W. B. Reitze on Environmental Conditions at Asbestos de Mexico (1978)

A one-page Johns-Manville memo of November 7, 1978, from W. B. Reitze of J-M's Health, Safety and Environment department, sending an industrial hygiene report by J-M's Denver-area hygienists on the Asbestos de Mexico plant in Mexico City (the report itself is not in this copy, and the addressee's name is too faint to read). "As you can see, there are many problems both with asbestos fiber and silica at this location," Reitze wrote. "Some problems are extremely critical." He reported that J-M's International Division had verbal commitments from the Mexican bank authorities and the plant's managers to correct "the rather severe industrial health problems."

What it shows

Reitze urged J-M to pursue the matter "with all due haste," and added that if the Mexican bank or plant managers were "not serious in their discussions, then I believe Johns-Manville must consider other alternatives." J-M owned 40 percent of Asbestos de Mexico and supplied it with fiber. Reitze had reported on the company's plants the year before (his 1977 trip report), and the same problems run through the later papers: H. B. Moreno's memo to John A. McKinney of January 1979, Monroe Harris's letter of July 1980, G. Earl Parker's memo of July 1980, and Reitze's progress report of November 1980.