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A R E C E AS ASTECHNOLOGIES DEC 8 1989 December 6, 1989 ENVIRONMENTAL HE,�� r PERPvj I 3/ Le;V Mr. Gregory Basso FORWARD INC. P.O. Box 6446 Stockton, CA R : Asbestos Air Sampling at Forward Inc. Landfill Dear Mr. Basso, This letter reports on the airborne asbestos sampling conducted by Eljumaily Butler at the Forward Inc. Landfill, Stockton, California on November 9, 1989. Eight samples were collected at four different locations surrounding the asbestos disposal area of the landfill. The pumps used were four Mine Safety Appliance medium volume pumps calibrated to a pumping rate of approximately two liters per minute using a precision rotameter. On the pumps were sections of Tygon tubing with an attached 25 millimeter mixed ester membrane millipore filter with 0.8 to 1.2 micron pore size. Each filter was protected in special cartridges which attached to the pump with plastic adapters and tubing. The pumps were operated continuously for two hours for each of two sampling periods. The air samples were collected at locations north, south, east and west of the asbestos disposal area, all within approximately 50 feet of the working face. The weather was clear and sunny with light easterly winds during the sampling period. The samples were submitted on November 9 to the TMA/Norcal Laboratory, Richmond, CA, an accredited laboratory for asbestos testing, and analyzed by NIOSH method 7400, Phase Contrast Microscopy. The results of the first testing period, beginning at 10:45 am, show counts ranging from a low of 4900 fibers per filter (0.015 fibers/cc) to a high of 8700 (0.03 fibers/cc). The cartridge located along the northern boundary of the working face was found to be under detection limits. The second testing period, beginning at 12:56 pm, found no detected asbestos in the cartridge positioned along the northern boundary of the working face and found the southern cartridge to be unreadable due to an overload of dust and debris. Asbestos was, however, detected in the eastern and western cartridges resulting in counts of 8500 fibers per filter (0.03 fibers/cc) and 4900 fibers per filter (0.017 fibers/cc) respectively. The standard for an eight hour worker exposure without threat to health or safety is 0.20 fibers per cubic centimeter of air, based on 29 CFR 1910.1001. All samples collected are well below the OSHA and NIOSH standards. The attached summary table lists the fiber count for each pump over the two sampling periods and the corresponding number of fibers per cubic centimeter of air pumped. 825 Sonoma Ave., Suite C Post Office 4600 Santa Rosa,California 95402 (707) 544-0784 FAX (707) 544-0866 Also Auburn,California and Las Vegas, Nevada