E. D. Marcucci to J. H. Swensen on Not Labeling Transite Pipe (1979)

A one-page memo of September 24, 1979, from E. D. Marcucci to J. H. Swensen of Johns-Manville, reporting on a September 20 meeting with Dennis Markusson, J-M's associate general counsel, about labeling Transite pipe. "Since we are firm in our conviction that installers will not be exposed to dangerous fiber levels if the recommended work practices are followed, we are better off not labeling TRANSITE pipe," the memo says. "Being without a label would be wiser than anything less than the full OSHA warning label."

What it shows

The memo weighs a label against what it would bring under California law: if a product was formally "labeled," the installer had to notify a state agency in writing before starting a job, state inspectors had to be present, and health records had to be kept for everyone on the job. Markusson was to find out whether a voluntary "half a label" would let Transite escape that process, and the group would wait for his opinion before raising labeling with other pipe makers through the A/CPPA, the pipe producers' association. Two months earlier J-M's Canadian company had warned contractors that cutting the pipe dry with an abrasive saw could release hazardous dust (open letter to pipe-laying contractors).

In Johns-Manville's chronology

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

Memorandum to J.H. Swensen from E.D. Marcucci, 9/24/79, describes the results of a meeting with D. Markusson. Markusson recommended that since Manville believes installers will not be exposed to dangerous fiber levels if the recommended work practices are followed, Manville is better off not labeling transite pipe. Under California OSHA, if a pipe is formally labeled, the installer must notify a state agency in writing before starting a job.