ML20091R941

Motion to Reopen Asbestos Question & Use of Judgment by Boyer & Wetterhahn

ML20091R941
Person / Time
Site:	Limerick
Issue date:	06/08/1984
From:	Romano F AIR AND WATER POLLUTION PATROL
To:	Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel
Shared Package
ML20091R938	List: ML20091R935 ML20091R941 ML20091R947
References
OL, NUDOCS 8406150355
Download: ML20091R941 (3)

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l AIR and WATER , tm ,.

. Pollution Patrol BROAD AXE, PA.

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Junepp;19g)y P4 :34 Washington D.C. 20555 -

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BEFORETHEATOMICSAFETYANDLICENSINGbOARDI[

In The Matter Of PHILADELPHIA ELECTRIC COMPANY Docket Nos. 50-352 %

(Limerick Generating Station and 50-353 of j Units 1 and 2)

AWPP moves the Board re-epen- the AWPP asbestos question and the use of  ;

"judgen ent" by Mr. Boyer and Mr.Wetterbahn.

On Feb. 15, 1984 Air and Water Follution Patrol (Ro=ano) submitted a con-l tention stating that asbestos in the cooling tower Splash Boards would contamin-ate the Schuylkill River and the alp with asbestos f thers shed into the water and air out the cooling towers.

A d'incussion on March 6,1984 before the Board in Philadelphia denied the contention on the basis that EPA had no ruling on asbestos in drinking water.

The Board did not address the question of asbestos in the air. The very voluminous publicity, and the EPA push to clean asbestos out of schools, etc.

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demonstrates their appreciation of the serious health effects of asbestos.

, The EPA has just covered the asbestos dump in Ambler, Pa. because one or-4 two asbestos

fibers were found on a picnic table in the playground adjacent to 4 ,

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' 4 the dump. ,

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Therefore the sheddir.g of asbestos from the drif t eliminators (which Phila-s _

delphia Electric did: not mention) can, by the force of the mechanical action

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' of the water and air at the base area of the tower where the drift eleminators I

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age,will' force shed fibets out the tower and disperse it five to fifteen or more milec (based on water dropping that far from the towers as in transcript of AWPP l

Carburetor Ice Contention.

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AIR and WATER Pollution Patrol BROAD AXE, PA.

(2)

Motion to re-open Asbestos Contention and use of " judgement" continued:

, Futther at hearing re asbestos, in answer as to whether the Applicant knew of the presence of asbestos elsewhere in the Limerick construction, both Mr. Wetter-hahn and Mr. Boyer answered that they did not know of any.

However, since both Mr. Wetterhahn and Mr. Boyer challenged my contention they should have known that as per par. 7, page 10 of IE~ Report 352/77-06, 353/77-07, dated 8/2/77, pipe spools with an.outec.coverning'of. impregnated. asbestos, some'of which has been abraided thus exposin3 the asbestos as stated in page 10, is.also a hazzard inside the plant.

In stating they did not know of any other asbestos present at Limerick, Mr.

Wetterhahn and Mr. Boyer, again, subject themselves to a question of making mis-statements upon which they excuse themselves on the basis that it was their "j'udge-ment". By this repeated means they are able to, and have mislead the Board also on the AWPP VI-I Contention. -

. No where has the Applicant nor Staf f considered the release of asbestos fibers from the Limerick towers. This known ca'rcinogen causing such things as mesotheli-oma and other lung cancers requires re-study to protect myself, my family, and members of AWPP and the general public.

No other parties are discussing this' point.

Respectfully submitted, A WATER POLLUTION PATROL rank R. Romano, Chairman

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hirregularides~ l SEPTA

Asbestostestsfin( afe' fdund ' '

ag.a='s.~ 6,s, respiratoriabnoiinalities .

mn - will be" tasted. Daddson aald. "Obvi.

ously,I'm going to look at anybody workers might mean,he emphasized. who has been exposed to asbestos or By Sara Kennedy - c  !

, marr wre-

~ ~* He said the workers would be re who might have been exposed," he ferred to an expert on asbestosis, a, said.

Twenty-nine of 91 SEPTA employ. disease of the lungs caused by inha, 1 of e began May 17, mostly the1 ee sho tratory abne all, lation of asbestos fibers. j TA's Courtland shop, at SEPTA's largest union, Transport '

d ties that could be related to exposure Workers Union local 2M, requested Courtland h TM k' '

to asbestos in the work place, the the testing last fall. Asbestos, a sub- have been exposed to'as sed -

transit agency said yesterday in an- stance that does not transmit heat.: as bsulation 6 trWe , accord- i n:uncing the results of preliminary has been linked to a wide variety of in c Y.oaquin testing by its medical director. . . p. .m

'%gTM to SEPTA  %'sh'3 dbdly occupational illnesses, mainly lung; X rays showed four workers with diu=== and various types of cancer.

i Codd" 0 lung abnormalities and 25 workers the worst problem of all SEPTA's with a thickening of the pleurs, the But yesterday's findings-do not. repair facilities, said , Roger Tauss, lining between the chest wall and mean that the workers will develop . President of the union,which Mre-the lang, which could be caused by seriotis illnesses, Day'idson.said. ,

sents 5,600 SEPTKworkers.

exposure to asbestoe. Sixty-two work- "When you tell a person he has pleu- Untilthree months ago,Tauss said, ers tested showed no evidence of ral thickening, you're not telling- workers there were cutting pressed respiratory changes, according to a them there's anything wrong with asbestos boards in the shop, and their lungs or breathing." he said. "If breathing ~ the dust; car-builders of-SEPTA statement.

you broke a window, that doesn't' ten pull.ed asbestos out of troIIeys The situation necesdtates further meanyou've got aholeinyourchim ,

investigation, said Dr. Wallace Da. a bui1Lin the IMos with their bare vidson, SEPTA medical director. It is neY." hands. In~other repair shops, asbes-still too early to interpret what any Between_600 and 900 of the transit / .tos is used in' bus brake linings, he (See ASBESTOS TESIS,on 17 A)- . ,

said. He estimated that as many as of the physical changes-in the 29 ,

1 2.000 workers may have been ex. .

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/ Posed.

f However Tauss said the union was -

satfsfied with SEPT,A's handling of

- the situation.

He said the transit agency lately had made efforts to. clean up. areas '

where workers were most likely to

, be exposed. He said SEPTA halted cutting of asbestos board in open areas, and that now it is done in

< aegregated . spaces with employees

.wearing protective clothing.

The union has been notified of SEPTA's findings, and has scheduled a meeting for today to present them.

to union members. " People are

( afraid, they're freaked out," Tauss said. . .. --- --

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