J. M. Bodder to N. W. Hendry on Dust at the Proko Plant in Dallas (1973)

A one-page memo of July 24, 1973, from J. M. Bodder of J-M's Atlanta office to N. W. Hendry and J. F. Reis at J-M headquarters and M. D. Webb, on Proko, a Dallas customer that bought J-M's 7RF02 asbestos fiber. Proko's low-ceilinged Dallas plant moved all materials by hand truck and conveyor, and rail cars were unloaded by day labor. Bodder watched a car of "whiting" (another raw material) being unloaded and had "never seen such a horribly dusty mess": broken bags were tossed on the conveyor, leaving a trail from the boxcar to the storage area.

What it shows

Proko's insurance company had taken air samples and given "a clean bill of health." Bodder was "flabbergasted" and thought the sampling "apparently left something to be desired," but with the insurer's approval Proko was "dismissing any further work to control dust." The main source, he wrote, was the boxcars, and fixing it would take spending on mechanical unloading. Proko had been told of J-M's environmental services. Hendry's reply is his memo of July 31.

In Johns-Manville's chronology

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

J.M. Bodder (J-M, Atlanta) memorandum to N.W. Hendry (GHQ), dated 7/24/73, discussing the supply and handling of 7RF02 asbestos fiber to Proko Company in Dallas, Texas. Bodder states that he witnessed the unloading of a railway car of "whiting" and had never seen such "a horrible dusty mess." "Broken bags were indiscriminately tossed on the conveyer and as a result, a trail of 'whiting' could be traced from the boxcar to the storage area." Notes that air samples taken by Proko's insurance company indicated safe conditions. Bodder felt that the sampling technique "left something to be desired." "I was flabbergasted and questioned further." But, since the insurance company gave Proko an okay, Proko dismissed any further work to control the dust. Bodder states that the primary source of the contamination occurs in the boxcars, where mechanical unloading could solve the problem but would require expenditures. Bodder notes that Proko has been informed of J-M's environmental services.