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Augwta Ncwi-lteview - September 19, INI • Feds Warned State In 1972 Os Cancer Risk Know What’s Happening In Your Community SUBSCRIBE TODAY! Please Send Me The News-Review For: ~~1 1 Year In the 6 Moe tb« io the Country *9.00 Comity *5.00 1 Yr. oat the 6 w,t County *IO.OO J the Cephty'6.oo Check or Money Please bill me Order L—J Name ——— Address City State Zip Mail to: The Augusta News-Review P.O. Box 953 Augusta, Ga. 30903 wma aaaaaaaatHSHH r‘- < w «■' IHE r oMMMMMmaiaMMMaiMN B ’ Read The I 3tye Augusta Sinus-RrutrwN 4 Each Week 1 Sale prices In fi IliSilc Vvtr ; * ® Installation included S2O Off 30-test $lO off Inductive auto analyzer timing light CW O Ideal for use with modern Craftsman Sears Best |b®F ImR car electronic systems Needs no adapters ~''&K' JS? xr 79” SKr 34” / ■ J DO-IT-YOURSELF SPECIALS ’■\ l 415 amps cold cranking power 97 \ x £ / minutes reserve capacity. 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Jr pair Page 2 The NAACP Is Proud to Join ] Together... a great chorus against injustice 1 ADD YOUR VOICE 1 Solidarity Day—Sept. 19,1981—Washington, D.C., 10 to 5 on the Mall , I DEMONSTRATE against cuts in needed programs s for jobs and justice , c Jobs • Justice • Human Rights • Voting Rights • Justice • Human t Rights • Voting Rights • Jobs • Human Rights • Voting Rights ’ • Jobs • Justice • Voting Rights • Jobs • Justice • Human Rights • t c 1 zI v 1 /I \ c SOLIDARITY nnM ; From The Atlanta Journal State health officials were informed as early as April 1972 that workers at an Augusta chemical plant had been exposed to a potent cancer-causing NEW HOMES Lovely 3 and 4 Bedroom brick, 2 full baths, den, fireplace, large kitchen with.built-in appliances. Many other outstanding features. 9 attractive neighborhoods. We arrange all financing with best of terms. Come see and compare our homes and prices. You’ll like what you see. We accept trades. Charles Smith, 793-1344 Floyd Hodge, 592-2175 South Augusta Realty Co. 3038 Meadowbrook Drive 790-0877 substance, but the state failed to heed the warnings, federal records indicate. Dr. William M. Johnson, a former NIOSH investigator who checked on conditions at the plant, the Augusta Chemical Co., said he personally mailed letters to the Richmond County Health Department, the then-state Department of Health (now the Department of Human Resources) and the Medical College of Georgia Informing them of the situation in 1972. ...." But I never got a response from any of them,” said Johnson in an interview Tuesday. His letters are now part erf NIOSH's records. Johnson’s letters stated that several workers rwuso MAWIWTO Waiur I Boulevard mo J had been exposed to the chemical beta-napthylamine (BNA), a substance used in making dyes that had a history of causing bladder cancer and other problems. The letters said the workers should be monitored to determine if they develop the disorders. ‘‘A lot of people apparently knew - or should have known -for a long time what the situation was,” he said. He puts the blame, too, on the federal government, which, because of squabbling over money and which agency is responsible for what, let the “workers fall through the cracks.” Johnson said he knows of at least six former workers at the plant who have developed severe bladder problems. The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health began a laborious process this week of notifying the workers of the plant of their possible exposure to the chemical, and telling them of plans to conduct tests to determine if they are suffering ill effects from the substance. Nobody knows right now how many workers at Augusta chemical were exposed to BNA but estimates range from 300 to 1,100 men. Also involved in the program is the Richmond County Health Department, which has contracted with NIOSH to- do -a medical study of the former workers, and the Medical College of Georgia. “But to my knowledge, I never saw that letter (the one written by Johnson in 1972),” said Dr. Maurice G. Patton, director of the Richmond Health Department. “I got here in June 1972, and everything was pretty hectic here,” said Patton, who added that the letter could have gotten misplaced in the shuffle. “If I has seen the letter, I would have immediately forwarded it to the state, because we wouldn’t have had the resources to do the necessary work,” Patten said. But Johnson also mailed a letter to state officials, and never received a response. A state official said Tuesday that about the time the letter was mailed, the old state health department was in the process of being absorbed into the newly created Department of Human Resources, and the letter could have gotten misplaced in the confusion. Patton said he was informed by NIOSH about the situation in 1979, and his office started working Payne To Kickoff Centennial Paine College will kick Convocation at the Gilbert off her Centennial Lambuth Memorial Chape Celebration on Friday, The ceremony will begin al Sept. 25, with an Opening 10 a.m. The speaker wil be Dr. Julius S. Scott Jr., pres 'V'Cfi olluw my, the Opening coibx-x.ili;Hl a College: v The History, the KlltMl A Achievements and the , Challenges” will be held at odeum. Participants include two Paine College alumni, 'tl Dr. W. Clyde Williams, president of Miles College and Dr. Elias Blake Jr., ADULTS ONLY ’resident of Clark College. That evening, a dinner ftiJl-a «S honoring Dr. Benjjamin E. Mays, former President of Morehouse College will be I held at the Thunderbird I Hotel at 7 p.m. The I O speaker will be Bishop Joseph , presiding prelate. sith f'pis vai d>trict the Christian Methodist Episoipal Plastic SHp Covers ' BUY DIRECT FROM J Ask About our 3 Payment an FACTORY AND SAVE! | WE SPECIALIZE ON SOFA BED & DINING ROOM CHAIRS „.. . Days ' FREE HOME CALL NOW! Evening DEMONSTRATION .Air Vent* Flameproof All Seams Reinforced Dust A Sun Proof No Yellowing Or Cracking .Metal Zipper .All Guages of Vinyl Available ROSE PLASTIC COVERS CO. 722-0618 VMMQIAe WS Years of Life Will be added To Your Fursjlttire , on the problem then. He said the study has not fully guuen under way because many contractual and technical details first had to be worked out. “But I think we’re ready now,” he said Tuesday. But now, seven of the former workers at the plant have joined in a class action suit filed in Richmond County Superior Court against the chemical company, charging the firm with negligence and seeking damages to be dtermined by a jury trial. The suit charges that the company “manufactured and placed upon the market a toxic chemical which it knew or should have known” was a health hazard, and it failed to warn employees of the hazards of the chemical’s use. The suit has been filed against E.I. du Pont De- Nemours and Synallory Corp, doing business as Augusta Chemical Co. BNA has long been recognized as a cause of bladder cancer. As early as 1895 a strikingly high incidence of bladder tumors was described among German dye plant workers. In 1934, bladder cancer was found in 25 workers who worked in a BNA plant in the United States, according to an article m the Annals of the New York Academy oc Sciences co-written by Johnson. In 1963, 11 bladder tumors were discovered in workers at two small plants in Pennsylvania, and, in 1965, 96 cases of the malady were reported among 366 workers in New York. European countries banned the production of the product. in the early 19505, ans several states in this country followed suit several years later.