Document wr6RN1MB4Boojb6qrb99ynZko

FILE NAME: Union Carbide (UC) DATE: 1977 Nov 23 DOC#: UC144 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: UC Confidential Memo with 1976 Medical Report internal correspondence PETALS DIVISION P.O. BOX 579 4525 ROYAL AVE., NIAGARA FALLS, NEW YORK 14302 to (Mama) Division Location Mr. T. F. Carmody Health, Safety & Environmental 270 Park Avenue - 11th Floor New York, NY . Dito A ffa irs originating Dept. Answering letter date November 23, 1977 "C alid ria" Asbestos copy to Messrs. T. D. Finnegan R. F. X. Fusaro S-ST L. flyers W. C. Thurber J . W. Whittlesey s"1*!" . H.R. 8689 CONFIDENTIAL The attached b i l l has been drawing both considerable support from a variety of groups and also considerable opposition. Dr. S e lik o ff, for example, is strongly in favor of i t . Johns-Manville has also had a number of discussions with the Tobacco Lobby and has gotten th e ir attention with the concept that tobacco plus asbestos may be a d iffe re n t legal issue than tobacco alone. The im plication is that tobacco could be in for another round of litig a tio n in th is area and the b i l l may benefit them. In any case, I have been informed that there is a good chance that there w ill be a committee hearing early in th e n e x t session of Congress. There w ill also be a briefing on the b i l l a va ila b le to the AIA/NA Directors in Washington on December 13, 1977 that I plan to attend. A much e a r lie r version of th is b ill was reviewed and extensively c rit ic iz e d by the Union Carbide Law Department about a year ago. I t would be very helpful to me in my AIA/NA a c t iv it ie s to have a sim ila r commentary on this version by our appropriate legal expert. I t should be emphasized that unless otherwise advised, I plan to continue our very low p ro file position for Union Carbide in th is matter. HBR/rmm Attachment v- - A Harrison 8. Rhodes UCC 013814 A08 34 8 Union Carbide Corporation Corporate M ed 'c a l D i r e c t o r 's O f f i c e 2?0 Park Avenue New Yor k, New Y or k 1001 f CONFIDENTIAL DATE J u n e 2 , 1976 To { dir, F , H, D a r r f s o n , J r M a n a g e r P a y p o i n t 24-1 F o r th e p a s t two y e a r s , t h e M e d i c a l De part me nt has been o b t a i n ing a copy o f the death c e r t i f i c a t e o f a ll deceased active and former employees. To s t u d y p o s s i b l e r e l a t i o n s h i p s o f t h e i r i l l n e s s e s to occupa t i o n s , a d d i t i o n a l i n f o r m a t i o n i s n e e d e d . Some o f t h i s s h o u l d come f r o m the p l a n t p h y s i c i a n , but most should be a v a i l a b l e fro m p l a n t records or personal knowledge o f managers. Search f o r information beyond t hi s is neither expected nor desired. - We have a c e r t i f i c a t e f o r t Gordon Thomas S c a z i g h i n l _____________ Any i n f o r m a t i o n you have as to c a u s e o f d e a t h i _______- ________________ Heart Attack - Died 3-16-75, Age 56 Additional informationi 1 . Type o f work p e r f o r m e d f o r UCC, l e n g t h o f t i me i n v a r i o u s assignments p a r t i c u l a r l y as re la te d to actual exposure to s p e c i f i c hazards such as a sbestos, s i l i c a , r a d i o a c t i v i t y , o r s p e c i f i c harmful ch e m ica ls. Of i n t e r e s t , a lso, are in dications of the sev erity of exposures. ';.Q.r.ke.d..fpr U.C.C. A -25- 6 6 - 6-17-71. Severe heart attack. Ho further work for us, & unable to do any kind of work. Worked for vis as "heavy equipment operator", but did all kinds of laboring type jobs in & around open-pit asbestos mine. Exposure records are very sketchy - 9-66 concentration in pit were sampled at 5-7mppcf., 8-71 mine concen trations were from 7 to 41 particles/ml. > 5 micron. Five to six months/ yr, were spent in the Coalinga mining office in sample preparation etc. no air sample resulta are available for these times. Little or no use of respirators was made at the mine during this time. A Os UCC 013815 ?. S i m i l t a r inform ation about a c t i v i t i e s before o r a f t e r UCC e m pl oy m en t ; o t h e r e x p o s u r e s o r o b s e r v a t ion*s s uc h as "complained o f s h o rtn e ss o f breath, but went on hunting trip s." -No record of before.UCC - except I know he was in Air Force -during w.W.,11: and.of course ran cattle on his place, as well as mined mercury (& roasted ore) at his small underground mine, near his home. J . Past mdical h is to ry - whether from Medical Records or other sources believed reliable, p a r tic u la r ly about i l l n esse s which might be connected w ith occupt io?\s, In a d d i t i o n , i n f o r m a t i o n about f i n a l i l l n e s s mig ht be u s e f u l . Annual physical on 9-1-70 showed no problems other than hemorhoids and previous history of pneumonia. He seemed healthv enough, right up to 6-17-71. his first (?) heart a t t a c k . _________ 4-. Smoking h i s t o r y - e s p e c i a l l y i f work h a z a r d s were i n volved, such as coal o r carbon dust, ozone, asbestos, silic a , or heavy nonspecific dust loads. lias heavy cigarette smoker - right up to his death,, My guess is a pack a day._____________________ . A l l inform ation is to be co n sid ere d c o n f i d e n t i a l to the Medical Department, Very tru ly yours, JJW.-AG " Jo h n J . Welsh, M.D. Corporate Medical Director UCC 013816