Document wq1EN25ar0Y9vdegn7Qe3ooEV

C C ! . B, Lewis . Barici E THYL ANTIKNOCK, LTD. ,Dr Sanders .Y. Safety INTER-OFFICEMEMORANDUM TO Dr. Kitzmiller - Cincinnati F R O M Ben F. Penrose - Toronto d at e June 26, SUBJ ECT This will c o n f i r a ^ u ^ D h o n e c o n v e r s a t i o n of Tuesday, June 2 3 , advising you that M r T a n k Cleaner, had comp lained of not feeling well since c l e a n 5 5 ^ E ^ ^ U D ^ 5 a r r e l , former "blending tank, at the old Canadian Oil Co. , Petrolia, Ontario, refinery. i e are attaching a copy of a report from our representati ve, Mr. Reny Barki. ' Mr. Barki was in attendance during the entire tank cl earning job, and he assures us that all possible safety precautions ^rere ob served by men engaged, in the operation. f Following our phone conversation, as instructed Ihy yop, we advised .to see his physician for an examinauion. On June 2hth, we phoned Dr. A. P. Mac Call um, whcj is Mp physician in Petrolia. We informed Dr. MaeCallum that prepar ed bottles with instructions were being sent to him for samples which shcj)-uld be forwarded to your attention. We also advised Dr. MaeCallum to k: ndly forward his report together with his statement to your office. ! xrked b y Dr. MaeCallum that he did notj beli eve that Mr. physical complaints were related |to a lead tonicity. Very truly yours, BFP:arp *Att. * Ben P. Penrose. // ..-- 'Z-' KB 00173.03 ETHYL ANTIKNOCK, LTD. 44 KING STREET WEST TORONTO 1, CANADA ' ceil Br. ^iisasiller Dr. Sanders II.Y. Safety Mr. O.B. Lewis Mr. Ben F. Penrose - Toronto Mr. Reny Barki - Toronto J m e 24, 1953. Late in May, w were notified of a tank to "be cleaned at Canadian Oil Companies, Petrolia, b y a new contractor, Hr. The tank cleaning was specifically delayed so that our rep r e s ^ a t i v e c o 3- attend. O u r 'representative, Mr. Seay Barki, left for Sarnia o a June 3t &, 1953 in the early a.m, and net the contractor at the tank' in P strolia at 1:00 p.s. on Wednesday, June 3''d, Tills tank was a 4,000 barrel vertical Refinery tank and is identified b y Ho. ?6. It had been used for some 20 years as a blending tank and had recently contained a special blend of gas oline containing 20 cc*s of lead/U.S. gal. This gasoline had been shipped'to th refinery at Sarnia in tank cars on or about August, 1952. This tank had apparently been open for some six; weeks prior. At the time of th removal of the manhole cover, people in the are a had complained of violent sneezing. At this same time, Canadian Oil personnel had decided to drain the water fro this tank through the water draw-off, ai|nd this water was left to run over the ground. @ sre informed that noj one ha-d entered the tank, and we received no notice o f their intention to oren up the tank. Alan MeCorkin&ale entered the tank at about 2:00 n.tn. for the first entry. He came out and notified us that there was considerable water in the tank. It was decided that the easiest method of extracting; water from the tank and disposing of it was to use a gathering tank which Thompson used for gathering crude oil at the various wells1. It was then proposed to dump this water into underground crude storage tanks which wer now out of service. The gathering tank .was a 10 barrel steal drum mounted on a cart and drawn by horses, and the pumping- facilities on this unit consisted of an old water lift pump. Our representative was intrigued by this operation and started taking pictures of the pumping out operation. On proceeding uiwind of the .gathering tank, he detected a strong odour of fluid and direct ed all personnel to leave the area. He came to the conclusion tha.t there was considerable fluid in the tank and began investigating. The problem was discussed with Mr. Vince Norwood, Re finery Manager and Mr. Perce Parker, Maintenance Supervisor, and we obtained permission from them to dispose of the tank sludge and remaining water b y leans of 0017304 *. . A - 2- burning It (with the aid of stove oil) in a suitable location, b'e also ob tained at this time, 2 canister m o k e for us in this operation. The operation then proceeded in this manner; 1. Apnroxinately k barrels of stove oil were placed in the carrying tank. 2. Water was pursued out of the tank with the pumper wearing a canister mask. 3 The contents of the carrying tank were dimmed into a previously dug pit at the site of burning. h. During the transportation of the water and stove oil, canister's masks were worn b y all persons likely to be exposed to fluid vapour. 5. At the end of every day, ten barrels of stove oil were dumped in the pit and the pit set afire. This procedure was carried out on the afternoon, Wednesday, Time 3rd, part of Thursday, June hih, (rain hampered our operations that day) and in the morning of June the 5th. At approximately 10i30 a.m. our representative enter the tank and took a quarter sample o f the atmosphere in the tank. This s.ve him a reading completely off the scale. He also noticed that there considerable sludge in the bottom of the tank and that this sludge appeared to be heavily dyed and concentrated with lead. He also noticed that the sid of the tank were coated heavily with a white deposit to about 2/3 of the hi Lght of the tank. This is assumed to be lead salts from the highly leaded toline that the tank had contained. At this point, our representative called his Toronto office for further advice and direction in this matter. He talked to Mr. 3. B. Lewie and explained that he m s seriously concerned with the hazards involved in cleaning this tank and asked for advice. He was instructed jy Mr. . B. Lewis of Toronto that It would b e preferable if the sludge was removed, transported and burned using full precautions for lead vapours. As our representative had approached the problem along the same ilne of attack, he felt justified in proceeding and completing the job. At noon Friday, June the 5th, all tank cleaning opera fcions were suspended until the morning of Wednesday, June the 10th, 1953, `Phis was done for 2 reasons? 1, Other commitments. 2, To give us a chance of observing the health of the se men who had been performing this tank cleaning over the v<eokend. 0017305 'J It should he noted that up to this time, men bad hoe'a inside the tank on only three occasions and then for very short periods of time. During all outside operations, at all critical times, sen were wearing canister masks. 1953On Monday, June 8, * called our office and informed Mr. 0. B. Lewis that he had pains in the pit of his stomach and was not feeling well. He did not complain of l-.ck of sleep or other s'/mptoas. Mr. 0. 33. Lewie did not feel that his condition was serious and allowed the matter to wait for our representative who was to contact on Wednesday. Our representative returned to this tank cleaning on Wednesday, June the 10th, 1953 at approximately 0:20 a.m. He talked to both U B H H H f e n n d Alan McCorkiidsle and discussed their physical condi tiotTwi both of them. Alan McCorkindale claimed he was feeling well, hut Arnold ` | | B B | a c o m r > l a i n e d of a vain in the ^it of his stomach. He had had no headacSfW, no dizzy shells, he slept well and ate well. It was our representa tive's opinion that his complaint was not as a result of lead intomication, and '*'e proceeded with the tank cleaning. For the whole day of June the 10th, and the morning of June the 11th, the following procedure was adonted: 1. f l j j j H H H H H V e n t e r e d the tank and removed buckets of sludge whieEHse passed out to Alan McCorkindale who dunned the sludge into 55 gallon drums. Arnold Thompson was wearing an air line hose mask and Alan McCorkindale a canister raasSr, 2. fhe sludge was transported on a wooden skid to tljie pit. 3. At the end of each day, ten barrels of stove oil were dumped in. the pit, and w@ set fire to the pit. At the end of the tank cleaning, the wooden skid and the drums were turned or exposed to fire. fhe pit was then covered over by a bulldozer with the operator wearing a canister mask. fhe end of the tank cleaning, our representative entered the tank and took a lead in air test, fhe reading was off tb scale. It was hie recommendation that as this tank as expected to go into stove oil service, it be continued to be considered as a leaded tank for safety purposes until at least the next tank cleaning when the situation might be reviewed. fhis was discussed with both finca Norwood and Perce Parker and agreement was reached on this subject. K E 001730# -4 - entative complained of a pain in the nit of his stomach and a slight headache, hut nothing: else. . ' On Tuesday, June 2^rdt 1953 v# received a telephone call from Arnold Ehompsen. He was complaining of the pain in the pit of his Stomach. He also said, ha had a dull headache at the hack of the head. He felt par tieularly sick during the evenings and felt like retelling, hut actually h a d n 't. He has "been sleeping good and his appetite appears to he good though he says he does not relish his food as much as he normally does. It is our representative's on h y hutterflys in his stfliaach since ever taken to eliminate th# lead hazard as m a could ha caused have "been In view of the fact that our a qualified medical uractioner, this re decision. Lneer and not aore competent /