Document Qk83d4azq7OOxgmOwjQr309a4

T. Marmor Page 181 1 I guess I would say three things. -One, they 2 offer help with testing, dust levels. Two, 3 they provided-further information about the 4 risks of asbestos exposure and means of 5 controlling Itv And third, they seem very 6 active in urging their customers to pay special 7 attention to-ihe dustexposore that their 8 workers-b'aVe because-they have included: 9 information: here that should make someone be 10 concerned.' 11 Q. Okay. 12 A. And this goes on again and again 13 and again-for:some-90:some examples and by the 14 time'you.'rfe through with 90 examples of the 15 same sort-of theme,-It's not as complicated as 16 you suggested. If they differ in their-views; " 17 thereivouldbe a problem. It's like a standard 18 operating-procedure. That's the-way they went 19 about doing business. 20 Q. What is that standard operating 21 procedure?- r. : 22 A. That you have toshow to your 23 customers when there is a lot of discussion 24 about the dangers ofasbestos partly in-the 25 wake of OSBA; partly in the wake of EPA, you Page 183 1 Carbide, I'm going to use the term warn, warned 2 its customers of the dangers of asbestos and 3 suggested to its customers that if they 4 followed certain controls and precautions, they 5 can minimize that danger? 6 A. They can reduce that danger. 7 Q. Reduce that danger? 8 A. Reduce that danger to levels 9 which at the time given the understandings were 10 once that were reasonable. 11 Qi Do you know if Union Carbide's 12 customers ever passed that information on to 13 their customers? 14 A. 1 don't-know that. 15 Q. Would that be something you'd'be 16 interested in knowing?' 17 A. Well, it would widen the sort of 18 things that I would have to look into and I 19 don't know how I would get those documents 20 frankly. It's not something that 1 have 21 studied enough to have an opinion about and the 22 question is if I couldhave the information, I 23 could weigh one against the other. 24 I would certainly be curious 25 about whether this was passed-oh or not; And Page 182 1 can't possibly persuade your customers that 2 this is a Safe product unless you make some 3 effort to describe to- them how to-makeit safe 4 for their workers; So'as a-business^ ' 5 proposltion, not as a high-minded proposition. 6 as a simple business proposition, they faced a 7 lot of c'oiicCrn and fear in the contextof -the . 8 1970's. - - 9 Secondly, having faced that they operatedln- waysconsistent with the way they 11 behaved; before. l- think the most important 12 Standard-Operating proceduresisthis Is a 13 chemical company. -A lot of what they produced 14 is dangerous. Sotheyneedareputationfdr 15 being responsible, otherwise their customers 16 are going to be fearful. 17 What I mean by standard operating 18 procedure is precisely that; what ordinary 19 routine actions do you take to keep your 20 customers believing thatyou are the kind of ' 21 outfit that takes into account the 22 circumstances in which they might be facing 23 trouble, either health effects on the workers 24 or legal liability. 25 Q. ; Is it your opinion that Union Page 184 1 therefore, what the link in the chain -- what 2 was the final link in the chain that was or- was 3 not connected. 4 Q. The simple answer is you don't 5 know? 6 A. I don't know. 7 Q. You've never asked Carbide for 8 that information? 9 A. I didn't pose that question. I 10 asked once aboutwas there any evidence that 11 these companies neglected the stopping or took 12 a dim view of safety concerns arid the only one 13 I can come to there is they wouldn't be writing 14 letters Union Carbide asking if there had been 15 some attention, bnt I couldn't speak about the 16 universe of the customers. I only know about 17 the letters asking for more information. 18 Q. Who-are they? 19 A. They're in the 90 reports. 20 Q. You say you asked the question. 21 You asked the question to yourself as an 22 intellectual exercise; you didn't ask anyone at 23 Carbide that question or your lawyers? 24 A. I was curious myself, but not for 25 purposes of having an expert opinion. So I 46 (Pages 181 to 184) POHLMAN REPORTING COMPANY (314)421-0099