Document vyNV11oZq3QZp7mXN0KmVwQj6

SAFETY COMMITTEE O. B .Le w i s CHAI RMAN V: /f Et iiyl Gaso l ine Corporat ion Ch u y sl eh Bu il d in g 405Le x in g t o n Avenue Ne w Yo r k January 31 1938 Dr. W. F. Machle Kettering Laboratory of Applied Physiology College of Medicine Eden Avenue Cincinnati, Ohio. Lear Dr. Machie: Attached is sone correspondence from Mr. J.G. Detoiler of the Texas Company regarding water bottom samples from River Rouge, Michigan. I do not knowwhether or not, in your opinion, there will be any value in these but from a standpoint of courtesy, be lieve either you or ourselves should express our appreciation of the thought they are giving our problem. If you desire these samples, I will notify Mr. Detwiler s.ecordingly. Yery truly yours, W:GCL Enclosure HA 0022592 J . G. D E T W IL E R TECHNOLOGIST THE TEXAS COMPANY 135 EAST 42i? STREET NEW YORK January 9, 1958 Mr. 0. B. Lewis, Ethyl Gasoline Corporation, 405 Lexington Avenue, New York, N. Y. Dear Mr. Lewis: Mr. D. -J. Hoose, Assistant Superintendent of our Terminals, has forwarded me a sample of water taken from Tank #9 at River Rouge, Mich. I am send ing this four ounce sample to you with copy of Mr. HooseTs letter to me of January 21. Perhaps you wall wish the gallon sample, retained hy Mr. Diggs, forwarded to Dr. Eehoe for further investigation. JGD-MED Enclosure (l) K.E 0022593 Hew York, January 1, 1938 -V V . VA T ['TkklHhL CER BOTlOLiS Mr. J. G. Detwilsr, Bull din*?. Bear Sir:uuring tae month of August, 193?, the Gulf Refining Company were cleaning our lire Chief Gasoline tank uo 209 a m the necessary precautions requested by the ethyl Gasoline Corporation, to insure the safety of the vorkmea, including the use of air line hose mask taquipraent, was r.ot folio.-.ed out. a s -a result, one cf the . orkran died of load poisoning. The .othyi Gasoline Corporation carefully in vest! gated thi3 accident and I discussed ,ith their re presentatives the accident as they -aere particularly in terested to know whether v/e, at aay time, had spiked these tanks with tetraethyl lead, our records 'now that this had never beon cone, however, the athyl Corporation felt that there was something unusual in connection with this accident us it was the first case on record where a leaded gasoline tank, used only as a storage tank, contained lead salts which gave off vapors fatal to workmen. It- was their hope that they could let up somewhat on their rigid instructions and allow tanks used only for the storage of leaded gasoline to be cleaned without the use of air lir.e hose mask equip ment and in view of this accident, they cio not fool that Mr. J . G. Det-.viler -2- 1-21-38 such e change was desirable. It would, of course, be to The Texas Company*s advantage If those precautions could be modified so that leaded gasoline tanks could be cleaned vdthout the use of air line hose mask equipment where they were only In storage service. The thyl Corporation representatives discussed this accident very fully with Mr. J . L. Diggs at Diver Rouge -and also took some sample's of sludge from River Rouge tanks. To our knowledge, no light was thrown on this problem from the samples taken from kiver Rouge. We have just received a letter from Mr. Diggs, advising that upon drawing water from Tank Ko* 9 at River Rouge recently, it was noted that the water was about the odor of Gasoline which lead them to believe that possibly dye, or lead had settled out. This condition had never been previously noticed and, having in mine the Ethyl Corporation's concern about lead deposits found in the bottom of tanks when cleaned, he reported this to us, ' sending a four ounce sample of water drawn, from the tank* He has also retained a gallon sample which the Ethyl Corp oration may be interested in analysing. This 0 ,000 barrel tank was formerly in USM Gasoline service. It jrrtes thoroughly cleaned during October, 1937 and filled vdih Tire Chief Gasoline on October 30th, Prior to pumping into the tank from the ship, 4-1/8** of water bottom of city fresh water was used. Later, the water bottom increased to 6-3/8** due to additional -water Mr. J. G. Detvrller 1-21-38 being delivered when ship cargo was received. In ex amining the four ounce sample, a trace oi Gasoline was noticed on the top of the water which is due to the fact that the water bottoms were partially frozen in the tanh at the time of drawing the sample. We believe that the btnyl Corporation will be interested in this information ana we are handing you tne four ounce samole forwarded from tiiver hours. Your3 very truly, 3G(2) ohtesAt- "yi*in ')yx ix r i ;Ztr 11>^j 1 .>./JO ` j<; 0022596