J. F. Reis to S. W. McCallie on What to Say About Nashua Waste Disposal (1981)

A one-page J-M internal memo of May 13, 1981, from J. F. Reis to S. W. McCallie, copied to W. B. Reitze and C. G. Linke, on McCallie's draft questions and answers about waste disposal from J-M's Nashua, New Hampshire, plant. Reis pointed out "a very obvious question missing from your list": "Did J-M tell the site owners about the hazards of asbestos and if not, why?" The answer, "although not totally satisfactory," would be that the company had not discussed the hazards with the owners "because health problems were only related to occupational exposures at high levels," and the scrap "contained asbestos locked in by a cement binder and it was felt that free fiber would not be released into the air."

What it shows

The memo was written while the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was building a case over the Nashua disposal sites; two months later McCallie circulated a copy of the agency's plan obtained from a confidential source (McCallie on the EPA case development plan, 1981).

In Johns-Manville's chronology

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

In a memorandum to S.W. McCallie from J.S. Reis, 5/13/81, re Nashua Waste Disposal, Proposed Questions and Answers. Reis points out a question of concern for Manville: "Did J-M tell the site owners about the hazards of asbestos and if not, why?" Reis states that the answer would be:

"The company did not discuss the health hazards of asbestos with the owners because health problems were only related to occupational exposures at high levels. The asbestos scrap being disposed of contained asbestos locked in by a cement binder and it was felt that free fiber would not be released into the air."

Editor's note: J-M's description gives the writer as J. S. Reis; the memo is from J. F. Reis.