E. M. Fenner, Report of the September 1969 Environmental Control Subcommittee Meeting (1969)

A two-page report dated October 2, 1969, by E. M. Fenner, secretary of J-M's Environmental Control Subcommittee, on the subcommittee's September 15 meeting with H. M. Jackson, K. V. Lindell, W. L. VanDerbeek and Dr. George W. Wright, sent to C. B. Burnett, Johns-Manville's president, and other officers, with five attachments. The meeting reviewed the revised Executive Bulletin 312-3 on environmental control standards, a resurvey of the Manville asbestos textile plant, ambient air sampling and the first full-shift personal air samples. Dr. Wright had asked whether the Millipore filter paper used in J-M's air sampling might itself contain asbestos; the maker had said it did not, and J-M's research center confirmed it.

What it shows

The attachments give the numbers. A table comparing the Manville textile surveys of February/March and July/August 1969 shows most stations still above 6 fibers/cc and many above 12 (all eight spinning stations in the first survey, 11 of 20 twisting stations in the second). A card room stocker sampled over a full shift measured 17.5 to 27.0 fibers/cc, and a bulldozer operator on the tailings dump at the Jeffrey mine in Quebec 99 and 125 fibers/cc. The attached bulletin set 2 fibers/cc as the design target for new or rebuilt dust control systems (Executive Bulletin 312-3). Dr. Wright recommended sampling at the Jeffrey mill with both light and electron microscopes so that the results could be compared with the work of Dr. Irving Selikoff's group at Mount Sinai Hospital. The earlier textile survey is Jackson's June 1969 report.

In Johns-Manville's chronology

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

Report, prepared by E.M. Fenner, of J-M Environmental Control Subcommittee meeting held on 10/2/69. Dr. Wright inquired if there might be asbestos fiber in the Millipore filter paper used in J-M's sampling program. Upon investigation, it was learned that the filter paper manufacturer previously had stated that no fiber was used in this paper and that analysis work performed at J-M's research center confirmed this statement.

Editor's note: J-M's description says the subcommittee met on October 2, 1969. The meeting was held on September 15, 1969; October 2 is the date of Fenner's report.

Related documents

• Johns-Manville Executive Bulletin 312-3 on Environmental Control Standards, Revised (1969)