Canadian Johns-Manville Survey of Reeves Asbestos Fiber Division Dust Stations Over the TLV (1972)

A two-page table, "Canadian Asbestos Dust Stations Over TLV on Most Recent Survey," listing 34 dust stations at the Reeves operation of J-M's Asbestos Fiber Division surveyed April 24 to 29, 1972. Every station was over the threshold limit value of 5 fibers per cubic centimeter, with counts from 5.4 to more than 200; six stations read "100.0+" or higher, among them the conveyors near the control panel and the control cabin for the feed to the jaw crusher. A closing note reads: "Dusty conditions are worse than those found in the previous survey."

What it shows

The note goes on: "Maintenance forces have been curtailed because plant is to be shut down. Because of this situation, additional Industrial Hygiene Surveys would be useless, and therefore, we plan no future visits to Reeves." The surveys were stopped while men were still working at the plant at these levels.

In Johns-Manville's chronology

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

The dust survey of Canadian asbestos dust stations over TLV, Asbestos Fiber Division (Reeves) dated 4/24/72 shows all stations as being over TLV. Where the TLV is listed as 5 f/cc, stations are in excess of 100 f/cc. A comment mentions that maintenance of the plant has been curtailed because the plant is to be shut down and that due to this situation, industrial hygiene surveys are useless and no more are planned.

Editor's note: J-M's description says stations were in excess of 100 f/cc. Six of the 34 stations read 100 or more; the rest ranged from 5.4 to 65 fibers per cubic centimeter, all above the limit of 5.