Document vB6gV5nzMjZv1DBbX4YG9kwm6

FILE NAME: Asbestos Cement Pipe and Sheet (ACPS) DATE: & DOC#: ACPS0 KhMENT DESCRIPTION: E TH! NASHVILLE TENNt~SiaAN. ThursdY Feb, ZZ, 1<;<SS ( /.. Pipe-Cancer Tie Stiis Furor By FRANK RITTr:;n Metro councilmen and a ; Vanderbilt University pro{c~- [ sor clashed verbally yesterday over what prompted the i1 professor to infer recently : that asbestos cement pipe1 might cause cancer. i Dr. James Snell, assistant: professor at the Vanderbilt.. school of medicine was ques, : tioned at length by Council- man James Hanulton about :r ' letter he wrote recently in \\ hich he rai:;ed the cancer question. "T H E li\lPLICATION or vour letter," Hamilton told Snell during a council com- mittee meeting, "was that Metro Council, under the guise of saving a few cents, was going to place hundreds of thousands of people in danger of getting a dread. disease-cancer. "We certainly don't \\ ant to do that. And coming at the time it did. and in the alarrn- ing way it was written and distributed to the public, it 11.ould seem to me the letto?r was unfair." The meeting, a joint :;~ssion or the finance and public ,~orks committees oi :\Ictro Council, wa:, called to con- sider whether the city should pe1mit a:,bcstos pipe com- panies to bid on ~tctro pipe contracts. Cast iron pipe h.is been used exclusively, although it is more expen:.ive initially than asbestos pipe. for at least 40 vears in the i\'ashv11le watel' system. H.-\iHILTON a~ked Snell yes terday if there have b~en any studies to determine if iron oxide from cast iron pipe might cause cancer. Snell replied that there have been no such studies, to his knowledge. "There has been no re search," Hamilton asked, "on whether asbestos cement pipP. or cast iron pipe can cause cancer, has there?" Snell said there has not been. Hamilton said if Snell \\'as sincere in raising the question about asbestos pipe. he should have r.i,sed the same ques lion about c.ist iron pipe. 'I think it lS perfeclly reasonable to raise such a question" about cast iron pipe, Snell replied. nOt:LD \'Ol' r a, s e lhe question. doctor?" asked Councilman James LaPenna. "I would be very happy (Turn lo Pa::e 12, Column il PRODUCED JM - 83 Pipe-Lancer Tie Stirs Forun1 (Continued From Page One) to write the Public Health Service about it," Snell answered. "The whole question of contaminati:>n of food and water should be raised, in my opinion." Snell sent his letter last .November to Robert L. Lawrence, Metro w a t e r w o r k s direct o r, supporting Lawrence's decision to prohibit ubestes cement pipe manufac turers from bidding on Metro waterpipe purchases. The professor said he would consider the use of asbestos pipe "a medical hazard of significant degree" until the Public Health Service has checked it out completely. EXPLAINING TO the coun- cilmen yesterday that he had no ulterior motive in writing the letter, Snell said: "I regret the vindictive attitude that some people have against me, merely as a result of my raising this question." "I'm not vindictive against : you, doctor," Hamilton inter. rupted. "In !act, I had never rpet you until now. It just seems to me that a scientist is under a requirement to state all !actors in a case." . "I don't think you understand how this came about," Snell said. "I simply raised thought that before Nashville undertakes to buy large amounts of asbestos pipe, this question should be raised. "IF YOU DESIRE to raise the same question about cast iron pipe, then I think It is ~e;y reasonable. I have no political moUve. I have no !i nancial Interest in these pipe . comp~ies. I am not 'aligned politically with any group." Hamilton reacted angrily at this statement by Snell and declared: "We're not inquiring, doctor, into your political alignm!!DlS, your religion, or any- thltig else.'' 1 he exchange between the councilmen and Snell followed presentations by reprcsentat1\'e~ of b o th Clow Corp.. 11hich has supplied all :'>It!tru : w::.erpipe the past four years. anJ Johns-Manville Sa I e ~ Corp., an asbestos pip<! deal- er seeking to bid on pipr. pu1. ..c..hJs-e~ here. K. RAYl\lOl'l.'D Augst, assis- tant district sales manager for Johns-Manville, told the coun- cilmen that there are strong Indications Metro could save 34'l' on its pipe purchases if the city permitted the asbes tos pipe firms to bid. Augst said Metro bought $1.3 m 1111 o n worth of cast' iron pipe from July, 196n, to September, 1967. As besL<,s pipe, Augst added, . would have cost only $864,000 - giving Metro a savings of .. $459,000, i Lawrence has defended buy- . ing the more expensive pipe : on grounds it is better and has "a areater factor of.' safety." -~ However. Johns Manville i representatives insisted yes- terday that their product will ' serve the city equally as good : as cast iron pipe if it is in- stalled properly. SHORTI..Y AFTER Sn e 11 ; wrote his letter last year to : Lawrence, raising the ques- tion 'lf whether asbestos pipe could cause cancer, the Metro ; Health Board took a similar stand. ; The board voted Jan. 17 to "not approve the use of ashes . tos pipe" until sufficient In i formation could be obtained to prove if it is medically s:1Cc. Yesterday, at an ear I y . morning meeting, the board . v!lted to reconsider its stand on the basis of evidence suh- mitted by Johns-'.\tanville Co. . representatives. PRODUCED JM - ~ ':