C. H. Stevens to W. C. Seeds on Dust Collection in the Manville A Building (1955)

A five-page memo of May 2, 1955, from C. H. Stevens of J-M's General Plant Engineering Department at Manville to W. C. Seeds at division headquarters, with a schedule of dust counts. Seeds had assigned Stevens "to reduce all asbestos exposures in 'A' building below one million fibers per cubic foot of air," and Stevens reports on the card room, fiber preparation, spinning, twisting and weave rooms of the asbestos textile building. Six breaker cards were over the limit, and he lists causes beyond engineering control: "loading the card feed hopper is a very dusty operation," fiber clumps on the floor, and hoods and covers left open while machines ran.

What it shows

In the weave room, part of the air from the loom exhaust system was sent back into the building before its final cleaning, so the plant would "quite likely return air to the room which is contaminated with fine asbestos dust and fibers," the cause of a union complaint. Stevens proposes changes estimated at $24,943 for the weave room and $3,762 for the card room. The attached counts from summer 1954 show several stations above J-M's one-million-fiber limit (set in 1954).

In Johns-Manville's chronology

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

C.H. Stevens (GPED, Manville) memorandum to W.C. Seeds (DHQ), 5/2/55, stating that Seeds has given him an assignment to reduce all asbestos exposure in A Building below 1 mfpcf. Stevens describe the progress toward this end. Many hazardous conditions are discussed in the memorandum.