O. H. Cilley to W. C. Hemeon on Dust Control and a Lower Dust Limit (1954)

A two-page letter of May 28, 1954, from O. H. Cilley, general manager (of Raybestos-Manhattan's U.S. asbestos division, according to the index), to W. C. Hemeon of the Industrial Hygiene Foundation of America in Pittsburgh. Cilley wrote that "much can be done to improve the Air Hygiene in our plant" if an engineer versed in duct design studied the conditions, and asked whether Hemeon or his staff could take on the work. He recalled that a few years earlier "anything under 5,000,000 particles per cubic foot was satisfactory," but that England had set the limit at 1,000,000, a standard he believed New Jersey had also adopted, and wrote: "I am entirely in accord with lowering the limit to 1,000,000 particles per cubic foot or better if it is practicable."

What it shows

The letter shows a senior Raybestos-Manhattan manager in 1954 knew of the stricter British dust limit and was willing to work toward it at his own plant. It opened the consulting work that Hemeon described in his reply (Hemeon to Cilley, June 17, 1954).

In Johns-Manville's index

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

O.H. Cilley (General Manager, R-M U.S. Asbestos Division) letter to W.C. Hemeon, 5/28/54. Cilley indicates that R-M is interested in improving the air hygiene at its Manheim plant and in the retention of an engineer to help evaluate the dust conditions and to recommend and design methods of dust control. Cilley reminisced that a few years ago the accepted standard was 5 million particles per cubic foot, but that the new recommended standard out of England is 1 million particles per cubic foot, which has been adopted by the State of New Jersey. Cilley indicates that he is entirely in accord with lowering the limit to one million particles per cubic foot or better if it is practicable.

Related documents

• W. C. L. Hemeon to O. H. Cilley on Dust Control at the Manheim Plant (1954)

About this copy

This is document 330 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-001646 to CRMC-Motley1000-Subj-001647.