Document rKrJGx56754amDXbxR5vDg3v

FILE NAME: General Electric (GE) DATE: 1977 May 16 DOC#: GE185 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Letter to GE from J-M Noting Difficulty Identifying Asbestos Insulation Prior to Removal p l \ Johns-Manviile Sales Corporation Ken-Caryl Ranch Denver. Colorado 80217 Edmund M. Fenner Vice President Director. Environmental Services Health, Safety A Environment Department May 16, 1977 I l -3-1? Mr. W. P. Fliegc Turbine Specialist General Ulectric Corp. - 814 Commerce Drive Oak Brook, IL 60521 Dear Mr. Fliege: It is obvious that my letter oL: March 23, U>77 docs not address the problem discussed in your letter to me of May 12, 1977. There is no simple method that your field engineers can use to identify asbestos Insulation prior to removal. The simplest laboratory procedure would involve examination of a sample by a petrographic microscopist. A great majority of the pipe and block insulations manufactured prior to 1972 contained asbestos. .The best advice [ can give is to examine a small piece of the insulation and if it appears to contain fibrous reinforcement, assume that the fibrous material is asbestos. Very truly yours, FMF:jh