Document KReDqVgxR0zgaQaxprx4Ng89K

FILE NAME: BF Goodrich (BFG) DATE: 1998 Feb 19 DOC#: BFG041 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Legal - Deposition ofWilliam McCormick Pt 1 1 1 IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS 2 CUYAHOGA COUNTY, OHIO 3 ASBESTOS LITIGATION DOCKET 4 IN RE: NORTHERN OHIO TIREWORKER CASES 5 BEVAN GROUP 2 6 DONNA GRAMLEY, Executrix, CASE NO. 291275 7 Plaintiff. 8 JUDGE HANNA 9 10 Videotaped deposition of WILLIAM M c C O R M I C K , 11 taken as if upon cross-examination before Jodi 12 L. Bragg, a Notary Public within and for the 13 State of Ohio, at the Bevan Professional 14 Building, 10360 Northfield Road, Northfield, 15 Ohio, at 9:40 a.m. on Thursday, February 19, 16 1998, pursuant to notice and/or stipulations of 17 counsel, on behalf of the Plaintiff in this 18 cause. 19 20 MEHLER & HAGESTROM 2 1 Cour t Reporters 1015 Key Building 22 Akron , Ohio 44308 330 .535.7300 23 FAX 535.0050 800 .526.7100 24 25 27 1 Mr. McCormick? 2 A. N o . 3 Q. Have you ever been? 4 A. N o . 5 Q. 6 7 A. Okay. At B.F. Goodrich while you were there - and I believe you said you started in 1946? Correct. 8 Q. Okay. When you started there, what was your job 9 at the start? 10 A. I was employed as manager of industrial hygiene 11 and toxicology. 12 Q. Okay. Was there a manager of industrial hygiene 13 and toxicology before you? 14 A. N o . 15 Q. You were the first? 16 A. Y e s . 17 Q. Was there an industrial hygiene department 18 before you were employed at Goodrich in 1946? 19 A. N o . 20 Q. You established the department? 21 A . Correct. 22 Q. And when you established the department were 23 there other people who worked in the department 24 with you at the time that you first came to work 25 there? 28 1 A. I acquired a secretary initially. That was all. 2 Q. What was her name? 3 A. Now you tax my memory. That was 50 years ago. 4 Q. You don't recall? Well, think about it for a 5 6 A. 7 8 9 Q. minute. I think, I think her name is Vera Custer, I believe, but I -- I think she's remarried. I don't know what it is now. I take it you don't keep in touch with her? 10 A . N o , I d o n 't . 11 Q. When is the last time you've seen her? 12 A. Years, years ago. 13 Q. Okay. So you worked from 1946 to 1973, if I'm 14 not mistaken -- 15 A . C o r r e c t . 16 Q. - - a t Goodrich? Okay. 17 And between 1946 and 1950, let's say, what 18 were your primary responsibilities there at 19 Goodrich? 20 A. Well, they were quite wide and varied. I was a 21 part of the corporate medical division. My boss 22 was a medical director of the company. 23 Q. And who was that? 24 A. Dr. Rex H. Wilson. 25 Q . O k a y . 34 1 Q. So it would be a, a sort of a standard set by a 2 company to -- 3 A . Yes. 4 Q. - - t o the supplier? 5 A . Correct. 6 Q. Okay. And did you become involved in your 7 tenure at Goodrich in a number of specifications 8 for a number of different compounds, let's say, 9 or materials, that's a better word? 10 A . Yes. 11 Q. Okay. To your knowledge, were you ever involved 12 in writing a specification for zero asbestos 13 content in talc/soapstone at B.F. Goodrich 14 Company? 15 A. That was not a part of the specifications, as 16 far as I r e c a l l . 17 Q. Okay. Do you know whether or not there ever 18 became, came a time when there was a 19 specification written for zero asbestos content 2 0 in talc/soapstone for B.F., B.F. Goodrich 2 1 Company? 22 A. Not so far as I am aware when I was -- not 23 during my tenure. 24 Q. Okay. During your tenure, were you aware or can 25 you testify as to whether or not there was talc, 3 9 1 2 (Thereupon, Plaintiff's Exhibit 6 3 was marked for purposes of identification.) 4 5 Q. 6 7 Now, that's Plaintiff's Exhibit 6, Mr. McCormick. I'll represent to you that that document was provided to us through discovery 8 over the years from B.F. Goodrich Company. 9 MR. SCHUSTER: Objection. Move to 10 strike. 11 Q. Now, I want you to take a look at that. 12 A. Yes. 13 Q. Do you see it now? 14 A. Yes. 15 Q. Have you ever seen that document before? 16 A. I don't believe so. 17 Q. Have you ever seen a document like its format 18 before when you worked at B.F. Goodrich Company? 19 A. I don't recall. 20 Q. Now the contents of that document indicate that 21 B.F. Goodrich Company, on the date that - 22 that's June 11, 1980 -- discontinued the use of 23 Southern Talc talc at B.F. Goodrich Company, 24 correct ? 25 A. Uh-huh. 40 1 Q. Why? 2 A. Well, I think it says tremolite. It contained 3 tremolite. 4 Q. Okay. And what is tremolite? 5 A . It's a special variety of talc. 6 Q. Isn't tremolite recognized by the U. S . EPA as a 7 8 A. variety of asbestos? No . 9 Q. It's n ot? 10 A. As far as I know, it is not. It is special. It 11 is recognized specially, different from normal 12 talc. 13 Q. Okay. That's your understanding of it? 14 A. Y e s . 15 Q. Okay, fine. And you've already - 16 A. And incidentally, that specification for 17 requiring the absence of tremolite was generated 18 by Bill McCormick soon after he came to the 19 company. 20 Q. Really? 21 A . Yes . 22 Q. Is there any record of that anywhere, that you 23 know of? 24 A . I d o n 't k n o w . 25 Q. Okay. And why would that have been? 41 1 A. I was familiar with the hazards of tremolite 2 talc. 3 Q. What are those hazards? 4 A. Well, it, it, it produces pulmonary damage 5 6 7 Q. 8 A. 9 Q. similar, similar, I might add, somewhac similar to asbestosis, but different from. Okay. And how is it different? I don't know that. Then how can you testify that it's different if 10 you don't know? 11 A. Well, all I know is what I read in the 12 literature. I know it's been recorded that way. 13 Q . Where ? 14 A. Where? 15 Q. Uh-huh. 16 A. In the reports that came out primarily from the 17 New York, New York Department of Labor. 18 Q. Can you give me a specific one? 19 A. I think this was probably in the '40s or '50s. 2 0 They were publications by the New York 21 Department of Labor. 2 2 Q. Okay. So your testimony is that in the '40s or 23 '50s there were publications by the U.S. 24 Department of Labor cautioning about the 2 5 possible -- 42 1 A. The New York Department of Labor. 2 Q. I'm sorry, the New York Department of Labor 3 cautioning about the possible health hazards to 4 human beings from exposure to tremolitic talc? 5 A . I believe s o . 6 Q. Okay. So that you knew that when you worked at 7 B .F . Goodrich? 8 A . I did. 9 Q. Okay. Did you attend the proceedings of the 10 symposium on talc held in Washington D.C. on May 11 8th, 1973? 12 A. I don't believe so. 13 Q. Did you ever read a publication derived from 14 that proceeding? 15 A. What was the date of that? I'm sorry. 16 Q . May 8th, 1973. 17 A. I was no longer with the company. 18 Q. Well, that's not what I asked you. What I asked 19 you was whether you attended that - 20 A. Well, and answer is no, I did not because I was 21 no longer with the company. 22 Q. Okay. Well, you weren't with the company, but 23 you were still involved in industrial hygiene, 24 were you not? 25 A. Not professionally. I was administratively when 67 1 Q. There was also a code number for a variety of 2 forms of asbestos, were there not? 3 A. For what? 4 Q . Asbestos. 5 A. Well, we didn't use asbestos, as I said before, 6 except in this one location. 7 Q. 8 A. 9 Q. Okay. Do you know Mr. Born, J.W. Born? W h a t 's the first name? I think i t 's John, but the initials are J.W. 10 A. Yes, I knew a John Born. In fact, he came to 11 work for me about a year before I left the 12 company. 13 Q. In the industrial hygiene department? 14 A. Yes. He came out of Brecksville. 15 Q. Okay. So was he an industrial hygienist? 16 A. Not really, no. 17 Q. You left in April of '73, correct? 18 A. Yes. 19 Q. Before I get into these next series of 20 questions, I want to ask you something that's of 2 1 interest to me, and that is, you attended the 22 Seventh Saranac Symposium, d i d n 't you? 23 A. I don't know if it was the seventh. I attended 24 some symposiums at Saranac. 25 Q. Well, we better mark this then. 68 1 A. When was it held? 2 Q. 3 Let me mark that . 4 (Thereupon, Plaintiff's Exhibit 8 5 6 7 Q. 8 A. 9 Q. was marked for purposes of identification.) Take a look at that, please. Well, my name's on here. I obviously did. Do you remember being at Saranac Lake? 10 A. Yes. 11 Q. Okay. 12 A. A number of times. 13 Q. Okay. What -- if you remember, when was the 14 first time that you attended Saranac Lake? 15 A. That I don't really remember. 16 Q. All right. Do you remember what the subjects of 17 your, of the, of the seminars or symposiums were 18 that you recall when you went to Saranac Lake? 19 A. Only, only generally. I don't recall what the 20 subject of this one was. 2 1 Generally, the symposiums were around the 22 general subjects of silicosis because that, that 23 was their expertise at Saranac. 24 Q . U h -h u h . 25 A. Maybe to some degree asbestosis, although that 69 1 wasn't their primary interest. 2 Q. Okay. Do you recall talking to, for example, 3 Dr. Scheepers? 4 A. I didn't know Scheepers. I knew Dr. Gardener. 5 Q. How about Dr. VorWald? 6 A. I knew Vorwald. 7 Q. 8 Okay. And do you know what their general expertise was? 9 A. Well, Gardener and VorWald were recognized 10 experts in the field of experimental silicosis. 11 Q. What about their knowledge, if you know, as to 12 the carcinogenity of asbestos in human beings? 13 You know what the word carcinogenity means, of 14 course? 15 A. So far as I'm aware, they did not have any 16 knowledge in that area. If they did, it, it was 17 not made public. 18 Q. Okay. At least to your knowledge? 19 A. To my knowledge. 20 Q. Okay. I want to go back to this: Was asbestos, 2 1 raw asbestos, used in the mill room? 22 A. N o . 23 Q. Building 23-A? 24 A . No . 25 MR. E C O N O M U S : Yeah, I'll s t a p l e it 77 1 A. Q. No, not really. Okay. So if, if I told you that curing presses 3 at B.F. Goodrich Company during the time you 4 worked there manufactured by NRM, okay, had 5 6 7 A. platen insulators that contained asbestos, could you dispute that? I'd ask you to prove that they contained 8 asbestos. 9 Q. Well, I, I can do that. 10 A. Because I, I do not know. 11 Q. Okay. 12 A. To my knowledge, they did not. 13 Q. Yeah, but what I'm trying to do is test your 14 knowledge -- 15 A. Uh-huh. 16 Q. -- and, and get behind what you base your 17 knowledge upon and, and specifically I need to 18 know whether or not you ever took the time to, 19 to look at the NRM specifications or the McNeil 20 specifications to determine how those presses 2 1 were manufactured and whether or not they 22 contained asbestos components. Did you do that? 23 A . No . 24 Q. Okay. Did you ever read a publication entitled, 25 Cancer in the Rubber Industry, the Risks? 85 1 company, right around the time you left the 2 company? 3 A . Yes, correct. 4 Q. Okay. And, and up to that time who was 6 7 8 A. 9 Q. responsible at B F . Goodrich -- up to that time, who was responsible at B.F. Goodrich for the health and safety of the, of the workers? The medical division. Okay. Did that include you? 10 A . Y e s . 11 12 (Thereupon, Plaintiff's Exhibit 10 13 was marked for purposes of identification.) 14 15 A. Okay. 16 Q. Okay. That's a letter -- actually, it's a copy 17 of a letter, July 13, 1996, to Mr. Harold 18 Wareham from Mr. Robert Modrell, and he worked 19 for you at the time, correct? 20 A . Y e s . 2 1 Q. And according to this letter, you are carbon 22 copied on, on this letter? 23 A. Yes. 24 Q. Okay. Now, do you recall ever having seen it? 25 A. Well, I'm sure I did. 94 1 containing materials in the power plant? 2 A. N o . 3 Q. Well, you're not aware of any? 4 A. N o . 5 Q. 6 A. 7 Q. Are you saying that there, there wasn't any? I'm not aware of any. And did you ever as an industrial hygienist at 8 Goodrich do a study of the power plant to 9 determine whether there is asbestos containing 10 materials there? 11 A . Did n o t . 12 Q. Okay. So you don't know the difference or do 13 you know the difference between what a pipe 14 fitter and an, and an insulator did at Goodrich 15 during the time you worked there? 16 A. I have, I don't know. I suppose their jobs were 17 very carefully defined, but I don't know. 18 Q. Okay. To your knowledge, were either pipe 19 fitters or insulators at Goodrich during the 20 time that you worked there regularly exposed to 2 1 asbestos containing materials? 22 A. Not that I'm aware of. 23 Q. Okay. And what do you base that statement on? 24 A. Well, again, just based on overall general 25 knowledge.