Document qkj4pm3YVn0yYkRL03peO3LK5

Asbestos Information Association/North America 22 Enst 401h Street New York, N. Y. 10016 (212) 661-0206 September 1, 1971 Mr. Raymond J. Sachs President and Treasurer PORTER-HAYDEN CO. . 825 l-'relingliuyscn Avenue Newark, New Jersey 07114 Dear Mr. Sachs: Are you aware that: . * The Federal Government is preparing emission standards that will apply to every U.S. mine, manufacturing plant, fabricating shop or field contracting operation that uses asbestos or asbestos-containing products. * Illinois proposes an outright ban by 1975 on new vehicles with brake linings containing asbestos. . * Fireproofing with asbestos-containing spray compounds has been banned in half a dozen cities and states. * The Federal Food and Drug Administration and the Federal ' Trade Commission are considering actions restricting or banning certain uses of asbestos^on^tjiejbasis of.alleged-->!---.*- --heal-th'*hazards*I`t&"tJlTew*gehcrai public. To present the asbestos/health problem in its proper perspective to government- agencies and to counteract the increasingly heavy attacks upon asbestos in the press and elsewhere, eight companies last December founded the Asbestos Information Association/North America to serve as spokesman for the asbestos-using industry. In eight months of operation, the AIA/NA has demonstrated its effective ness, as evidenced by the accomplishments detailed in the attached prospectus. The job to be done, however, is growing and the full support of the . entire industry is needed in this vital communications effort. There fore we invite your company to join the AIA/NA. .. . To hclp^you evaluate the merits of membership, the1 AIA/NA is presenting " on informational seminar at the Union League Club, -38 Easl:_37thr| Street, >.. New York City, .onvTuesday,rvScpteniber'21,' 1971. Till, s program, wji ich . will commence-at 10:00 a.m. and = conclude by 4:00 p.m., will, review the : aohnstos/hcaltli hazards -- .real and alleged -- the status .and outlook . ' regarding government regulations and the AIA/NA -communications campaign being directed toward key. people in government, science and tlie general 1>u"lic- , n. 44008 . ..' _ Upon&oit-d by AIIm A*l*Mn* Co.. Ccii.iin-ie-JtJ Corn., Fllnfkotd Co., GAP Corf)., Jirfmi-Maitvllle Cmp,, Na!Ioo*I Cy|iMi<n Co., I'nnD.run Corp.. JUtyboMusMAjifiMlrm. Inc., Olid Woodwool C<M|>. - .,___, 4 W Page 2 We urge you to attend or l>c represented at this important meeting. A return card is enclosed for your convenience in indicating attendance. Sincerely, ^ JU G. Barge / Executive Vice President and General Manager Atlas Asbestos Company S.D. Weaver ' Vice President and General Manager Cement Asbestos Products Company yv* Q. $ ^yron C. Radaker Senior Vice President Certain-teed Products Corporation J.A. Rishel, Jr. Vice President The Flintkote Company ' Ju-' VUVJ^ 'f'/uoAU. j/\ R. Power Fraser, Jr. f Vice President GAF Corporation * F.J. SolonJ^Jr. Vice President Johns-Manville Corporation \j6hn P.^jlayes _ President, Building 1`roducts Division National Gypsum Company Cr*<V.7. C.E.` Tennesson, Jr. ( President . . ... .. Panacon Corporation . { *J 't * * feJiAvyp&c William S. Simpson President Uaybcstos-Manhattan .. - .:... .V, c"^r ' 440C9 PROSPECTUS ASBESTOS INFORMATION ASSOCIATION/NORTH AMERICA In the past few years, the subject of possible occupational and public health hazards associated with the manufacture and use of asbestos and asbestoscontaining products has become a topic of national interest and concern. Many groups, both governmental and private, are investigating, attacking and en couraging or imposing regulations on asbestos and its uses. The Federal Government, through the authority granted if under the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Clean Air Act, is developing strict standards for occupational and environmental exposure to asbestos. Earlier this year, the Federal Environmental Protection Agency listed asbestos as one of the first three "hazardous air pollutants" for which emission standards would be `'established.'--'In addition,- a -numberof city .and-, state. governments .have already, w banned or limited certain uses of asbestos because of suspected public hazard. Certain politicians, both in the U.S. and in Canada, have sought to cash in on the current interest in the environment by attacking asbestos. In the private sector, adverse publicity has been generated by such environ mentalists and consumer protection advocates as Barry Commoner, Rene Dubos, Paul Ehrlich and Ralph Nader, who with increasing frequency have been attacking certain uses of asbestos and including it in their list of public health hazards Certain doctors have also attracted national attention by their.comments on the supposed hazards'of-asbestos to the general public.' > -.v:"- ` - Newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations, both in the U.S. and in Canada, have picked up the story and spread it across the country. The result 44010 -2- of this publicity has been that the public is being given the impression that all uses of asbestos are potentially hazardous. This is simply not true. The facts of asbestos-related disease are simply stated: 1. Asbestos-related health risks are basically confined to the occupational and para-occupational setting. 2. The effects of excessive inhalation of asbestos are both time and dose related. This means that asbestos-related diseases may develop, generally, only after the inhalation of substantial amounts of asbestos dust over a substantial period of time. 3. Despite the comments of certain doctors to the contrary, there is presently no evidence of hazard to the general public from exposure to the minute amounts of asbestos that may be present in community air. These facts have been determined by nearly half a century of studies and research. Much additional research is being conducted today, a substantial portion of it being sponsored by the Canadian asbestos mining companies through the Quebec Asbestos Mining Association and by independent companies in the - asbestos industry. This research is helping provide much of the scientific basis for future information programs on the part of the North American asbestos industry. .' In the matter of providing information, some companies in the asbestos industry- made considerable independent efforts prior to* 1971 to^acquaintgovernment - ': officials, members of the news media and the general public with the facts . about asbestos-health, and to place the problem in its proper perspective. While some success had been achieved in these areas, especially in working - 44011 with the press, it was difficult co rebut uninformed criticism as individual companies. Therefore, in December 1970, eight* companies in the asbestos industry formed the Asbestos Information Association/North America.*"' The objectives of the AIA/NA are to: 1. Provide an authoritative channel of communication to all publics. 2. Publicly rebut irresponsible and uninformed criticism. 3. Propagate the benefits and indispensability of asbestos through advertising, publicity, speeches, etc. While the Association has been in operation for less than a year, it has already established itself in many circles as spokesman for the asbestos manufacturing industry in North America. Some of the activities and accomplishments of the AIA/NA since its formation include: 1. A press briefing attended by approximately two dozen science---- writers and editors was held in New York on March 2 to acquaint the press with the facts about asbestos-health and about industry efforts in the health area. Many favorable stories appeared as a result of the briefing. 2. Background material, including balanced or favorable medical papers and AIA/NA position papers on various aspects of the asbestos-health problem, was sent to 300 editors and science ' writers across the country. - . . r\ . 3. 'Spokesmen representing the Association testifie.d at hearings.on proposed bans of asbestos-containing spray, insulations in New * Cement Asbestos Products Co., Certain-teed Products Corp., Flintkote Co., -Vv ' GAF Corp., Johns-Manville Corp., National Gypsum Co., Panacon Corp., Raybestos-. Manhattan, Inc. ;' = .a ** -At-las Asbestos Company joined the AIA/NA in July 1971 44012 York City, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and the State of New York. While the A1A/NA was unsuccessful in its efforts to defeat the proposed bans, the Association placed itself on record as being opposed to the banning of any asbestos-containing product on the unproven supposition that its application or use might constitute a hazard to the general public. 4. Letters or telegrams of rebuttal on misleading or erroneous statements in the press and on radio and television have been sent to various publications and individuals, such as ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION; GOOD HOUSEKEEPING; William Ruckelshaus, head of the Federal Environmental Protection Agency; and Jerome Kretchmer, Environmental Protection Administrator of the City of New York. 5. A meeting was arranged and held in Washington D.C. in May between. **- >^Wh'*tyi**wtv*'4 an AIA/NA team of medical and technical experts and those officials in the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), including Dr. John Middleton, head of the Federal air pollution control office, responsible for regulating asbestos emissions under the Clean Air Act. .6 In late April, the AIA/NA was contacted by the EPA to nominate industry environmental control experts to serve on a Federal committee to review the proposed Federal emission standards on asbestos. All three industry nominees"were subsequently appointed. to the*'committee;- * As arresulf,`''tHe AlA/NA-member 'companies were : the only ones in "the industry in a. position .to review.and comment , upon .the proposed standards at an. early stage in the regulatory proccss: ' 44013 -5- 7. A seminar for the Washington D.C. representatives of the AIA/NA member companies was held in May to acquaint them with the various aspects of the asbestos-health situation, especially as they are effected by government activities, and to enlist their aid in dealing with these problems at the Federal level. 8. A series of AIA/NA ads on the vital uses of asbestos in our modern technological society is being run in four major American publications -- U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT, BUSINESS WEEK, NEWSWEEK and THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. ' 9. An AIA/NA public service television clip on the use of asbestos in brake linings has appeared on television stations across the nation. 10. Testimony on behalf of the AIA/NA was submitted at U.S. Senate hearings in August on a toxic substances control bill that could affect certain uses of asbestos. Press reports of the hearings generally gave some space to the industry's position. 11. The AIA/NA has assisted the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Food and Drug Administration, and the U.S. Public Health Service in efforts to determine the health facts about the use of asbestos in women's coat material in order to mitigate the nation-wide adverse publicity generated by this subject. 12. AIA/NA position papers on such topics as "Asbestos and Human "Health," "Asbestos and the General Public," and "Asbestos: A Family of Minerals" have been produced. Currently'under ' - .- ;` , - ... - preparation are (1) a history of industry-sponsored .asbestos- health research, (2) a major overall", study of the problem, and." (3) a question and answer card for use by salesmen, plant managers, and other company personnel in replying to questions commonly asked about asbestos and health. 44014 :# -6- 13. Each month, AIA/NA member companies are sent a packet of recent medical- papers and an evaluation of their content, newspaper and magazine clippings, and other items of interest relating to the health question. 14. Working relationships have been established with doctors, govern ment officials at all levels, and others involved in asbestoshealth research and regulation. 15. Close contact is maintained with other associations in the industry, such as the Asbestos Textile Institute, the AsbestosCement Products Association, the National Insulation Manu facturers Associacion, and also with the British Asbestos Infor mation Committee and similar groups in France and the Benelux countries. . To assist in carrying out these activities, the AIA/NA retains the services"" "vf ''****** ? of the Environmental Health Unit of Hill and Knowlton, Inc., the largest public relations agency in the world. H&K has been public relations counsel to Johns- Manville in the asbestos-health area for a number of years, and has done an . V" ^ outstanding job. ~ The AIA/NA is governed by a Board of Directors, elected by the member companies. / The newly elected President of the AIA/NA is Albert R. Fay of National Gypsum., . He succeeds Harold McNabb of Certain-teed. .-i . vw r.-V j - - - ' v ; \ ''"v.;\ -,' - f Day-to-day activities 'are carried- oh by, the.'Administrative; Sub-rComraittee'headediSvft^;. . - " ' ' " ` ' . - '" " ' v ; .. - by the Secretary and including three others from member companies -- two . r;- . ' - ` ; " ' v, : experienced in public relations, the third in the- area of environmentalv, v . . .................. I- v:v" - control/industrial hygiene. They consult with Officers, of the AIA/NA, its ~ " legal--counsel and other consultants as necessary. 44015 .V -7- v For 1971, the expenses of the AIA/NA are being underwritten by Johns-Manville. It is anticipated that funding for succeeding years will be shared by member companies. For the program of the AIA/NA to be successful, the support of the entire industry is needed. Asbestos-health is not just an individual problem that each company can handle on its own. It has grown far beyond that. What is needed now is a concerted effort by all members of the asbestos mining, milling and manufacturing industry in North America to halt and reverse the dangerous trend of thinking in the United States and in Canada with regard to the supposed hazards of asbestos fiber. The banning of the use of asbestos in certain products and processes is already a reality, and this trend may continue and grow if the true facts are not presented in a bold and forceful manner. , I l i I ##### i' . 44016 '/ . v , ; rr V