Document wq4GgomvMr7b3LKe8GOXMzkG6

FILE NAME: WR Grace (WRG) DATE: March 24, 1970 DOC#: WRG093 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: 1970 Press Release from Richard Ottinger regarding cancer risk of exposure to asbestos dust. * Richard l . Ottinger Candidate for U.S. Se.n?]pr 117 West 46 Street New York. New York 10036 Steve Berger Campaign Manager Tedda Fenichel Press Secretary Telephone: (212) 541 8100 News from M A R CH 24. 1970 Congressman Richard L. Ottinger (D-N.Y.) charged that New Yorkers are being unnecessarily exposed to thousands o f tons o f cancer-causing asbestos dust every year. He said that the dust comes from asbestos sprayed as a fireproofing material at new construction sites and demanded that Federal officials immediately impose criteria and standards governing its use. Ottinger said that there are no accurate figures on the total amount of asbestos sprayed in New York each year, but as an indication of the volume he noted that each 25-story building requires a minimum o f 200 tons alone and 1,000 tons will be sprayed on the two World Trade Centers. (In 1969, there were 25 building permits in Manhattan alone for building 25 stories or more.) 'Experts say that as much as 50 per cent of the asbestos sprayed escapes into the surround ing air where unsuspecting New Yorkers have no choice but to breathe it," Congressman Ottinger charged. As proof of the danger to public health, Ottinger said, " A recent survey in New Jersey showed the instance of lung cancer was 700 per cent greater among persons exposed to asbestos dust." ' He said that autopsies performed in three New York hospitals indicated that 50 per cent o f New Yorkers already had asbestos bodies in their lungs. . The New York Congressman said that the dust, which is so fine that it can only be seen by high powered electron microscopes, stays suspended in the air for days and floats for miles. He cited a recent study which showed concentrations o f asbestos dust 1,000 times greater than normal one quarter o f a mile from a construction site three days following spraying. Ottingercalled upon the Federal Air Pollution Control Administration to act under the existing authority of the Air Quality Act of 1967. He said the Administration does not now propose to act until 1972. " This is incredible." he charged. " Asbestos is the only form of air pollution definitely proven to cause cancer in human beings. It is absolutely essential that the criteria be given the highest priority." ' Ottinger praised the New York City Administration for its efforts to control the use of asbestos, but noted that effective control is possible only with Federal authority. A'iR & WATER NEWS P L A IN T IF F 'S EXHIBIT i `77 :May 11, 197( sion, said: "he are cor.rident that when the case is trie- we m . . co complete./ vindicated.".. .Meanwhile, tlic Interior Department has provided the .Ju stice jepa'rt r.ent with information that "seven or eight" other companies now engaged ir. o f f shore d r illin g operations in the g u lf also lack the safety devices, said W illiam Pccora, director o f the Interior Department's geological survey bureau. . ...T h e Ju stic e Department is charging Chevron under the Outer Continental S h e if Lands \ of 1955. This is the fir s t indictment under the a c t, which requires the use o f a choke, situated below the water and designed to cut o f f o il flow i f control on t.. surface platform f a i l s . D r ill operators sometimes remove the chokes when they g r fouled with sand and impede o i l flow. In terio r Secretary Walter Hickel sta te s th. Chevron, a subsidiary o f Standard O il o f C a lifo r n ia , fa ile d to maintain storm chol on 157 o f 17S wells in an offshore area called block 41. The In terio r Department is "determined to investigate each and every case in which we have reason to be lieve that companies d r illin g under federal lease knowingly ana w i llf u lly broke t: rule we laid down." said H ickel. . * * * ASBESTOS SPRAYING STOPPED: Asbestos spraying operations at three New York C ity skyscrapc building site s have been stopped and summons were handed outsat three other lo ca tions in the wake o f the Department o f A ir Resources newly promulgated regulations concerning use of the suspected carcinogenic m aterial. The regulations do not bun . outright the use o f the material but rather impose severe r e s tric tio n s on cnclosin the work area during spraying, mandates the use o f resp irato rs and co v e ra lls by spraying crews and cleaning up any loose asbestos from the job s i t e ....T h e Depart ment o f Air Resources held a five-hour private hearing on alleged asbestos emissio from one o f the job site s but the exercise was larg ely a matter o record-building since only medical experts, engineers and an a ir p o llu tio n inspector t e s t i f i e d . contractor did not te s t ify but vo lu n tarily stopped spraying operations. The privt hearing was adjourned u n til today (May 11) . The c it y is expected to have a two-d; public hearing on the asbestos problem within the next few weeks. Medical experts contend that certain types o f cancer are 1,000 times greater.among asbestos worke: than among the general population. ...O n e of the major spraying contractors in the New York area to ld AWN' th at the s itu a tic was largely p o lit ic a l. The new regulations were issued on a Saturday and were to go into e ffe ct at 7 a.m. the following Monday. The contractor claim s to have beer, unaware o f the regulation u n til he received i t in the mail la te Monday afternoon. Even the Department o f A ir Resources concedes i t may be on shakey ground promul gating and enforcing such regulations before a public hearing is h eld . ...B e in g tested as a substitute for asbestos in New York is a p la s tic m aterial produced by U.S. Mineral Co. And in Canada an intumescent mastic m aterial is being markete as an insulating m aterial. The problem with both o f these su b s titu te s , however, ' i s their high cost. * * AUTO'`HEARINGS: A Senate subcommittee plans hearings next week on several b i l l s aimed : pushing the federal government into using nonpoiluting v e h ic le s. The Government Operations subcommittee on executive rcorganirat ion -.caring., tentatively set to begin May 19, w ill look at one b i l l (S5306-, , introduced by sub committee chairman Abraham R ib ic o ff (D ., Conn.) that would require a ll p r o -1965. government-owned passenger cars to be re tro fitte d with pollu tion control d ev ices. *. Another measure (S35S7), introduced by Sen. Frank Church, would rc c u .re th . government, after Ja n . 1, 1971, to purchase only automobiles that use unleaded fuel ...W h ile the witness lis t and dates for te s tify in g have net beer, made firm , testimony ,s expected from the federal government--including the Department o f T ran sp o rta:io n , General Services Administration and the Department o f H ealth, Education and Welfare as well as four major automobile manufacturers. .