Document yppV8q8RnnLap3VyKxJkxB52d

FILE NAME: Copeland (COP) DATE: 1988 M ay 11 DOC#: C O P O ll DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Letter INDUSTRY PRODUCTS COMPANY 500 STATLER RD. PtQUA, OHIO 4535B 1-BOO-S55-3-453 513 77S-05SS May 11* 1988 Mr* Jerry Sreen Copeland Corporation 1675 W. Campbell Road Sidney* Ohio 45365 Dear Jerry: I want to confirm the phone conversation we had concerning our position on asbestos products. As you know, in the Spring of 1986 I notified Copeland t h a t , due to changing federal regulations, poten t i a l l i a b i l i t y insurance problems, and rising employee awareness and concern, Industry Products had decided to discontinue cutting asbestos materials in the Spring of 1987. Upon th is n o t ific a t io n a program was in i t ia t e d at Copeland to t e s t and approve non-asbestos replacements. When May,1987 was upon us, an alternative material had not yet been approved. At this time Industry Products decided to continue supplying asbestos as long as progress was being made toward finding a replacement material. During meetings with your Purchasing and Engineering Depart ments in January, 1988, we again emphasized our need to rid ourselves o f asbestos and i t appeared to me as though this issue was receiving increased attention at Copeland* This brings us to our current situ ation. Prompted by v i s i t s from the Environmental Protection Agency and a magnification o f the concerns expressed in 1986<1 have de cided to buy no more raw material containing asbestos; thus, we will not be able to supply product once we work o f f our present inventories, unless we can take some emergency steps to find an alternative material. I predict that we have at least a three-month supply in all thicknesses. No one can predict with 1QQ& accuracy the usage o f the sized gaskets, but, based on what history we do have, I feel comfortable with the three-month predic tion. Of course, in some sizes we have much more than t h i s . Page 2 Jerry* I feel that either Victor or Klinger produce non-asbestos materials that would be a Viable alternative for Copeland, Unfortunate!y for the hermetic sid e, this would mean a large cost penalty; however, i f we could at least rid ourselves o f the asbestos, we could continue to search for less costly materials. Thank you for your attention to this matter. I f you need my a s sista n c e , please contact me. Si ncere!y Kenneth W. Cleveland IPC000078