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Monsanto PROM I NAME * LOCATION | j. M. Harris - Chocolate Bayou Plant .-4 REFERENCE TO June 26, 1972 Use of Asbestos at Chocolate Bayou Clint Britt 1 cc` A. W. Adams R. E. Belden H. C. Clark I PLAINTIFF'S ||i EXHIBIT || MON-12 F. H. Dupre 1-- C. H. McComb R. L. Miller - O.M.C. Please find attached a copy of the article highlighting the hazards of exposure to asbestos. I would like to request an Engineering study to determine the feasibility of eliminating the use of asbestos at Chocolate Bayou. The most frequent use of this material.in our plant is: 1. Ethylene Furnaces - Weber #48 - contains asbestos used between brick and roof of Ethylene furnaces. Mixed up like mortar and sets up hard. Installed by J. W. Leavesley. 2. Insulation used in the plant 1. Thermo-Bestos .... Contains asbestos 2. .Kaylo .............................. Contains asbestos 3. Mono-block ....... Does not contain asbestos 4. Carey-temp ................ Does not contain asbestos The Thermo and Kaylo are used.for hot service (high temperatures) and all fittings no matter if temperature is hot or ambient, due to the crumbling characteristics of the Mono and Carey. It is also used on straight runs sometimes due to the same problem. If there is any assistance our group can furnish, please let me know. I, (Xhm JMH:lmt . ' J. M. Harris 0, attachment a 064007 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, TKurtdcy. June 6, 1072 VOL LII NO. 168 Harry Bailey U one wan vrhiVtSeYvlltoaty'to find much solace In the new standards. Mr. Bailey isn't an asbestos worker. He's a brick* Perilous Particles layer in a Mobil Oil Corp. refinery alongside the Delaware River In Paulsboro, N.J. He has been working at the plant for 33 years, and Tiny Asbestos Fibers every year he has gone to the company medi cal department for a chest X ray. "They never said there was anything wrong Pose a Health Threat with me." says 34-ycar-old Mr. Bailey, and In deed he has thus far developed no outward symptoms. But a few months ago he and 18 To Workers and Public other workers from the refinery went to Mount Sinai for an examination, and every one of them proved to have scarred lungs--a sign of asbestosls, a nonmalignant lung disease. Long Exposure Can Result iMobll has refused to release his medical rec ords to the New York doctors, Mr. Bailey says. In Lung Disease, Cancer; The company declines to comment on the mat ter.) Industry Seeks Solutions First Scarring, Then Complications Asbestcais begin* with X-ray evldonee of scarring like that found in Mr. Bailey'e lungs. As the disease progresses, the lungs stiffen and `The Bodies Are in the Street' breathing becomes difficult. The heart has to work harder and can become enlarged. Ulti mately, death may be caused by heart attack By Barry Nf,wman Staff Reporter of Tux Wall Stkkct Jouiikal NEW YORK-At Joseph Marino's ges sta tion on the fringe on Manhattan's Spanish Har lem, the proven method of cleaning an old brake assembly goes like this: Pull off the wheel, aim an air hose at the, exposed parts and blow the dust out. A cloud of brown dust invariably flies right Into' the mechanics' faces, says Mr. Marino. ' -But It doesn't bother them. "We got masks and or suffocation. The mineral can also cause lung cancer--In fact asbestos can cause cancer just about any place in the body if particles are somehow in- geated. The ability of the sharp, tiny particles to penetrate the lung once breathed in has pro duced a high incidence of cancer in the mem brane surrounding the lung, a disease called ' mesothelioma. In (he - general populace, it causes one in 10.000 deaths. Of 632 abetos workers .be.tn* stua.,iea, ,bv _Dr. tua cl ' everything,'' Mr. Marino shrugs. "The guys don't use them. What the hell." What the mechanics don't seem to knowlike thousands of other mechanics--Is that the brown dust is dangerous. Brake linings are made of asbestos. And if a mechanic breathes 'Slou!?!,Tcfinery, where Mr. Bailey works, like all high-heat factories in the oil and chemical industries, uses asbestos for insula tion. Mr. Bailey works with Insulation workers inside the furnaces,' ripping out. soft brick. "There's asbeetos and brick dust and a lot of In enough dust from the .worn-out linings It sulphur, too," he says. "We complained about could eventually kill him. the dust and dirt. Nothing Is done to keep It ' The lethal quality of tiny, indestructible as down. The.fans make It worse, end you can't bestos fibers that lodge in the lung - is well wet it because of the heat In the bricks. The . known. Widely publicized studies by Dr. Irving company bought new respirators, but under the - Selikoff of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine conditions they clog in IS ininutea." lead him to predict that of the roughly 230.0001 asbestos industry workers today, about 93,000 will die unnecessarily of occupational cancer. 77^"' Tvrlcnlfic iruulaaon worjurr# "In.the next 10 to 13 years we will enter the as i sheets outside the room, or mix bestos cancer era." says Dr. Selikoff. "Thts| cement in a- wheelbarrow, "anybody can get is one of the great disasters of our time." I Hazards for Others, Too The asbestos Industry is well aware of the problem and is taking action to combat it. though critics say the steps aren't as drastic as . ' the situation demands. But asbestos Industry the dust.*.' Company Disagrees Mobil disagrees with the description of working conditions. In response to a query, the company issued this statement: "We have no problems at the Paulsboro refinery concerning the use of materials containing asbestos. We ' workers aren't the only ones who might fail use very little of such material, and what we prey.to the-lung cancers and other diseases do use is used under strictly controlled condi ' caused by the mineral's irritating fibers. It's tions. Recently the Occupational Safety and likely that millions of workers in other indus Health Administration carried out an extensive tries using asbestos fibers could be affected, as and thorough inepectlon of the entire Paulsboro well as ordinary people who have come Into refinery.. No violations were found In the contact with asbestos in the atmosphere. plant's handling of asbestos materials." Perhaps the most tragic fact is that for . Mr. Bailey's union, the OH. Chemical and those who have already been sufficiently ex Atomic Workers, is protesting that inspection. posed. changes in procedures and standards of Steven Week's, a union health and safely spe asbestos use--including a new set announced cialist. ays little attention was paid to health yeaterday by the Department of Labur--are viuial.oiis. And he complafra that after a week ^"meaningless. It h ni- si of accompanying the Inspectors, the company | after the firs',7fj .Tj| inexplicably "had me kicked out of the plant." !Y' ,^-will Mobil declines comment on Mr. Wodka'a but not for dvcaocs. charge. C 004008 I I 9 Manvllle maintains. are adequate to deal with the problem without causing a cutback In the plant'*1 production, the lifeblood of the New Jersey town of 15,000. At least one asbestos fac tory, run" by a PPG Industries and Corning Glass Works joint venture In Tyler, Texas, closed last February because of "profitability and concern over safety," a spokesman saya. tna.-1 *5;rm.Uic. >nule the cot of BS^^^fi^toS`3t*Se^vcr plant or smelter might run Into the hundreds of millions, the cost of cleaning up an asbestos operation would be closer to a 10th of that magnitude, accord ing to doctors, engineers and union officials. Some of the staples of such an operation, al ready in use In many plants, are compara tively Inexpensive closed plastic bags for mix- .lng cement, vacuum attachments on power saws, drop cloths, dust-suppressant chemicals and battery-powered respirators that blow fil tered air Into the user's face to ease discom fort. The new Labor Department standards do. Indeed, call for many of these work-practice rules. But while they are unquestionably a. needed step toward strict controls. Dr. Selikoff, says, he also says he remains pessimistic.. "The potential for surveillance is remote," he ; says, because of the small, underfinanced i staffs of federal and state Inspectors. A survey ; recently completed at Mount Sinai of 9.490 as- < / bestos workers around the country, for In-; stance, showed that in 1970 and 1971 there was ; only one dust count taken in asbestos plants for | every 20,000 man-days worked. ! And while he says he appreciates the asbes-; tot industry's expressed interest in solving the problem. Dr. Selikoff is hard-pressed to ex-: plain the continuing apathy among many work-1 era and managers. "This Isn't just another j scare," he says. "Some people want to see the i bodies In the street before they become con cerned. Unfortunately, in this case, the bodies ! are in the street." '