Document r2Bwn32wDZB2xnMm8Yjz2DVG

RADIO TV REPORTS, 4C. J' o 41 EAST 42nd STREET. NEW YORK. N.Y. 10017, (212) 599-5500 . H C E1V E 0 FOR fr ol t=> J APR 1 4 1936 HILL 4 KNOWLTON J1 h \J / pfiyf&CpTTESMAN PROGRAM OATE ALL THINGS CONS DERED APRIL 2, 1906 5:30 PM STATION CITY WNVC/PM RADIO NEW YORK EROADCAST EXCERPT MICHAEL RICHARDS: Union Carbide Executives said today, they will fight the government s 1.3 million dollar fine imposed yesterday by the Qccupat ijonal Safety and Health Administration, The largest such fine in its history. Reagan Administrate n officials charged that Union Carbide has, willfully and routi nely broken health and safety laws at its plant in Institute, West Virginia. The fine is the last est development that raises doubts about Union Carbide s credibili ty. Many investigators are still challenging the Company1 accounts of what caused the Bhopal, India disaster, when a Un ion Carbide factory leaked, killed more than 2,000 people. And as NPR's Daniel Zwerdlin reports, internal company documents suggest that Unliion Carbide Executives mislead government officials about another public health hazard, more than ten years ago. DANIEL ZWERDLIN: Th e year is 1971 and health researchers are worried about the che(n ical called vinyl chloride. The chemical's widely used -to make everything from baby bottles, to tires, from credit cards o car seats. In a few more years, scientists will learn tha|t vinyl chloride is one of the most deadly chemicals in the w arkplace. It causes' fatal cancfe rs in workers. But right now, in 1971, researchers are etill stup ying its affects on animals. The Union Carbide Corporation has a big stake in this research, because it is one of the nation's bi ggest vinyl chloride producers. SPI-01502 OFFICES IN: NEW YORK OETROIT LOS ANGEL :S WASHINGTON, 0 C CHICAGO AND OTHER PRINCIPAL CITIES T v in*. ly *< 4 40 u'tNV O' AwU9"4<# Of '* >< C t* n<J1 04 <44tfQ**'0'4 4444 Om'44100% wppiftd Oy fladio TV HapoMt. 1**0 may ti lor M ano r*l4rnC4 only H may AAl CM lipiO^Ud^, Mid of OwbllCly W n So, in May, 1971, e <ecutives at Union Carbide and several other companies fly one if the world s best-known vinyl chloride researchers to Washingt on O.C., to tell them in a confidential meeting what he is discovering in the laboratory The researcher, an talian scientist named, Pier Luigi Viola meets with the chemical company managers on May 5tn and what he has to say troubles them They all know that "iola's previous studies, which had been discussed at previous 3C :entific m___e__e___t_in_ hgasv,e have shown that vinyl chloride causes cancer ii|) animals- , ~o~n1ly- at very h g ii !h-> doses. And no one's been very worried about these findings because the do3e were so high. But now, Viola tell: Union Carbide and other industry representatives, his new studies show that vinyl chloride is more dangerous than that , it cfauses cancer at far lower aoses than witw 1 4 4. * Ss p tttoodoH Tha rliahiirhino findings are still confidential unpublishec . Even government regulators don't have t hem. And after the meeting a Union Carbide manager writes a memo describing why these new vinyl chloride discoveries could be damaging. The manager, fjoscoe, Nick Wheeler, is chairman of an industry task force on th e vinyl chloride issue and he writes, quote, publishing Doctor Viola's work in the U.5. could lead to serious problems, with ra gard to the vinyl chloride industry, unquote. And Wheeler goes on t o list some of the implications. For instance, hB says that if government regulators learn about the new findings, food with v|inyl chloride residues from the packaging could be banned Wheeler suggests that Pennsylvania could ban vinyl chloride pollution in the air and that could have a big impact on pollution control costs. And third, Wheeler s ays, in his 1971 memo, the present political climate in the U.5. is such that a campaign by Hr. Nader and others could fo rce an industrial upheaval, via new or strict interpretations of the pollution and occupational health laws. R. laws Finally, Union Carbi de manager Wheeler concludes his memo by saying that, Union Carbid e has a large stake in the area most likely to be affected by a government crackdown on vinyl chloride. SPI-01503 3 He says the company fould be seriously hurt by arbitrary, or panic-induced government estrictions, his words. Wheeler's memo doesn't really recommend hiding the troubling new findings from the government but govern ifent sources who were involvedf with the vinyl choloride issue told) me that Union Carbide and other companies did not tell go' ernment officials about the study. But the story is not quite finished. Almost two years later, on July 17th, 1973 Union Carbide manager Nick Wheeler attends another confident ai meeting about vinyl cholorioe. This time with chemical industr y colleagues and government nealth and safety officials from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. Even now, government officials still don't know that vinyl chaloride causes cancer at low levels, in animais, and the Union Carbide memo about the met! ting, stamped, Confidential, suggests that the Company is stil rot about to tell them. In this memo, Company manager, Wheeler condfides that he and other industry executives have gotten tot ether before the meeting and they've agreed to tell the government officials only about vinyl choloride studies that art generally known; his words. After all, the whole goal of the meeting, Wheeler ssuggests is to reassure Government officials that vinyl chloride isn't too dangerous. Or in his wor ( 3 to avoid over-reaction by government officials. And after the meetint Wheeler seems to think the strategy's worked. He tells his coli eagues in a memo that, the chances of precipitous action by the government on vinyl chloride were materially lessened, unqu dte. As it turned out thoi gh, Union Carbide can't prevent the government crackdown on v nyl Chloride, after all. Six months later, executives at anotf er company the B..F. Goodrich Corporaiton tell the gove inment tnat they have evidence that vinyl chloride is causing rare liver cancers in workeers. Partly as a result of the Goodrich company's disclosure, the government undercovers mo ife cancers in industry workers and a year later it issues stric t new rules controlling cancer-causing vinyl chloride. SPI-01504 Just a few postscrip :s to this story, the Italian researcher who conducted the studies that Union Carbon wanted to keep quiet has died. The Union Card .de manager who wrote the memos, NIc k Wheeler was later promoted to be Assistant Corporate Director of Product Safety. Wheeler refuaed to t ilk about the issue to National Public Radio, on the advice, he told me of company lawyers. Wheeler did tell me though those are nternal company documents you're quoting and you're not su Imposed to have them. I'm Daniel Zwerdlin n Washington. SPI-01505 RADIAN October 17, 1990 205-045-02-01 Ms. Meredith Scheck Vinyl Institute 335 Lexington Ave. New York, NY 10017 Dear Ms. Scheck: At the request of Mr. Jim L(: wis of the BFGoodrich Company, we have enclosed six copies of the Level One Assessment of Emissions of Vinyl Chloride from PVC Manufacturing prepared for BFGoodrich Company as part of the permit application process for the: r facility in Niagara Falls in Ontario, Canada, Included in the report is ai. assessment of emission sources and emission levels representing the bes control routinely achievable throughout the world-wide PVC manufacturing industry. Please note that some additional analysis was prepared after the draft report was submitted; these investigations were reportec in a letter, which is included at the end of the enclosed reports. The following parties submitted information used in our report. Please ensure that these parties receive their copy with our thanks and with the appreciation of the BFGoodrich Company. Joe Ledvina, Vlst a Chemicals John Yonge, Shint ech J. C. Lunn, Bords n Vince Tretter, G orgia Gulf Joseph King, Occ Ldental Again, thank you for your help in gathering this information. Sincerely, ohn H. E. Stelltng III, PE, REA Department Head cc: Jim Lewis, BFGoodrich/C eveland BFGoodrich Level One Fi e SPI-01506 Progress Cenler / 3200 E. Chapel Hill Rd. / Nelso Hwy./P O. Box 13000/Research Triangle Park, N C. 27709/(919)541-9100