Hal Nelson to F. S. Daley with the Draft Article "Environmental Realities" (circa 1977)

An undated cover note from Hal Nelson of Automotive Industries, a Chilton Company magazine in Radnor, Pennsylvania, asking Jean Ryan to send "the enclosed four page manuscript" urgently by telecopier to F. S. Daley at Raybestos-Manhattan in Trumbull, Connecticut, with a handwritten note asking Daley to call "with your comments and/or approval." The four-page draft, "Environmental Realities," says that asbestos dust from brake linings is "a substantial health hazard," warns against cleaning brakes with an air gun, and sets out what it calls Raybestos's "very up to date procedure" for brake work: respirators, vacuum cleaning, sealed waste bags and no dry sweeping. Someone, apparently at Raybestos, marked the draft in the margins with comments such as "Not true" and, beside the Raybestos procedure, "Not our present recommendation."

What it shows

The draft refers to the 1976 OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) asbestos standard and to tests by Ford of Britain. The marked-up copy shows a trade magazine sending an article about the hazards of brake dust to a brake-lining maker for review before publication, and the maker's reader disputing its statements about asbestos as an air contaminant and about the company's own procedures.

In Johns-Manville's index

Johns-Manville's legal department indexed the Motley 1,000 in 1984. Its index describes this document as follows:

Hal Nelson (Auto Industries, Chilton Company) memo to Jean Ryan, undated, asking Ryan to transmit the enclosed 4-page manuscript this morning to F.S. Daley. Handwritten message on the memo states "F.S. Daley, call this guy ... with your comments and/or approval." 4-page draft of an article entitled "Environmental Realities." Discusses the use of asbestos-containing brake friction materials and their health hazards. Discusses R-M's role in minimizing the asbestos health hazard. The draft contains handwritten comments.

About this copy

This is document 803 of the Motley 1,000, from the set the Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust's records facility certified as true copies, pages CRMC-Motley1000-Subj-004367 to CRMC-Motley1000-Subj-004371.