Document 5LON7BDZo1n6YxoxeJbe7rrje

001254 Noroabor 25, 1967 H MAIL riaa<! Casualty Coapaay U5 East Ankoy Struct:--v_. irtland t Oregon :--C; ^-Jr, :. * TTENTIONt John Hopklins 'y;rV ry-.v' V - ` r.'- V'" ' .- v -fi** ... Hat Tour Clala Hoi -750;C890r^ .. ^,lnswpodi>-^;\^^Y^-*^Oroo.* Co. ' a-.C.:.v: :: '?: :*:***!? ( Eonoil to Division) .?- Clalaaatt tt^s' n.r.vrt_ra >ar Mr. Uopklnsi- v .<> P- olicy i * , V.y V"H vn;001598 vV~- *:?t ?'<." '.V> This will confirm our robcht tolephono ooirrorsation oonooraInf/:tbs above sat tor. As X/'lnforaod you at that tlso, Tory Lreeont developaentslatbs~osso. ooeatoaotofroqulro that * vo ro-assoos our ova posltlant?and~as.Mr.^8o^rtConler,of Aaorlcaa Ad Jus taont Ctotpany^ims . i^^aTallahlo JS-uo;; oomtao tod'--.t `Ton dirobt, aad la acordanoo irlth ybur_sut*ostlousf I. as ~ ^ ^ forwarding this roport^to you^wi t^sgopy^to Hr,c ConloyV^<^\;-;l - LV At.-th."tl. I" oontM tMfcs-rrailSiWMi loatbrrlng vlth Mr. larl 4* ./-. ytho laauxod.Va.AlJ.hliT^Mouiaiia.ofrioos ,aad wo As ,wo voroofNcoorao ^insured:*a _ r__ * *-. *b. y. tho' - . ^St-a_'v*\t*^Boa^^of|HoaltllV5th^bjplflhaI?5plaut^f Inspoation ooaductotfi^la^95.^^otooIod^'a^dust|probl ja"\l'n3ho; ^nrA_akl %1o1; 'Aa 1a -;ihwaAtCv% ^tiAa- -e->l -- -- *- XJ'-La * a~^a ** m. * `` mm A o tLbX thovdus tJhad'not:.booudo tdmlsod^ Through .tUo^^arovbmmroiv^vtholplauti ^aabootos^oo'nUut`iFoj^*of;iooiiurso^tho''poi,ootttagd,?of'.-suoh^4bo'rs^|^^M3:j w.- touad"to^oxtat^ln^tboldttst4la;tho.:al 1 l dld tor oxoood .what5>i^?^s^^| V vr' oianiaidsiMd'y't'aa'tM^allawabia^'AonosntratiaiBS < ' Sv *.*- , ^ .r -2- Many reoonaeadotiona were presented by the State Board, and It vould appear Insured gradually attempted to oorrect tbo situation. It oust however further be ooneIdarod that it might appear to others that fie action taken by Insured to oorreat the situation vhloh vas presented, alght cot to the unbiased observer, epper.r to havo been either extremely effective, or quickly performed, f State Board reoords reveal that additional reooamendatlone vers made in 1959, and at that tlao aotual dust saaplos in the dry mill had repealed an asbestos content, vhloh, while not extremely sere re, vas, la the words of the Beard report "significant". fcyt .- :> - v-- In 1962,'dust camples revealed ahlgh asbestos oontent, and ^ * the Board's oonolusloa at. thst time were that "no progress. v-'v ^ >^:.^had been.made in reduolng dust oonoentratlons In the dry . mill to an aaoeptable level, and that Indeed the dust concentrations had been increased substantially.',-,," Further recommendations were made, relative to alleviation of. the ^ problem. .r"- ! 0.' / ` "s\ - .. In 1963, oonoentratlons again were determined to be veil in exoess of "aoceptable levels" and at that time the State . Board reoommended that "considerable effort should be made '<{ immediately to improve the dost control procedures.at-the rA ';- plant to: reduoe. dustiness te an acceptable1 ;*.y ^Vi5A study of the information furnished by the State^Bdard , vould. therefore make it appear that; the asbestos/problem has existed oertainly since .1956, and generally'^with-^i^f^^^^^^'- ^ increasing severity^ It. does however new .appear... that`^ preventive vneasures have^at leastooamenoed having-reffee t :^; aad according to Mr, Lovlok/ it would eeemthatVconsiderable ' - ^ strides have^been made within the last oouple of years ^ Novortheleesas I lnforned .you, 'f irould .healtate.vtoyallov:V^T^^ ^ir-r r ln evidence-.the State Board reporta lf it keep| therfout:o f the hands- of the' ;Xnduatrial ^-r Vhile' Ii have not' researohed- the'prbblea^.'lt has' even^vp^'^-^y-'.l;'?-;^; , oocurred .to me,.that Insured? s inability-to ourb ths problem - i^^at <the. State Board' s recomaendatlonsrthrough the years, mlgb t vbe .mlleged at 1east to haveoons tltuted wl 11fu1 T -v H Further, Hr. Loviok, for the first time, thought to advise aa of certain studies which have been conducted by a local Radiologist since around 1963 or 1964, which apparently have involved obtaining annual x-rays of all employees for study. The inforaation furnished by Mr. Loviok was to the effect that the' Radiologist was convinced that a good aany of the employees suffered froa lung abnoraali ties / whloh oould be the result of enoroaohing aebsstosls. This inforaation of oourss appeared to ae to be of extreae iaportanoe,, and we aade arrangeaente to travel to Vbitoflsh, Montana'^mediately to interview th Radiologist. .The party involved, Dr.' William Little, Informed ae that.;his etudiea ^ aost certainly did. iadloate there to be present a great r . ' deal of lung abnoraialltlea among the insured's employees,' .;; far in exoeea of tho percentage one would find in examining the ordinary population, and he did in addition point out m that the situation was even more severe, when considering that he was in general examining young, hearty male work- :, aea. -. . .... Dr. Little stated that we did Indeed have e severe problem, end that we might expeot a good many olaias Involving aabeatoe; - , Ho did further lndloate however that in hisviev,'the" recent steps .taken^by the insured to alleviate the were having their'effeot, la that it appeared to him fromc^N.^i:;%:. his aost recent studies,that a. lesser peroontago exiataA'-.j^^C^^i of new or previously non--dlsoovsred abnoraali ties, aa as some decrease inVthe speed of tho progress, of tho dls-- No duet counts had been obtained in the warehouse or yard area by the State Board, and it appeared that no information with reepoot to contamination of those areas was available. I understood that insured's own engineers were never able to find a measurable amount of dust in the yard area, and i aooordlngly It was my+thought that our primary defense would rest upon the faot that claimant's last injurious , 9 exposure must hare been prior to the effeotire date of the Aot, and the inoluaioa of aobeatosis. As you know however, I have felt that the Industrial Aooldent Board would require u to provide all available relevant , informatlonobtalned/by>the Stata Board of nealtb,f aad wfei1e v"v we were willing toradaitj;the^ exlstenoe of antes toe/fibers .7 in the dust in the/dry/milli/it was notfelt^that/teata there oonduotedV oase involving In a lettor ^to me -of June M^l^?, Kr.' Robert Swanberg, Chairman of theIndustrlal/Aobident Board, had urged a . // "full dlsolosureofall/pertinent material' on^ thls/qcestlon to avoid controversies/that will merely prolong'-tbe. litl--/ gation without materially.effecting lte outoome", andT^^ further discussions wlthhlmaade it appear' that.be agreed - that a total- disclosure bf/all information- In the State1:-r Board'a;hands/might ____ not be justified in the.Instant case :-/// i:v* Now however,^I^am/lnforaed^by Mr. Yaks , of- the State .Board ofriealth,/ that/whlle'rha'had. l 1ml ted hls own dust/aonnts ^ ^ -. - f to;, the/dry/mili^/he did/beliJTe ihat/a problem-iwould exist>//~-/r',,, wl*** reapeot/tb/the/drillers/ln' thofaine/itaelfJ^as/wel 1 ^^3frfm/s/'as .; wwitithhy/rreeesppeeoot/ttfotO-i'riruuoo^kd^rdivrleversrsilioloaaddiinngaahdTnhlo<uling/^^i//5^/^/:~; linrlav^'an^HJ h f ffiiv rliaf 1 gi:i -/ twvwvTa***e fM-fvuri 'i'oai^vpnv* ^^'-^requeai/from/u^on^bificlni^ --arouhdtavyear/aabf.^iuid^iiw'ftrtoolleotloni^is^tlia^M^SVakm^^^ - : - ' r -... W -5- ,\t any rate, the problem now presented Is that claimant Velch may well have suffered "an injurious exposure" as that tern nay be defined in the Oooupatlonnl Disease Act, at most every point he was employed, including the warel* house. The fact alao now must be oonsidered that a great "aany of insured's employees coffer from lung abnormalities and a good many of them have probably never been in the sill, which of oouree simply means that they ars oontraoting the disease in the yard or in faot at any point where a duet oonditlon may exist. I had explained to Dr,'Osoar7 Sander, of Milwaukee,- Visoonsln, in a reosnt^ oonferenos, my own thsory of dsfsnss concerning exposure at the warehouse, however In reviewing tHe Patb.slo--" hu,gist's report, and report of Dr. Thomas Power, retained by fifths'Industrial* ant Velch ;~Dr', Aooident^;Board Sanderrfe 11,tha to perform a biopsy t Mr.' Veloh. sue thu. eo.shu^oflfaelmre-d iV ,v injurious ..exposure He advised that he way at the Bearing, in that..all information avallable^tm^H^;-: him would lndioate that the claim might well be ooapenaable. He has now provided me;with his written report in this respect,; copy of vhioh l am attaching,, and you wl 1 l notice ^ ^that he feels claimant ' must have suffered: a considerable;;^.*!?^- I , ms .t^t^diabrefcionlSf^^^j^e^be't'imjj^^artroi^TalorjriB^tiim'^^w^^.-fi instant-case .^mnd^that^you jaight:.wlsh:tossriouslyoonaidsr'Zy^T*viEi'^^l own Radiol og i stV^that^tha'.prd blea toaiasamon Unsured;fmpl:ooyysseMa|:m' i ^-fsWt^tsr^be'^aetxthrbugh'a^pon ill ^at t eapt^by^ths^sap^oyer std^ailevla tsJ^ths^dus t&itfobisml&i I * V .. > 1 -6- ' you explained to ae in our telephone conversation of fareflbr 22 *967, you did not feel we would be in a josltioa to obtain such authority without this written freprt aad 1 ** accordingly forwarding it to you at the Tfiret opportunity. / X nay ay that it now appears that oounoel intends at the [gfiring of Noveaber 29, to establish his record through elalaant hiaself, as well, as othsr saployees who aay be expected to testify in general terms as to the dust problem at the mill, and most probably at other points around the premises. . . *V *- * In addition, it appears, that oounssl has subpoenaed insured1 a',Try: i Safety Engineer, who we. would assume, is t/oll awars of.the major aspects of our problem, and a- good bit of damaging testimony may gst into, the reoord at that time. *?- .ti -W * gi.- On the other hand however, I do not believe oounsel intends .^ to attempt at that time to obtain reports of the State Board .... ~ of Health, and in faot, Mr. Swanberg of the Industrial Aooldent ^ ' Board. has. indicated to me that he may well continue the Heering, .,; - t? resetting it in Helena/ aV a later date to piok up this = v"/- ^Information.'-/ ?/' .*'''*.-* /k/-. _ v--v": w*1* - 1 . -4 * '* ^ * * ** * . . 'V..# l^ln'this latter regard;-I'am now convinced that we have' -v ^`rSod argument with reepeot to the privileged character State Hoard reports,., through a provision included in\the^>-!; feel when oonsiderlng^the extent'of-tha'problem here^sjx pre seatedyr.t ha tVwe /pan/afford>tor antagonl a e the /Induetristij ; Acoidentoardj/byVrefus i'rxg -'te-ibe/a t ..least - somewtat/oandid^^ In naking.-inforaatlon^available' upon wfaloh it may/makeT*^?^ .^The/quoetion of relavanoy now of course'presents-: ^/th.',rthat/i fidua t; froa/thS' mill/is/beiagexhaua ted: ^>yard rare&-'wherelUHs|warehbusa^licsituatether oointent^of >-? the dust'afckthe Idr>^:mill^may/we 1 l bs non*idered'jto^rejat 4H dtreetly to Mr.Swe 1 oh*s^oondi t i on.V Even our\-own^experi^ J>r. Oaoar Sander,'^wbuld/be- foraed. to hold to thisvisv?"0 f- were he in faot xv* r': ?>c .* S:k. -7- It is ay feeling that vs may attribute our present situa tion primarily to tha fact that it appears that no one lias ever quite realized the extent of the problem vhioh exist.}. Certainly Mr. Loviok, who has been extremely cooperative and helpful, felt that there was not a contamination problem present at/any point other than at the dry mill itself, and possibly at the loading and unloading hoppers. Nov hoverer, ve find that dust from the mill Itself may from time to time permeate the entire yard, and of course it may veil be argued, and perhaps with sons validity due .to the inoorreotly placed exhaust, that the entire yard area say sub]sot workmen to vhat mightbo termed to be "Injurious exposure". Mr. Loviok does inform that finda'are`.cowavallebls vhioh will allow moving the exhaust, and correcting, that particular problem,^, " ' * ; ; I aight^pointiout that^the Badlologlst involved, Dr. Little,'.': did mention hio a*aaement^at" the percentage of workers.-2-': presenting lung' abnormalities;at the: Insured's plant, as - compared to a problem such as silloosla at a typical mine.' Ills own explanation vaa%that generally in a mine, the only ^Uy-'Lv persons direotly,exposed are the hard-rook minors them- selves^: and.,then only_on< those occasions when silloan;_-r---v-'-: dio.cide^is existent inv.the^ore, and he differentiates that .v^Vy r. sltuation"from^oor ovnywhereythe entire area may from-, time '&& Mr.; Lovi ok i he?1 Libby/s^Mont Yeraioulite-mine and plant. ly we 11.; berths *neldh^theyvor1d where an ,ldentiba ^~*'rssitituuaattioionneexxiletev^atM^wtfhblillee^&.tthhee-;pprroobbileem. of aebeetosls hnsaaij^^rf^r.-.; tf^j-be en subJ eat^MooneiiSefcable^a tudy$ it^hae' genera 1 ly<#' g^asbes tosiii^sometc`'C"" r^or-persons.working j vi th: rm^|Jn/our'X cat e ,Ar we.. are ^feonoerad^lja^i^r end!itb^aiextremely short i berJasbesthX^^ rtHT^ ** **^'twedj^ox^ purpo se a . + T --t,. - ,, e-v .+ 'v'''V'` - VN ' V* , . - V v ~ `.J..* -- ** * --8-- Additionally, when considering tho most reoont develop- nenta, it would appear to ae that the Industrial Aooident Doard might well ignore teobaloallties and determine the instant olaia to be ooapenaable, allowing us to test its decision at the Oistriot or Supreme Court level. *t At the tiae I oontaoted counsel relative to a possible stay of the proceedings, I informed hia that we might be willing to aonsider some sort of compromise in order to avoid the expense of proceeding further. I asked if he had a figure of hie own in mind',Vaad was informed that i he did not, and .1 am aooordlnglyiunable to provide you with any information to pass; along'oonoornlng possible occur, and should you wlsh-^tnySisotiss^the^ mat ter further^"^ personally,- I. would appreo lais Tyour?; bon tao 11ng me telephone.~ In this regard j . I wlll be in* othsr industrial aoeidsnt Bearings on Monday; and Tuesday, November 27 , 28, however arrangements _for suohdls ousel on oan be made : through my personal eeoretary, MreVvlClehm,' ahould it be NertiUr 831 1967 / .IK MAIL larylaml Casualty Company 1*115 East Ankay Strait Portland, Oregon t ATTEKTIOKt John UopLln* .4 8a 1 Tour Claim So* 750 C :890 . . Xnsaradi . .ry*..8*;0raoa * Co* ' ' (ttMllti Dirlalan) Claimants . LILAS D. VELCR v. Polity* .8 001598 aar Mr* Uepklnst is will confirm oar rooi,nt tolophono oorrraraailon eonoortw ing tho abova mat tar. Am I Infarmad yam at that tlaaf% Tory raeant davalopmaata la tha eama a a am turn* toraqulra that va ra-- aaaata oar own pealtion, and am Mr*-Robart Coni ay, of American Ad jastmsnt Ctarpany, wma notarailaVla^Vwa 00a tan tad - you dlraot, and la lot ordanoo with your nuastlonm, I am forward In* this raport to you;`wlt'.^apy to Hr* Conloy*/; ; . ' :>. ' v/Vf-v ' ' ' At tha :tima I oontaotad youfIv ;e?ooaf trring with Mr. tirl Lovick#-"of tha laonrad*o Libby, Montrua offloas, and wo.had tho.^oughly rarlawad all phajoa afvtha oano* In addition, ' wo had gona orar all-notorial proridod by tha Montana Stats" Board of Haalth,and tad YIsomssad .tha antlra situation with Mr* Banjam in F. Valestha, 8tr to Board's Chisf .^Industrial -.V-'.' Byglana Enginoar with .tha .DlriaionVef. Disc ass :'Control /.'v- '.v*::r~- As va vara of courts oar liar, avars-^through ...raports rural shad , lnaurad by tha Stats Board of. Hsal thi itho original plant laspantion nondaotad 'In 1950 ravaa.ad a dust probl a In .iha'r dry mill* At that.tlma hovarsr, tha asboatos eontant. of tha duat had not .boon dc tarminad. Through tha yaar*.;ho*rsrar, tha .plant lnapsotions did roToal "asbaatoa oontantatkd of ooursa tha paroantaga of suoh flbors found to axlst. ln-. th* .dust In tha mill did far oxoasd what * wars oouaidarod:to' boallowabls -oonoantratlons. . PLAINTIFFS EXHIBIT i WRG-186 Kjlaj rioontnda tione v*r# presented by the State Board, nd It vould ppear Insured gradually attempted to oerreot tba aituatlon. It *uat however further bo considered that It algbt appear to others that tbs aotloa taken by Insured to oorroot the altur.tloa vhloh vae presented, algbt cat to the unbiased observer, appefr to havo boon oltbor utmclp offsatire, or qulokly performed. ^ _____ State Board reoorda rereal that additional roooaaeadatloaa vers aade in 1959* and at that tla:> aotual dnat eeuaplee la the dry Bill bad revealed aa aabeatoa oontent, vhloh, vbllo not eztreuely aerere, vu, la tba vorda of tbo Board report "significant*. -- 2a 19o8, duct laaplaa rerealed a high aobee too oontaat, aad tbo Board'o oonoloiloaat that tine vore that "no progrooo .bad been made In reduolng dost oonoontratlono la tbo dry Bill to aa aooeptablo level, aad that Indeed the duet oonoentratlona bad beea laoreaeed substantially,...* Parther reoomasndatloas vere Bade relative to alleviation of tbo ----problem. In 1963* oonoentratlone again vere deteralned to be veil ic exoiia of "aooeptablo level*" aad at that tine the State Board recoocaended that "considerable effort should bo Bade Immediately to Improve the daat oontrol procedures at the plant to reduoe duatlnaas to an aooaptabla level".' .- X^V A ctudy of tba Information furnlebad by tba Statev-Beard vould tbarefora aita it appear that tba aabeatoa preblea haa azlatad oartalnly elnoe 1956,rnd generally vltb lnoreaalng severity, It does however aov appear that preventive aeasures have at least ooioasaoed baring effeot, and aooordlag ro Mr. Lorlok, it vould eeea that considerable strides have been made vitbln the laat ooupla of years. '^Nevertheless, ae I Informed you, I vould hesitate to allov In evldenoe the State Board reports If It lo possible to . keep the 1 oit of the hands of the Industrial.Aooident Board, and through It, the general publlo;' .-.v Vhlle I have not researched the problea, it baa even ocourred to that Insured' Inability to ourb the problen at the State Board's reoomsendatlone through the years, algbt be alleged at leaet to have constituted willful and vanton oonduot on its part, vltb vhatever ooapllostIona that particular obarga sight oarry vlth It.* Further, Hr. Loviok, for the first time, thought to sdvlst of certain studiss vbloh bar* been conducted by a local Radiologist slnos around 1963 or 196t, vbloh apparently have involved obtaining annual x-rays of all employees for study. The Information furnished by Mr. Loviok was to the effect that tbs'Radiologist was conrlnoed that a good many of the employees suffered from lung abnormalities / vhloh oould be tbe result of enoroaohlng asbeetosis. This Information of course appeared to me to be of extreme Importance, end ve made arrangement! to travel.to Vblteflsh, Montana immediately to lnterviev th> Radiologist. The party lovolred, Dr. VI11 lam Little, Informed me tbat..'hls studies most oertalnly did indloate there to be preeent a great deal of lung abnormalities among tbs insured's employees, far in excess of tbs psrcsntags one voiild find In examining tbe ordinary population, and be did In addition point out that the . ltuation was even more severe, vhen considering tbat be vai In general examining young, hearty male vork- men. Dr. Little stated that vi did Indeed have a severe problem, and tbat ve might expact a good many olalms involving asbeetosis, i. Ue did further lndloats however that in his view, tbs sortV rioint steps taken by tbe lneored to alleviate tbs problem " vers having their sffsot, In that It appeared to him from' hie eoit reoent studies, that a leaser percentage existed of new or previously non--d 1aooTered abnormalities, as veil as some decrease In tbe speed of 'the progrt es of the dis ease In those vorkerr suffering from It throughout tbe course of his etudieo. * ; d*. ** Ve might point' out tbet apparently the only persona awars'j'-i, of the. studies are .the Insured's officials, and Dr. Little*'. Again,;ae you ~nay ,veil realise, I vould much like to avoid having evldenoV presented by the opposing party vhlohrvomld*- reveal the extent and severity of the problem vl th'vbiotaj . ve are concerned. * Claimant Veloh had been eeployed in the warehouse situate In the yard at*the mill site einoe 1956, or from a tlmo.-. three years prior *to ' Mon tana * e adoption of the Industrial blesses Aot. In add 11 ion , . "aebe e toe l e " was not added as . .. a ooapensahle Industrial disease uutil 1965, -6- A you explained to me In our telephone conversation of Novtabir 22, 1967, you did not fool wo would bo in a position to obtain ouoh authority without thlo writton report, and I aa accordingly forwarding it to you at tho flrot opportunity, * I way oay that it now appoaro that oounool intondo at tho Hearing of Koroobtr 29, to ootablloh hio rooord through clalaant hlaoelf, ao wall aa othar oaployaaa who nay bo oxpeoted to teatify in gonoral tana aa to tho duot problem at tho aill, and aeat probably at othar pointa around tho preaiaoa. In addition, it appears that oounaal 1aa oubpoanaad insured's Safaty Enginsor, who wo would assume, la .oil awaro of tha aajor aapecti of onr problaa, and a good bit of damaging taatlBouy may gat into tha raoord at that tiaa. On tba othar band bovevar, I do not bollova oounacl intanda o attaapt at that tint to obtain raporta of tha Stata Board f Bealtb, and in fact. Hr, Svaaberg of the Induotrial Acoldant Board baa iodioated to aa that ha aay wall continue tha Bearing, resetting it in Helena at a later data to plok up tbio inf oruation. In this latter regard, I an now convinced that wo have a good arguaont with reaped to tha privileged cbaraoter of Stale Doard reports, through a provision included in tho Session Laws of 1967 relating to Stata Doard of Health records and information. Aa lndloatad on previous occasions however, I simply do not ..fool when considering tbs extant of the problem hero ^'presented, that we c<*n afford to antagonise the Industrial'-': Accident Board.I/ refusing to be at least ooaswhat oondid in making information available upon wtleb it aay make a reasonable deoisi-on, ' .'.7 - The question of relovancy now of courso prosonto dlfflcul ty, In that if dust froa tho aill is being exhausted in the yard area where the warehouse lo situate, the content of the dust at the dry mill may wall be oonalderod to relate directly to Mr. We lob's condition Even our own expert,., Dr. Oaoar Sender, would be forced to hold to thlo viow, were lie in faot examined. *VI. V ;tyw -7 It- la my foaling that va Bay attribute our preeant altua- tlon prlaarily to tbo fact that It appaara that no ena haa avar quite roallzed the extent of the problea whloh exlatn. Certainly Hr. Lovlok, vho baa been extreaely cooperative and helpful, felt that there vae not a contamination problea praaent at/any point other than ul the dry Bill ltaelf, and poeelbly at the loading and unloading hoppera. Now hoverer, we find that duat tram the alii ltaelf may fron tine to tlao penaeate the entire yard, and of courae It nay well be argued, and perhape with aoi e validity duo to the lnoorrectly placed exhauat, that the entire yard area say eubjeot workaen to vtoat Bight j be termed to be "lnjurfoua exposure". Hr. l*oviok doee .-* infora thatf ndj are *r ow available '-hioh will allow Boring . the exhauat, and correcting that p^artloular problea. 1 night point out that the Eadiologlet Involved, I)r. Little, did aentlon hla aaaaeaentat the percentage of vorkera preaeotlng lung abnormalltlea at the lneured'e plant, at coopered to a problea ouch aa alilooaia at a typical nine. Hla own explanation wae that generally In a Bine, the only persona direotly expoaed are the hard-rook ninera them-- aelvea, and .then only on thoae oocaalona when alllean dlo .Ida la exlatent In the ore, and be dlfferentii.tee that situation froa our own where the entire area nay froa tine t* o tlae * be permeated with Injurious - .V ; : . . duat. . t : ^. ir' I bellare It should be further pointed out that ve have r:.i/ no genuine guidelines' to i.a. let ua In approaohing this . . T.1' problea. Aa I undere tend froa.Information furnished by Hr. Lovlck, the Libby, Montana" Va niloulite-nine and plant may well be the only one-in /the world where an ldentioal altuation exists, and .'tile..he problea of asbestosli has bee.' eubjeot-to, oonsldenbli study, it has generally . V ` a Involved eitber'-aabeatoo miners, or peraona working vlth l- r\>; aabsatoa in aoas ooiasrclal fora, In our case, we are -7 concerned 'prlaarily*with -Treaoll te,' on extrenely ehort *7; . fiber aabeetos j,vbich`'cannot..be" uaed for oo&a>rolal. purposeaY.vl and which aacording'ly `haa: not'-f 1 gured In pravloua etudl es. Aa I informed you in our telephone conversation, It may be that 1 oan obtain a favorable deolalon in the Instant oaae on teohnlcall ties alone, however It would apptur that it will be necessary to expote'the entire altuation to the Industrial Accident Board,1 whose'records nay well be available to unions and the. general publIn. Hoot oertainl olalaant'a oounee 1 around ' tiie area'are going to be :wel l- ,'i-i awnre of the existence of:the problea if oil infornation ***:, la plaosd in evidenoe. r*< -6- Addl tlonal ly, when considering the aoet reoent developnsnts, It would appear to me that the Industrial Aooldent Doard might wall ignore teohnloalltlaa and determine tha Instant olalm to be ooapanaablat allowing us to tast its daoialon at tba Dietriot or Supreme Coart level. At the time I oontaoted oounael relative to a possible stay of tbe proceedings, X informed him that va might bs willing to oonslder some sort of oompromiss In order to avoid tha expense of proceeding farther* X asked if he had a figure of his own in mind, and was Informed that ha did not, and X am aooordlnglylunable to provide yon with any information to pass along oonoernlng possible oospromise and settlement* v->,?-i..?=?i;; . ' Wa will of eoursiie a dri a a -you^ef* a 11yd eTa1o paa a t s t'as r-thay, - :? oonar, and should yon wlshKtb'`diso'ass;"the matter ` further personally, X would appreolaietyour?oontaoting me by telephone. Xn this regard, X vl11 be in other Industrial aoeidant Bearings on Monday and Tuesday, November 27 25, however arrangements for such dlsousslon oan be made through my personal secretary, Hrs.-Klehm, should it be neoassary. y. : . I am at this time-/attf :blng~;statementsubmiited by. Dr. . Oscar TSandsr in the' si s<ef;s^50>.op7rand* request '.that draf tV- in payment be issued t nd ^fi. rrsrdsd ito this bfflor,:.in orde that vs aay parr or ally; thanlc.'the ;Dootor f or. bis asslstanos Sinosrsly, ' Dr. Sander's Sts . uati;,v CCi Mr. Robert Conley American Adjustnant Company Qraat falls, Montana 59*01 -''X/, (Vith-Enolosures as Listed Above)/' > c-3'-01.6160./ - ; i . * '/ V. V Noreaber 25# 1967 / .IH MAIL / {Aryltoit Casualty Company 1M5 East Anlcey Strati Portland, Oregon ATTENTION* John ilopLins . -4 Sat Tour Claim )!o 750 C 8*0 .Insured* .V.t.Oraca A Co. 1* -(Xdnolite Dlriaien) Claimantl LILAS D. VELCH v Foil* ft - H OOI598 2*ar Mr. Hopkins* 0h is will oonflrm our root.at telephone oorrraraatlon oaaoarnX tbs abowe matter. As I in.farmed you at that time,. ymrj raoaot developments in tbs oass seem tome to require that va re-assess our ova position, and as Mr.-Bobert Coni ay, of American Adjustasnt Ctorpany, wms not sraliaMt^v* o cm tan ted . you dirsot, and in iotordanos vith your suggestions, X am forwarding this roport to you; 'ui t .^cspy to Hr. Conlay. .* . . At the tine 2 oontao tod you, ' X ,-v it >ooaferring with Hr.Eirl Lovickof tba insured's Libby, Montrna offioos, and wo had tho.'oughly reviewed *11 phgjtes sf*ths ease. Xu addition, ' wo had gona orur air material provided by tba Montana Stats Board of Health,-and Lad Ylsousaad the antire situation with Hr. Banjaain F. Vales, tha BV to Board's Chief.Industrial C-; ` Byglens Engineer with .the-DivlslonVof.Disease ^'Control.' " `> >'.'.'*>*5v.-s:**. As wa vtra of course -earlier. aware-^through;:raports furnished. Insured by tha Stats Board of. Haal th, ithe original plan! ^ Inspection nonduotad in 1950 revea.d a dust probl a ln.the'v dry alii. At that, tins however, tba asbestos coolant of *'/ * tba dust had not bean dtterminal. ^Through tha ye are , her rarer, ths plant inspections did reveal asbestos oontsnt and of ooujros tha paroantaga of suob.flbsro found to axis t'. in.the .dust in ths sill did far azoaad what/"* ware considered to' be allowable concentrations. Hamj rtoeaendi 11 ooa vtra preaented by tba Stata board, od It vouId appear lmund gradually attempted to oorreot tbo situation. It mitt hoverar further bo ooneldered that It sight appear to otbort that the aotloa taken by lntored to' corroot the situr.tlon vfcloh vat presented, night cat t tho uobiatod observer, appoir to boro boon oltbor extremely offeotire, or qulokly performed. f Stato Board rooordt roroal that additional reooBmeadatloao wore aado in 1959. and at that tiai aotual daat snaplee in tho dry mill bad rtroalod an aabottoa ooatont. vb&eb, vbllo not extremely ttrart, vaa. la tho vordt of tbo Board roport "significant". In 19o8. dutt samples rtroalod a high aabootoo oonttot. tho Board's ooBolniloaat that time voro that "do progress . bad booa aado in roduolng dutt eenoontratlono la tba dry mill to an aooeptablt ltrol, and that lsdood tho dutt oonotntratlcat bad boon lnorcatod substantially... Partbor recommendations voro aado rolatlro to allorlatloa of tho ----- problta. In 1965. oonoentratlona again troro dottralnod to bo roll la zout of "aooeptable lortlt" and at that tin* tbt Stato Board recommended tbat "oontldorablo offort tbould bo aado immediately to laproro tbo daat oontrol prooodaroa at .tho , plant to roduoo duttlnooo to an aoooptablo ltrol". A rtudy of tbo Information furnltbtd by tbo Stato Board vou1d tboroforo mite It appoar that tbo aabottoa probloa hat axlatad oartalnly tlnot 1956,. -ijxd gactrally vltb lnortatlng severity, It doaa however aov apptar tbat pravantlro atasarea hart at least ooaatnotd haring effeot, and aooordlng -o Mr. Lorlok, It would ttta tbat ooaaldarablo ttrldta bare boon cada within tba laat oouplo of years. Jferertheleee, at I informed yon, X vouId fataltato to allow in evldenoo tbo Stato Board reporta If It la poaalblo to keep the 1 ort of the hando of tba Indnstrlal Aooldent BBooard , and through It. the general publlo;' * v*-'!.:-. < ;.i Vblle I bare not researched the probloa, It baa oran ocourred to at tbat lnourod'a Inability to oorb tba probloa at the State board'a reoomaendatlons through tba yaara, algbt be alleged at loaat to hare constituted willful wanton oonduot on ita port, with whatever ooapl1oatIona tbat particular oharga eight oarry with It. ! : -V Further, Mr. Lovlok, lor the first tine, thought to advice 9 of certain studies which have been conduoted by a local Radiologist elnoe around 1963 or 196k, wbioh apparently have Involved obtaining annual x-rays of all eaployeee for etudy. The information fumlobed by Mr, Lovlok va to tho effect that the' Radiologist wae convinoed that a good any of the eaployeee suffered froa lung abnormalities / vhloh oould be the result of enoroaohlng asbestosls. This Information of oourse appeared to ae to be of extreae Importance, and we aade arrangeaenta to travel to tfbltefieh, Montana isseedlately to interview th Radiologist. The party Involved, Dr. Vllllaa Little, informed ae thatchIs studios most oertalnly did lndloate there to be present a great deal of lung abnormalities among the insured's eaployeee, far in excess of the percentage one would find in examining the ordinary population, and he did In addition point out that the .ltuatlon was even more severe, when considering that he was in general examining young, hearty male work- Dr. Little stated that we did Indeed have a aevere problem, and that ve night expect a good many olalas Involving ashes tools. ^ Ue did further lndloate however that In his view, the aora i/ reoent steps taken by the insured to alleviate the problem;were having their effeot, in that it appeared to him froa * hie most reoent etudlee, that a leaser peroentage existed of new or previously non--diacovered abnormalities, as well as sobs decrease in the speed of 'the progr< as of the dis ease In those workerr suffering froa it throughont the course of his studies. t Ve night point, out that apparently the only persons aware '.-LS*. of the. etudles are ..the insured's offiolale, and Dr. Little. . :. Again,.-as you ~mmy',wa 11 realise, 1 would auoh like to avoid having evldenoe presented by the opposing party which; would,*.* reveal the extent and severity of tho problea wi th'wbiota: .-V* we are concerned. * '*. V: Claimant Veloh had been eeployed in Lbe warehouse siluale In the yard at1the Bill site elnoe.1936, or froa a tlae. three years prior to`Mon tana1e adoption of the Industrial Disease Aot. In addition, "aibeetoeis" wae not added as a ooapsnsabls Industrial .disease until 1963* - " -6- A you explained to In our telephone oonTereatlon of Kovteber 22, 1967, you did not feel ve vould be in e position to obtain euoh authority vlthout this written report, and 1 an accordingly forwarding It to you at the firet opportunity, J nay eay that It sov appeare that oouneel lntende at the Hearing of November 29, to establish his reoord through claimant htaeelf, as veil as other enployees vho nay be expected to testify in general tens as to the dust problem at the mill, and most probably at other points around the premises. In addition, it appears that oouneel las subpoenaed Insured's Safety Engineer, vho ve vould assume, la '.-ell avare of the major aspects of our problem, and a good bit of damaging * teatiBOuy may get into the reoord at that time. Op the other band however, I do not believe oouneel lntende iggho attempt at that time to obtain reports of the State Board Health, and In fact, Mr. Svanberg of the Industrial Accident tJoard has lndloated to me that be may veil continue the Bearing resetting it in Helena at a later date to piok up this Information. -h _ ' * In this latter regard, I am now convinced that ve have a good argumont with reaped to the privileged charaoter of State Board reports, through a provision included In the Session Lavs of 1967 relating to State Board of Health records and information. As lndloated on previous ocoasions howjver, I simply do not feel vben considering tbs sxtsnt of the problem herm ^'presented, that ve o^-n afford to antagonise the Ioduttrial . : Aocident Board 1/ refuting to be at least somevhat onndld `.V In making information available upon vtlcb it may make a reasonable deoleijon. ' * *'. >' ` The question of relevancy nov of course presents difficulty,.' in that if dust from the mill Is being exhausted in the yerd area vbere the warehouse ie situate, the content of the dust at the dry mill may veil be oonaldered to relate directly to Mr. Weloh's condition. Even our own expert,..' Dr. Osoar Sander, vould be foroed to hold to this viev, vero he in faot examined. Itr jf By f*mling that ve nay attribute our praaent altua- tlon prluarily to tba fact that It appears that oo eat llS avar quite realized the extant of iha problea vhloh axlatn. Certainly Hr. Lovlok, who baa baeo extreaaly cooperative and helpful, felt that there vaa sot a conto*1nation problea praaent at/any point other than at the dry alll lteelf, and poaalbly at the loading and unloading hoppere. Nov hoverer, ve find that duat froa tba alll itaalf may froa tine to tine peraeate tba entire yard, and of couria It nay veil be argued, and perhape vl tb aoi e validity due to the incorrectly plaoed exhauet, that tba eotlre yard area nay eubjeot vorkneo to vbat night be tamed to be "injurfoue zpoaure". Mr. l<oviok doea lnfom thatf *ndj are rov available ''blob will allow aorlug tba exhauat, and correcting that p.artloular problea. I night point out that the Eadlologlst Involved, I)r. Little did aantlon bla ajutsaaent*at the percentage of vorkara praaeotlng lung abnormalltlea at tba Insured's plant, aa compared to a problea aucb aa alllooala at a typical nine. Ilia own explanation vaa that generally In a sine, the only peraene direotly expoeed are the bard-rook alnere tbea- aelvea, and .tben only on tboao oocaelona when oilloan die .Ida le existent In tbi ore, and be differentl;.tee that situation froa our own vbare the entire area aay froa tinsv to tlae be paraeated with Injurious duat. I believe it should be - further pointed out that ve have no genuine guidelines' to .s. 1st ua In approaohlng this . problea. Aa I understand froa.Information furnished by Mr. Lovick, the Libby, Montana* Vaml oul 1 te - si na and plant aay veil be the only one- In the vorld where an ldontioal situation exists, and -'ille.be problea of aebestoals has bee1 subjeot.to, considerable study, It hoe generally . . Involved .# 1 ther'-asbee toe miners, or persons working with ; ' aabastoa In eons boaaerclal fori. In our caia, ve are ' X concerned prlamri ly` vi tb 'Treaoll te,' an extremely short .* .fiber aabastoa ,vb 1 cb cannot..be' used for oofs&t*roial. purposes' and vhleh . .aa..c:o*r.din. g'ly `has. .not' figured , in pravloue studies."' . -.%* . -* Ae Z informed you In our telephone oonvereation. It say be that X ean obtain a favorable deoleloo In tits Instant otn . on teohnlcalltlaa alone, however ll would appear that it will be necessary to expoie'the antlre situation to tho Industrial Accident Doard , 1 whose ' records nay veil be available to unions and the ganera1 publ!c. Moat oertalnly olalaant's oounaa 1 around "the areas re going tobe-ve 11- ij.r avnre of the exletenoe of; the problea If nil 1 nf ornat 1 onr`"r laplooedlnevldenoe. Additionally, vbtn considering the *t reoent developDiot>, it would appear to me that the Industrial Aooldtnt Board might vail ignore taohaloalities and determine the Instant olalm to be oompenssble, allowing ue to test Its deoiaion at the Oistriot or Supreme Coart level. At the time I oontaoted oeunsel relative to a possible stay of tbs proceedings, I informed him that ve might be willing to oonsldsr some sort of oonpromlse In order to avoid the expense of proceeding farther, X asked if he hud a figure of his own in mind,.and was informed that he did not, and .1 am aooord log loanable to provide you with any information to pass along oonoerning possible ooapromise and settlement. ... v-r '.j...;/ . * Ve will of course advviisi e ' you?.efvall;derelopnsnte r as ' they ..V. oocur, and should yoa wlshrto *disoiass:'the matter * further personally, 1 would appreolaie*your'oontaoting me by telephone. In this regard, I will be in other industrial aocident Bearings on Monday and Tuesday, November 27 and 25, however arrangements for euoh disoussion oan be made through my personal neoessory. secretary, Mrs. KV..>le7% ha, should it be I am at this time /attf :hlng*istatenent suhmiited by. Dr. . Oscar ^Sander in the' si a'-ef ^^OvOO^rat^ Teqaes t -that; draf t;V' in payment he issued i nd 'fi rrarded^to this offior, in order that we aay perr or jl ly; thank .^the ; Dootor f or. hi a assistanos, " **? Sinoerely, .. Dr. Sander'a'Sts *. 'lent^.vv CCi Mr. Robert Conley , .'.American Adjustnent Company Qreat falls, Montana 59*01 'I'-.v. (Vlth-Enclosures as Listed Above)/' j ;;'-V^Tours.rilei^ -1 C.3*-Ol6l60 :/v... -rVV- /*; '/