A. R. Fisher's President's Bulletin on External and Internal Aspects of Dust and Fume Abatement (1957)

A one-page President's Bulletin of April 5, 1957, from A. R. Fisher, president of Johns-Manville, "External and Internal Aspects of Dust and Fume Abatement." Fisher writes that the nation-wide drive for cleaner air and water had become "one of the nation's most pressing, and potentially costly, industrial problems," and that "Johns-Manville has not escaped these pressures." He directs that Executive Bulletin 33-26 of June 13, 1955, which set up task teams to evaluate dust and fume projects to safeguard employees' health, be revised to cover all industrial wastes, "including the legal and public relations responsibilities." A copy of the 1955 bulletin is attached.

What it shows

Fisher notes that recent cases at J-M plants "involving stream and air pollution" showed the need for a solution "that safeguards our external position along with a practical solution for our own operations," and that managers should recognize "the potential cost of unfavorable reactions" from federal, state or provincial, and community groups. The bulletin widens the company's 1955 program for workers' dust exposure (Executive Bulletin 33-26) into one that also weighs legal and public relations risk from pollution outside the plants.

In Johns-Manville's chronology

Johns-Manville's own chronology of what the company knew describes this document as follows:

A.R. Fisher states in President's Bulletin G124, 4/5/57, that the nation-wide drive for cleaner air and water has become one of the nation's most pressing, and potentially costly, industrial problems. J-M has not escaped these pressures. Executive Bulletin 33-26, dated 6/13/55, entitled "Dust and Fume Abatement Project Evaluation" which discusses J-M's efforts to safeguard employees' health from dust and fume exposure, will be revised and its scope broadened to cover all industrial wastes and addresses public relations responsibilities.