e l d 's one page r e p o r t i s th e ons t h a t concerns u s m o s t. The r e p o r t i s s e l f - e x p l a n a t o r y . I t i s e v id e n t t h a t K lin e is ta k in g advantage o f th e p re se n t b reak to sue on a s im ila r break made some two y e a rs before V/e w i l l f o llo w u p w ith M r, Y filliam s o u r r e c e i v i n g a copy of th e ir R esearch D epartm ent's re p o rt concerning th is c a se , W h ile D o c to r S e h r a d in was i n New Y ork D ick Murphy d is c u s s e d w ith him th e p r e s e n t b re a k in th e p ip e l i n e , b u t a t t h a t tim e knew nothing of the ^ H H p s u it, I f t h e r e i s any f u r t h e r in f o r m a tio n you d e s i r e , v/e s h a l l be very glad to secure i t . J . E. BOUDREAU n/ w M HE 0 0 116 16 % M r. J E0 B oudreau D iv isio n Manager - M arch 9 , 1936 Dear Jims . D u rin g my c o n v e r s a t io n w i t h Mr "W illiam s o f t h e K ey sto n e P ip e L i n e , t h e q u e s ti o n o f a law s u i t p e n d in g , a g a in s t th e K e y s to n e , w&s. r a i s e d # Mr* W illia m s s a i d t h a t a s t h i s law s u i t in c lu d e d a c h a rg e o f le a d p o is o n in g caused from d rin k in g w ater w ith "Ethyl G asoline in i t , he had advised th e r e s e a r c h d e p a rtm e n t t o r e p o r t i t t o u s i n d e t a i l * As i t was l a t e i n th e day he c o u ld n o t d e te rm in e w h e th e r o r n o t t h i s h a d b e e n done and so I am fo rw a rd in g b rie fly the. d e ta ils o f the case fo r your inform ation. . About two fear s ago a le a k o ccu rred i n th e K eystone P ip e Line <o n ^ h e p r o p e r ty o f one Berks C ounty, n e a r Johnna, Pa* Mr. ^com plained a b o u t contam xnat Lon i n h i s w a te r w e ll s and t h i s l e a k was d i s cov ered * I t w as a sm a ll le a k and com puted t o be 17 d ro p s p e r m i n u te , The -gaso* lin e was A tla n tic E th y l Gasoline T h is l e a k was w i t h i n 400 f e e t o f two w a te r w e ll s u s e d by Mr Due t o / r o c k f o rm a tio n o f th e ground t h i s g a s o lin e no d o u b t flow ed in to Ehe w a te r s t r a t and th e n i n t o th e w e lls * The w a te r was c o lo r e d a s l i g h t re d w h ich means o f c o u rs e t h a t no f i l t r a t i o n h a d ta k e n p l a c e . T h ere was a l s o some fre e gas in th e wells Mr la im s t h a t h i s w ife d ra n k some o f t h i s p o ll u te d w a te r and as a r e s u lt c o n ta c te d le ad p o iso n in g , from which she i s s t i l l su ffe rin g * Jhif* i s n o t t h e m ain c o m p la in t o f th e s u i t b u t w i l l be u sed a s a wedge Mr has w itnesses to te s tif y to th is effect* Mr W illia m s h a s made no m e d ic a l c o n t a c t s on th e case< T his c a se i s coming up d u rin g A p ril so .you w ill no doubt re c e iv e a com plete r e p o r t from th e re s e a rc h departm ent a t an e a rly date Very tr u ly y o u rs, MEREDITH LITTLEFIELD KJf 0011617 pw<<-" -' . ' l&: " .. L-'r P iii'i'SiP P h ila d e lp h ia , Penna March 9 , 1936 Mr, J , "E, Boudreau D iv isio n Manager ......... -- Dear Jim j ' S u p p lem en tin g my comments i n my w eek ly l e t t e r o f l a s t w eek r e l a t i v e to p o ll u tio n o f d rin k in g w a te r by g a s o lin e in S in k in g S p rin g s , P a0, I c o n ta c te d M r, F ra n k s o f -the A t l a n t i c R e f in in g Company i n P h ila d e lp h i a who i n t u r n r e f e r r e d me t o Mr, W illia m s o f t h e K ey sto n e P ip e L in s i n P h i l a d e l p h i a , The K eystone P ip e L in e i s owned and o p e r a te d by th e A t l a n t i c R e f in in g Company b u t l i k e a l l p ip e l i n e s i s a common c a r r i e r , The l e a k w h ich c a u se d th e tr o u b l e o c c u rre d i n t h e K ey sto n e l i n e , Mr* Y fillia m s gave me th e f o llo w in g in f o r m a tio n relativ e to th is case. There was a le a k in th lin e and approxim ately 15,000 t o 18,000 g allo n s o f g aso lin e leaked o u t. This amount is as n early as can be e stim a te d , The le a k w as im m ed iately r e p a i r e d b u t o f c o u rs e th e g a s o li n e w h ich le a k e d otvt i s s t i l l e v id e n t as f a r as th e s o i l p o llu tio n i s co n cern ed , The e a r th fo rm atio n is ro c k , s l a t e , etc , w hich means t h a t th e g a s o lin e would flow th ro u g h s t r a t a u n t i l i t r e a c h e s w a te r s t r a t a and th e n i n t o w e l l s . One cave showed a h ig h p e rc e n ta g e o f g a s o lin e and th e r e was some ev id en ce o f gas in th e w e l l s , The tow ns o f S in k in g S p rin g s h a s been us5.ng two s u r f a c e w e lls f o r t h e i r w a te r s u p p ly , One w e ll i s 50 f e e t and th e o th e r s i s n o t o v e r 100 f e e t . T his supply has always been u n s a tis fa c to ry and f o r y e a rs th e people of t h i s a re a have b een p r o te s tin g f o r a new and b e t t e r w a te r s u p p ly . The p r e s e n t a g ita tio n is a back la s h o f t h i s f e e lin g more or le s s . S ince th e o ccu rran c e o f th e le a k , th e K eystone has b een pumping th e s e tw o w a te r w e ll s d a i l y , They pump o v e r a m i l l i o n g a l lo n s e a c h d a y . They a r e a l s o skimming th e cave ?<rhere m o st o f t h e p o l l u t i o n o c c u r r e d . A lso t e s t s o f th e w a te r a re made each d a y , an d th e l a s t t e s t s from th e v ;e lls showad no contam ination, Mr, W illiam s f e e ls th a t i f i t had n o t been fo r unusual w eather c o n d itio n s , th e c o n d itio n w ould'have n o t e x is te d even w ith a le a k 4 n th e line.* He alw ays f e e l s t h a t i f t h e w e a th e r c o n tin u e s to b e f a i r no m ore t r o u b l e w i l l be e x p e r i e n c e d . On th e o t h e r h an d i f f lo o d s o c c u r , m ore tr o u b l e may b e e x p e c te d . To d a te a lth o u g h th e r e h as b een much d is c u s s io n ab o u t ta k in g w ater from R eading, th is has n o t been done t o s e c u r e a new and b e t t e r w a te r sy stem I t i s Mr* 'W illiam s o p i n i o n t h a t i f . . th e p re s e n t w e lls a re condemned due to g a so lin e c o n tam in a tio n , itrw ill arouse very u n fav o rab le c r itic is m tow ards b o th K eystone and u s . However, i f th ey are ab le to clean up th e p re se n t s itu a tio n before any a c tio n is tak en and keep i t c le a n , when th e w e lls are condemned a t a l a t e r d a te , w hich th ey no doubt w ill b e , we w i l l be c l e a r 0 * . The g a s o lin e b e in g pumped th ro u g h th e l i n e a t th e tim e of th e le a k .ftas Good G u lf G a s o lin e and o f c o u rs e c o n ta in e d no le ad , M r. W illia m s e x p e c ts some m ore p u b l i c i t y on t h e t h i n g b u t i s hop ' ing th a t w ith fav o rab le w eather they can flu s h th e w ells out s u ffic ie n tly by pumping d a ily t o c l e a r t h e i r c a s e . I w i l l se e M r. W illiam s a g a in nextw eek in order to bring inform ation up to d a te . Very tr u ly y o u rs, MEREDITH L IT T L E FIE L D