J. M. Cecere to C. L. Sheckler on Dust Counts at the Marrero Transite Pipe Plant (1966)

A two-page memo of February 24, 1966, from J. M. Cecere at J-M's Waukegan, Illinois, plant to C. L. Sheckler at corporate headquarters, reporting on dust samples retaken in October 1965 at the wet end of the Marrero, Louisiana, Transite pipe plant. Five of 16 samples exceeded the MAC (the maximum allowable concentration), all of them around the "Willow" machines. Cecere wrote that the results "disturb us because the visible-conditions at the wet end were quite dusty throughout this sampling period," yet 11 of the 16 samples came in below the limit.

What it shows

The memo is an attempt to square the dust counts with what people could see. Cecere asked whether the alcohol in the sampling solution, the humidity, or the type of counting cell might be affecting the numbers, and noted that new ventilation was being installed while some samples were taken. The plant had reported a "very serious dust problem" at the same wet end in 1964 (Marrero memo to Sheckler, 1964). By 1966 J-M's own hygiene staff doubted that the counting method reflected the dust they saw.

In Johns-Manville's chronology

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

J.M. Cecere memorandum to C.L. Sheckler, 2/24/66, attaches copies of Marrero Transite Pipe dust sation permanent record pages. Cecere states: "(t)hese sample results...disturb us because the visible-conditions at the wet end were quite dusty. . . ." Yet of 16 samples, 11 were below the MAC, therefore the sampling does not seem to be consistent with the visible-conditions.

Related documents

• J. V. Miles to C. L. Sheckler on a Serious Dust Problem at the Marrero Pipe Plant (1964)