Document wgO6N0oGkyvBkBXJqEVKoO9JV

THE ASBESTOS COMPANIES - THEIR RESPONSE TO LOWERING THE TLV Date: March 16, 1972 Description: Hearings on the Proposed Asbestos Standard before the U.S. Department of Labor Mr. Fay (National Gypsum): "In general, they show a cost to the industry of approximately $200 million in new equipment to comply with the proposed standard of two fibers per cubic centimeter in those sections of the industry where we believe a two-fiber standard is technologically feasible. The proposed regulations would also produce a loss in sales of at least $400 million because of the labeling requirements and the shut down of operations where two fibers is technologically unfeasible. A number of companies have already indicated that they do not believe a two-fiber standard is feasible in many operations, and that if such a standard is promulgated, they will close down those operations immediately rather than spend millions of dollars in a vain attempt to achieve the unachievable. The loss ofjobs will be substantial." pg. 176 [emphasis added] j'c+ JAY 1965 \ ' U.S DEPARTMENT OF LABOR VToihington RECORDS AUTHENTICATION CERTIFICATE I HEREBY ATTEST, That the annexed copy, of each of the specified number of copies, of each document listed below is a true copy of a document in the official custody of the Department of Labor. 1 copy each of: ' Transcripts from March 14,15,16, and 17 Comments and hearing exhibits of: - W.J. Nicholson, American Petroleum Institute, D.A. Holaday, Brand Insulations Inc., L.J. Bibri, B.J. Phillips(Certain-teed), M.W. Borow, J.D. MoranCFlint- kote), F.L. PundsackfJ-M), J.W. Rawlings, W.M. Hancock(Dow), W.K. Hesse(J-M), E.M. Fenner(J-M), E.J. Killian(Nat. Gypsum), Cement Asbestos Products Co., M,M. Key, G.E. Best(MCA) : IGffrATUttE RnQ OFFICIAL. TITLE cCJJ/zCa Daniel Is./ Marsick Technical Information Specialist OIVISION AND BUREAU Docket Office/Technical Data Center/Occup. Sfty & Hlth Adm/ U.S. Dept, of Labor DATE 7 Sep 78 1 HEREBY CERTIFY, That Daniel J. Marsick ,hn ,igned ,nAthe foregoing attestation, is now and was at the time of signing (title) Technical Information Specialist has legal CUBtody of the official records of the United States Department of Labor therein att .sted and that full faith and credit should be given to hia act as soch. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I J. J. Lafranchise uly designated by the Secretary of Labor as Authenti cation Officer of the Department of Labor, hare here unto subscribed my name and caused the seal of the Department of Labor to be affixed this. 7^ft. day of September ^ 78^ (/(/, y CX'd^yl^c CL //r y Authentication Officer // Department of Labor - - m ini s.> ------ '\ UNITED STATES DF.PART'Gi'r Op LABOR WASHINGTON, D.C. In the Hatter of: STANDARD FOR EaTCSUFX TO ASBESTOS DUST, PROPOSED RULE PiAKING '' 1 -x PUBLIC HEARING Conference Room B Interdepartmental Auditorium 12th & Constitution Ave., IJ.U, Washington, D.C. Thursday, March 16, 297? The abe s-entitlsd natter cams on for further hserins. pursuant to recess, 9:00 o'clock, c.m., Thursday, Ka:-ch 16, 1972* BEFORE: ARTHUR M. GOLDBERG, nearing Examiner A PPEARNCES: ( As heretofore noted.) fe r~N 171 AFTERNOON SESSION j: ' (2:00 p.m.) ^ EXAMINER GOLDBERG: On the record. ! i '# :| Mr. Fay and 1-lr. Swetonic -- excuse me, is iJ . *' Doctor Tetrick in the room? _ .` i : i >; All right, Mr. Fay and Mr. Swetonic.' ; . !j _ MR. FAY: My name is Aloert Ii. Fay, I am Vice i:" - j. President of the Gold Eond Building products Division of the ii j: National Gypsum Company in Buffalo. New York. I am appearing j! here today in my capacity as president of the A.soestos i; . Information Association of North America, located in New York ,'i City. The Asoestos Information Association is comprised of || twelve of the nation's largest miners, manufacturers and i importers of asoestos and acoestos-containing products. The memoer companies of the association are listed on a fact I sheet, which I will submit with ray testimony. i As an introduction to industry testimony that will follow, I would like to uriefly sketch for you a general " picture of the size and scope of the asoestos industry in the ' United States, the types of products produced, the number of ! people employed, and other factors that will help position ti r ;j asoestos manufacturing industry in the economic and social : structure of this country; ;! I should mentioned oefore proceeding that the majority of the da ha that I present refers only to the 172 manufacturing side of the industry, and does not include I detailed information on industry using finished asuestos products, such as the construction industry or the insulation . application and reraovaL trades. Asbestos is the generic name given to a group of inorganic hydrated silicate minerals that have oaa common attribute, namely, the ability to be separated into relatively; soft, silhy .fibers. The throe most commonly used varieties of asbestos are chrysotile, crocidolite, or blue fiber and araosite. It is important to note that chrysotile accounts for more than 987. of the total annual United.States consumption j of asbestos. In the oast, crocidolite and amosite were used J .' ` ! far more extensively in the United States than they are today.; i The leading producers of chrysotile xicer are Canada and the ! i Soviet Union, with smaller deposits being found in South j Africa, Hhodesia, China, the United States and Italy. j in South Africa. . The total annual world production of asbestos is around A million tons, v:ith Canadian production accounting for abc.'.i: 30% of the total, and the United States about 31.* The properties of asbestos that give it commercial value are its fibrous structure, the great tensile strength of the fibers and its resistance to high temperatures and to 173 certain types of chemical action. . ' As a fireproofing material, asbestos has over the years saved untold lives and many billions of dollars in .. property damage. It is used in products ranging from \ ti 1 i i i i iI asbcstos-ccmcntshingles,panels and siding'to clothing,insulations, floortile and friction fireproof materials. j j It has been estimated that -soma 3 thousand different products j in daily use around the world contain asbestos. Most of these,' `J products, even though the percentage of asbestos in them may be small, cannot adequately oerrom their function without ` one or more of the unique properties that asbestos imparts. . For most of these products, no adequate substitute for j I ! i j asbestos is available today. It would taUc me an hour to enumerate for you the \ fi ! major usee of asbestos fiber. Instead, I am submitting with ; my testimony a listing from The Asbestos Fact Book, a publi- ^ ca ticn of Asbestos Magauinc, of some of the primary uses of J asbestos in our modern society, jl think it will become quste _ i clear after reading this list why asbestos has often been ; called the indispensable mineral. Ia the United States, the consumption of raw . ; asbestos fiber over the past decade has remarned fairly ?tablc at an average ox approximately 775,000 tons per leur, wi.Lh an estimated value of 090 million. Of this annual total, anrrorindtclv 125,000 tons valued at $10.5 million is produced_ 174 ; domestically, the rest being imported, primarily from Canada. ! jI Based on Bureau of the Census manufacturing i statistics and other data, the estimated value of asbestos- j containing products manufactured in the United States last j year was roughly SI billion. Only around $35 million north .! of fiber and products were exported, the rest being consumed domestically. These products viere made in well over 500 different manufacturing facilities, both large and small, throughout the United States, with a work force of at least 50,000 employees, and a payroll approaching $lg billion. It should be remembered that these employment and sales figures refer only to companies and industries in which asbestos fiber is converted into finished products. In most cases, these products are not sold directly to ultimate con- j I j surer, but are used in the manufacture of other products, such as automobiles, electrical appliances and fireproof ! i j clothing. In other instances, the finished asbestos-contain- j ir.g products pass through a dealer or distributor to an j applicator or some other craftsman who installs them. This ' is obviousJ-y the case in the construction industry. ' Thus, products containing asbestos fiber may pass j i j through three or four levels of trade or manufacture before / . they are purchased by the ultimate consumer. For this reason, it is quite difficult to accurately 175 judge the total economic value of the asbestos industry to the nation. \;e firmly believe, however, .that the Arthur D. Little Company economic study not) under way, will show it to be substantial. For example, it has been estimated that the insulation trades alone.involve 40,000 men who spend at least a quarter of their time working with asbestos-containing products. Other employees whose livelihood depends at least to some extent on the use of asbestos-containing products include other types of construction workers; siding, roofing and tile installers, pipe layers, salesmen, distributors and dealers in asbestos products. It is impossible to calculate the total income derived by these workers from the use or sale of asbestos-containing products, but it is certainly in the hundreds of millions of dollars. ' If one adds in the value of services, machinery, ' raw materials and other commodities purchased by the asbestos manufacturing industry each year for use in the production or shipment of finished asbestos products, the total economic contribution of the industry to the nationTs economy vioula reach, perhaps, $3 billion, and would involve,to some degree, the livelihood of at least half a million wage earners and thei?: families. Ue believe the economic and social contribu tion of the asbestos industry to the nation is substantial. In addition to the many and varied lifesaving uses or asbestos, they play an important role in our code^ ./""N I, 1 i technological society. 176 For those reasons the establishment of reasonable and feasible occupational health standards for asbestos is a matter of great importance, not only to the men j 11 -* ; : whose health we are trying to protect, but also to the industry and to the country as a whole. ' Our industry is cooperating fully with the Arthur D. Little Company in the economic- study they have been retained J 1 to make by-QSKA. Ue are all working hard to dc op precise 11 9 !' figures as to the potential economic effect of tne proposed regulations on our industry. To'date, we have been able to . i*',* , . make only rough estimates. In general, they show a cost to the industry of approximately $200 million in new equipment to comply with the proposed standard of two fibers per cubic centimeter in those sections' of the industry where we believe a two-fiber standard is technologically feasible. Tne i ! i j proposed regulations would also produce a loss in sales of at least $400 million because of the labeling requirements and the shut down of operations where two fibers is techno*. logically unfeasible. A number of companies have already indicated that they do r.ot believe a two-fiber standard is feasible in many operations, and that if such a standsrd is i j ( i I ' ! I i j *i promulgated, they will close down those operations immediately! `1 rathe;: than spend millions of dollars in a vain attempt to /* ' achieve the unschievabLe. The loss of jobs will be sub stantial. . 177 l . 4I .! \ 4 '* ' Yesterday, there was a statement made here that if 1. . I ' fj one plant can meet the standards,then all can. This is not j _ i) true. There are vast differences in the various manufacturing! r; >i r *; il industries and the dissimilarity makes it impossible for one l! v I! to duplicate the other. ' . One other point. Yesterday, it was stated that smoking substantially increases, the risk of disease. Since we are all concerned about the health of those associated (; in with this business, v:e would like to recommend that the proposed standard should prohibit smoking during working hours on the job and that the warning signs required to be posted \ should prominently display "no smoking." Precedents for this exist in regulations at the Department of Interior, for example, in uranium mines. In closing, it is our hope that GSHA will take all of these considerations into mind in developing the standards. If this is not done, it could well spell the demise of at least half of the asbestos industry in the United States and in time, perhaps, all of it. Thank you. Hr. Goldberg. I want to submit two exhibits. This exhibit is a list of the mc-mbers of the Asbestos Association of North America. /. / ' ' EiCAMII-TEIi GOLDBERG: The list of members of the Asbestos Association will be Exhibit 3o. 1 { (The document above referred to 5 ' was marked as Exhibit Ko. 3& for identification.) EXAMINEE*GOLDBERG: All right. MR. FAY: And the second Gne is the Asbestos Feet > ._ Sheet concerning the uses of asbescos and asbestos products, { 1 j EXAKUxER GOLDBERG: ' That will be Exhibit 39. .... (The document abover referred to was marked as Exhibit ilo. 39 l . j for identification.) EXfiHIivER GOLDBERG: Thank you. Exhibits 38 and 39 are received. (The documents previously identi fied as Exhibits JJoa. 38 and 39 j ' were received in evidence.) EXAMINEE GOLDBERG: Introduce yourself. ` IS. SUETCNIC: My name is Matthew 12. Sue tonic, and { I am Executive Secretary of the Asbestos Informticn Associa- ; ' ticn of north America andalso manager cf specialprojects in the-Public Affairs Section for theJohns-I-ianville Corpora- i ! | j tion. 'I Hr. Fay has already described the association, and j .j identified the ccmpani.es which it represents. Ms are basically an information disseminating organisation and the facts or opinions contained in cy presentation are supported in the ' ,v