Document Rjv2eyeJBy99exBnM4DXdQvyn

PLAINTIFF'S . EXHIBIT l &M1 Deposition of James R. Hurd taken on February.27, 1987, in Decker v. Armstrong World Industries, Inc., No. 86-2385-D in the 95th Judicial District Court of Dallas County, Texas, along with all exhibits thereto JAMES R. HURD 1 1 No. 86-2385-D 2 3 NETA DECKER, AS PERSONAL } IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ) 4 ESTATE AND SURVIVORS OF ) JAMES DECKER, DECEASED ) 5) VS . ) DALLAS COUNTY, TEXAS 6) ARMSTRONG WORLD ) 7 INDUSTRIES, INC., ET AL. ) 9 5 TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT 8 9 10 * * * * 1 1 ORAL DEPOSITION 1 2 OF 1 3 JAMES R. HURD 1 4 ****** 15 1 6 ANSWERS AND DEPOSITION OF JAMES R. HURD, 1 7 produced as a witness at the instance of the 1 8 Plaintiff, taken in the above-styled and numbered 1 9 cause on the 27th day of February 1987, at 9:30 20 a.*., before Antonice J. Ruesch, Certified Shorthand 2 1 Reporter and Notary Public in and for the State of 22 Texas, at the offices of Hughes & Luce, 1000 Dallas 2 3 Building, in the City of Dallas, County of Dallas, 24 State of Texas, in accordance with the Notice Issued 2 5 and the agreement hereinafter set forth. ________________________________________________flBQDPV PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 a6 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 JAMES R. HURD APPEARANCES 2 MR. FREDERICK M. BARON Baron & Budd Suite 1000 8333 Douglas Avenue Dallas, Texas 75225 FOR THE PLAINTIFF MR. R. DOAK BISHOP Hughes & Luce 1000 Dallas Building Commerce and St. Paul Dallas, Texas 75201 FOR THE DEFENDANT GEORGIA-PACIFIC MR. SCOTT A. HENDERSON Smith, Smith and Smith 810 South St. Paul at Cadiz Dallas, Texas 75201 FOR THE DEFENDANT SYNKOLOID MS. JENNIFER JUDIN DeHay & Blanchard 2500 South Tower, LB 114 Dallas, Texas 75201-2880 FOR THE DEFENDANT THE WELLINGTON GROUP PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS 1" JAMES R. HURD 3 1 INDEX 2 PAGE 3 Exam ina tion by Mr. Baron 6 4 5 DEPOSITION 6 EXHIBIT NOS . EXHIBITS DESCRIPTION PAGE MARKED 71 8 Letter from J. R. Robert J. Udavcak May 20, 1977 Hurd to dated 39 92 10 Intracompany memo from 0. E. Burch to G. E. Wilson dated May 17, 1974 44 11 3 12 Intracompany Memo from J. R. Hurd to W. A, Nalbone dated June 7, 1974 54 13 4 14 Letter from Albert William Hunt dated September 15, 1971 Fay to 61 15 5 16 6 17 18 7 19 20 Letter addressed to Albert H. Fay dated September 17, 1971 Letter from Albert Fay to W. H. Hunt dated September 197 1 24, Minutes of the Safety Committee Meeting, Marriott Motor Hotel, Saddle Brook, New Jersey, dated September 19, 1967 63 63 69 21 22 23 24 25 PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS , TEXAS I 1' JAMES R. HURD 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 AGREEMENT It is hereby agreed by and between the parties hereto, through their attorneys appearing herein, that the Plaintiff may take the deposition of JAMES R. HURD at this time without the service of Notice of time of taking said deposition, said deposition being taken with the same force and effect as though all requirements of the Rules and Statutes had been fully complied with. It is further agreed by and between the parties hereto, through their attorneys appearing herein, that any and all objections to any question or answer contained herein, except objections to the form of questions and the nonresponsiveness of answers, which objections shall be made at the time of the taking of the deposition, may be made upon the offering of this deposition in evidence upon the trial of this cause with the same force and effect as though the witness were present in person and testifying from the witness stand. It is further agreed by and between the parties hereto, through their attorneys appearing herein, that this deposition may be signed before any Notary Public and thereafter returned into court PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS i JAMES R. HURD 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 and used uopn the trial of this cause with the same force and effect as though all requirements of the Rules and Statutes with reference to signature and return had been fully complied with. It is further agreed by and between the parties hereto, through their respective attorneys appearing herein, that if this deposition is not signed and filed prior to any hearing in this case that an unsigned but certified copy may be used for all purposes as though signed by said witness. PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS 1 JAMES R. -HURD 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "^8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 ,2 5 JAMES R. HURD, the witness hereinbefore named, being first duly cautioned and sworn to testify the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, testified on his oath as follows: EXAMINATION BARON Q - State your name for'the record, please. A . James R. Hurd, H-u-r-d. Q Mr . Hurd, your present address? A . Present address is 2081 Hamp ton Trail in Conyers, Georgia. Q. Conyers, Georgia, pretty town. Mr. Hurd, my name is Fred Baron. I represent a woman by the name of Neta Decker who is a plaintiff in a lawsuit against Georgia-Pacific and others which is pending here in state court in Dallas, Texas. I'm going to be asking you some questions today about facts that we think might be relevant to that case. I any time you do not understand my question, I want to be sure that you stop me, so that I can try to rephrase it to be sure we are communicating. That way I'll know that every answer that you've given me on the record is a correct answer to the question that I've asked. All right, sir? PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS 1 JAMES R. HURD 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 A . Yes , sir. Q. Also, as I tell most witnesses, the court reporter is taking everything that you say down and so you have to make an audible response. She doesn't pick up the rattle when you nod your head. All right, sir? A . Yes, sir. (At this time, Mr. Henderson entered the deposition room.} {Discussion off the record.} Q emp1oyed ? Mr . Hurd, how are you presently A . I ' m presently employed -- Q Or are you presently employed? A . Yes, I am . Q. looked? A. Okay . At least the last time you I may not be when I get back. MR. BISHOP: Note on the record that was a joke. Q. How are you presently employed? A. I'm employed by Georgia-Pacific as the personnel and safety manager of the Gypsum Roofing PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS 1' JAMES R. HURD 8 '1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Division. Q. And how long have you been personnel and safety manager of the Gypsum Division? A. Since January 1, 1974. Q. How long have you been with Georgia-Pacific Corporation? A. I was employed by Georgia-Pacific on August 1, 1967. Q. And prior to going to work for Georgia-Pacific, where were you employed? A. I was employed with Continental Can Company. Q. And what was your job title with Continental Can? A. I was a personnel manager for one of their folding carton plants. Q. For a folding carton plant? A . Yes, sir. Q. And how long were employed by Continental Can? A. For about 13 and a half years. Q. So that have been about 1953,'54? A. Yes, in that time frame. Q. And prior tc going to work for Continental Can Corporation in 1953 or '54, by whom PRITCHETT a ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS I i" JAMES R. HURD 9 1 were you employed? 2 A. I worked for -- boy -- It was an 3 appliance -- an appliance -- just a distribution 4 store. 5 Q. Sales-type job? 6 A. Sales and store manager. 7 Q. Mr. Hurd, have you had college training? 8 A . No, sir. 9 Q. So you are a high school graduate? 1 0 A . Yes, sir. 1 1 Q. And where did you go to school? Are you 1 2 a Georgia boy? 1 3 A. No, I'm from northern Wisconsin -- 1 4 Hammond, Wisconsin. That's where I was born and 1 5 raised. 1 6 Q. Beautiful city, as well. And what year 1 7 did you conclude high school? 1 8 A . 1950 . 19 Q. So your job, then, right out of high 20 school would have been in the sales business with 2 1 the supplies distributor? 22 A. No. I went into the military right out 2 3 of school. 2 4 Q. And following the military, then, did 2 5 you get in with the appliance distributing company? PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS 1' JAMES R. HURD 10 1 A. No. I sold mens' clothing for a couple 2 of years before I went with the appliance store. 3 Q. And apparently you worked for them for a 4 very short period of time? 5 A. Very short period of time. 6 Q. And then went to work for Continental 7 Can? 8 A . Yes , sir. 9 Q. What was your first job with Continental 1 0 Can? 1 1 A. I worked as an assistant to the planning 1 2 coordinator. 1 3 Q. What type of job was that? 1 4 A . Schedu1ing. 1 5 Q. Scheduling? 1 6 A. Scheduling work in the plant. 1 7 Q. And when did you become the personnel 1 8 manager? 1 9 A. I went from the planning assistant into 20 quality control and was a quality control supervisor 2 1 for about six years before I got involved in 2 2 personnel wo r k. 2 3 Q. All right. Quality control for 24 Continental Can was what type of a job? What did 2 5 you have to do? PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS l JAMES R.-HURD 11 1 A. I was in charge of their quality program 2 for the manufacturing of folding cartons. 3 Q. Made sure that the cartons were what 4 they weresupposed to be? 5 A . Yes, sir. 6 Q. And you became personnel manager 7 following about six years of doing that; is that 8 right, sir? 9 A . Yes, sir. 1 0 Q. What were your jobs as personnel manager 1 1 for Continental Can? 1 2 A. I was the employment supervisor, and 1 3 this was in Elkhart, Indiana. 1 4 Q. You hired and fired people? 1 5 A . Yes, sir. 1 6 Q. Was this for the national organization 1 7 of Continental Can or just for that one facility? 1 8 A . Just for that one facility. 1 9 Q. How many people were employed there? 2 0 A . Approximately 600. 2 1 Q And you left Continental Can in 1967, 22 2 3 A . Yes , sir. 2 4 Q Why did you 1eave the company? 2 5 A . I left the company in order to achieve a PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS ir i JAMES R. HURD 12 1 2 *~^~3 14 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 16 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 promotional opportunity that was available at that 11 me . Q. You started working for Georgia-Pacific August 1 of '67? A. Yes . Q. What was your first job with Georgia-Pacific? A. I was personnel manager at a plant in Aurora, Illinois. Q. What type of a plant was it in Aurora? A. Folding carton plant. Q. The same thing you had done with Continental Can? A . Yes, sir. Q. And what were your job duties as personnel manager at the folding carton plant in Aurora? A. I was in charge of all of the personnel and safety activity for that location. Q. When you say "safety," what are you re fer ring to? A. Well, programs that will protect the health and welfare of the employees and are consistent with the rules and regulations of OSHA, Q. Prior to coming to work for PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS I JAMES R. HURD 13 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Georgia-Pacific, had you had any specialized training in safety programs? A. I had gone to take personnel management and management courses at Purdue University. Q. That was in personnel management, though, wasn't it? A. Q. safety? Yes, sir. What about in safety or in health and A. That was part of the program at Purdue. Q. In other words, they emphasized that a good work force is one that's healthy, I take it, and that was probably part of your job? A. It was part of the curriculum in the personnel management training. Q. How long did you stay as the personnel manager at the Aurora plant? A. Approximately -- it was about two and a half, three years. Q. And what position did you take after that ? A. I was plant manager of that facility. Q. As plant manager of the Aurora facility, what were your job responsibi1ities? A. The P & L of the plant. PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS J JAMES R. HURD 14 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Q. The P & L? Profit and loss? A. Yes, sir. Q. In other words, you were the person in charge of making sure it made money? A. Yes, sir. Q. How long did you stay as plant manager of the Aurora plant? A. I was plant manager about four and a ha 1f years. Q. ' 73? That would put it up to about 1972? A . ' 73 . Q. And what position did you take following your position as plant manager of the Aurora corrugated box plant? A. Correction. It wasn't corrugated. Fo1ding box. Q. Folding box, excuse me. I'm sorry. A. If you walk into a supermarket, and all of those bright colored packages that you see that you buy your cereal in, those are folding cartons, not to be confused with the corrugated industry. Q. In other words, that's what we buy our Wheaties in is a folded box as opposed to corrugated box? PRITCHETT $ ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS 1' JAMES R. HURD 15 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 \2 5 A . Right. Q. All right. So following your departure as plant manager of the folding box plant in 1973, what job did you take? A. I went into the job I currently have. Q. Which is personnel and safety manager for Georgia-Pacific? A. Yes, sir. Q. Is that corporatewide? A. No, sir. Q. For what parts ofGeorgia-Pacific? A. Strictly for the Gypsum and Roofing Division of Georgia-Pacific. Q. Georgia-Pacific is headquartered in Atlanta, is it not? A. Ves, it is. Q. And how manydivisions does Georgia-Pacific have? A. I'm not sure. Q. Gypsum is one of divisions, is it not? A. Yes, sir. Q. Do you know how many different divisions they have, approximately? Is it more than three or four? A. Yeah, there's -- again, I can only take PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS 1' JAMES R. HURD 16 1 a guess, but there's a number of them. There's more 2 than four. I would have to go back and count. 3 Q. Do these involve the various operating 4 businesses of Georgia-Pacific -- 5 A . Yes. 6 Q. -- each division? About how many people 7 work in the Gypsum Division, or at least how many 8 people worked in the Gypsum Division when you 9 started with them in '73? 1 0 A. We have currently about -- I guess 1 2 there's between 1600 and 2,000. 1 2 Q . About 2,000? 1 3 A. And that hasn't changed substantia 11y 1 4 since I've been there. 1 5 Q. So the Gypsum Division has about 2,000 1 6 or so people? 1 7 A . Yes, sir. 1 8 Q. How many people are employed by 1 9 Georgia-Pacific now, just as an overall corporation, 20 approximately, ballpark figure? 21 A. Oh, shoot. I'd hesitate to guess. I'm 2 2 just not sure. 23 Q. Are we talking about 10,000? 20,000? 2 4 100,000? 2 5 MR. BISHOP: If you know, __________________________ _____________ __________________________________ _____________________ I PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS I JAMES R. HURD 17 1 tell him, but don't guess. 2 A . I don't know. 3 Q . Let me just ask you, is it in excess of 4 10,000 people? 5 A . Yes , sir. 6 Q. Is it in excess of, say, 20,000? 7 A . I'm going to make an assumption i f I 8 say, and I just -- no, I don't know. I have not 9 read the latest. To Q Is it in excess of 50,000, or is that 11 out of the ballpark? 1 2 A . I don't know. 1 3 Q . You don't have any idea whether i t 1 s 1 4 20,000 o r 50,000 or 100,000? 1 5 A . I just would be -- I'd hesitate t o gues s 1 6 at it. No , I don 1 t know. 1 7 Q Okay. To whom do you report? 1 8 A . I report to Mr. Glen Wilson. 1 9 Q. And what is Mr. Wilson's title? 20 A. He is the senior vice-president of our 2 1 division. 2 2 Q. Is he the executive in charge of the 2 3 Gypsum Division? A. Yes, sir. Q. And has he been the senior PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS r JAMES R. HURD 18 1 vice-president since 1973 when you started? 2 A . Yes, sir. 3 Q. If we were to break down the time that 4 you have spent since 1973 in your dual capacity as 5 both personnel and safety manager of the Gypsum 6 Division, how much of it is personnel business? How 7 much of it is safety business -- ballpark again? 8 A. I honestly don't know. It varies, 9 depending on the activity that I'm involved with at 10 the time. I get involved in labor negotiations. I 1 1 get involved with employment. I get involved with 1 2 all of the programs that involve personnel and 13 safety for the division, so I don't know. I have no 1 4 idea . 1 5 Q. Would it be fair to say that about 90 1 6 percent of your time on personnel matters? 17 MR. BISHOP: I'm going to 1 8 object to that. He's already answered `ne question. 19 It's repetitive. 20 Q. Would that be a fair statement that 90 2 1 percent of your time is dealing with personnel and 22 labor matters and only about 10 percent is safety 2 3 ma tters? 24 A . No . 2 5 Q. That's not correct? PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS I 1 JAMES R. HURD 19 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 --8 '9 10 11 12 13 14 15 i16 17 18 19 20 21 22 3 24 A. That's inaccurate. Q. Are you the person that negotiates the labor contracts for the unions? A. I negotiate some of them. Q. And are you the person that deals with employment of personnel? A. Some of it. ~ Q. Do you have people that work under you? A . Yes, sir. Q. How many facilities are involved in the Gypsum Division? A. We currently have 23. Q. 23 plants? A. Q. peop1e ? A. Yes, sir. That employ a total of about 2,000 Yes, sir. Q. And are these 23 plants spread throughout the United States? v' ; A . They are. Q. And would it be fair to say that the 23 plants engage in the manufacture of gypsum-type products? A. Not entirely. Q. What else do they do? PRITCHETT- & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS i JAMES R. HURD 20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 '-4 25 A. We have five plants that manufacture asphalt roofing. Q. Okay. A, We have three plants that are paper plants that manufacture the face and backing board for wallboard. We have two plants that manufacture -- it's a core for fire doors. We have three plants that manufacture joint system products. Now, I didn't count them. I don't know if that's all of them or not. Q. Okay. Mr. Hurd, do each of these plants have their individual personnel managers? A . Not all of them. Q . Several of them do? A . Yes . Q . And they report to you, in turn? A . No, they report directly to their plant manager. Q. Is there a corporatewide safety director #r Georgia-Pacific? A. Yes, sir. Q. And who is that? A. His name is -- Mike Skinner is the Corporate director. Q. And what is his title? Do you know? PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS I ir JAMES R. HURD 21 1 A . I don't know what his official title is. 2 Q Does he have duties that also involve 3 perso nne1 as well as safety. 4 Q Not that I'm aware of. 5 Q Purely safety? 6 A . Purely safety. 7 Q Has he been with the company for quite 8 some time? 9 A . What's quite some time? 10 Q Well, as long as you have. 1 1 A . No, sir. 1 2 Q. Who is his predecessor? Do you recall? 1 3 A . A gentleman by the name of Ken Gibson. 14 Q And where is he now? Do you know? 1 5 A . I have no idea. 1 6 Q Is he a1ive ? 1 7 A . I don't know. 18 Q - You don 1t know? 1 9 A . I don't know. 20 . Q. You haven't followed him? 2 1 A . No . 2 2 Q Who was previously in your position? 2 3 A . There was nobody in my position before I 2 4 came . 25 Q The position was created for you? PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS l" JAMES R. HURD 1 A. Well, the position was created, and I 2 filled it. 3 Q. Then prior to 1973, there was not a 4 divisionwide safety manager for the Gypsum Division 5 of Georgia-Pacific? 6 A. No, sir. 7 Q. Prior to 1973, was there a Gypsum 8 Division of Georgia-Pacific, or was the division 9 created in '73? 1 0 A. No, there was a Gypsum Division prior to 1 1 '73. 1 2 Q. How long has there been a Gypsum 1 3 Division of Georgia-Pacific, approximately? 1 4 A . I can on 1y guess at the year . 15 Q Ba 1 lpark. Is it ' 40s? ' 50s? ' 60s? 1 6 MR. BISHOP: Don ' t guess. 1 7 you know, tell him the answe r 1 8 Q Tell me the bes t answer that -1 9 A . We 11, I can 't give you the exac t date 20 but: Georgia-Pacific bought Best Wall -- the Gypsum 2 1 Division from Best Wall. 2 2 Q. All right. That's what the inquiry is. 2 3 Was there a Gypsum Division of Georgia-Pacific prior 2 4 to the acquisition of Best Wall? 2 5 A. Not that I'm aware of it. PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS 1 JAMES R. HURD 23 1 Q. And when was the purchase of Best Wall? 2 A. I just told you, I don't know. 3 Q. You don't recall? 4 A . No . 5 Q. Was It In the '60s or '50s or '40s? 6 A . I cou Id only -- 7 MR. BISHOP: Don't guess. If 8 you know, tell him. If you don't, don't guess. 9 Q. So you know very little, then, about the 1 0 corporate history of Best Wall; is that right, Jim? 1 1 A . Very little. 12 Q. Okay. Is the Best Wall business 1 3 essentially the core of the Georgia-Pacific gypsum 1 4 busine s s ? 1 5 A. Yes, the division is a division of GP. 1 6 It's primarily a gypsum wallboard manufacturer. We 1 7 have nine plants. 1 8 Q. All right. And those nine plants were 1 9 acquired from Best Wall or with the Best Wall 20 ac^aieition? 2 1 A . No, sir. 2 2 Q. Okay. Have they been built since the 2 3 acquisition? 24 A. Yes. We have two plants that were built 2 5 since the acquisition. PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS I l JAMES R. HURD 1 Q. Are there people working at 2 Georgia-Pacific in the Gypsum Division who 3 previously worked for Best Wall? 4 A . Yes , sir. 5 Q. Okay. What about managerial personnel? 6 A . Yes, sir. 7 Q. And are there people working for 8 Georgia-Pacific now in the Gypsum Division who had 9 experience with health and safety duties at Best 1 0 Wall? 1 1 A. That are still employed? 1 2 Q. Yes. 1 3 A. Direct responsibility? 1 4 Q . Yes. 15 A. No. Only from a management standpoint, 1 6 not the safety responsibility. 1 7 Q. Would you clarify that for me what you 1 8 mean when you say from a management responsibility? 1 9 A. Well, any manager that is involved with 20 a plant has safety responsibility. 2 1 Q. Right. Did Best Wall have a safety 2 2 director for the corporation, or do you know? 2 3 A . For Best Wall ? 2 4 Q For Best Wall. 25 A . I have no idea PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS lr JAMES R. HURD 25 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 6 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Q. So you have not found anybody at Georgia-Pacific who would have knowledge about Best Wall safety and health problems, if any, before they were acquired by Georgia-Pacific or have you? MR. BISHOP: I object to that question because it assumes that he's looked into the history. MR. BARON: No, I'm asking him just a pure question if he knows anybody that's over there that would have had safety responsibility at Best Wall before it was acquired by Georgia-Pacific. way you phrased it. MR. BISHOP: That's not the Q. Okay. Well, that's the question, if you unde r s t and it . A. Repeat the question for me. Q. All right. Do you know anybody who is presently with Georgia-Pacific who would have had responsibility for health and safety at Best Wall before it was acquired by Georgia-Pacific? A . No, sir. Q. What was the business of Best Wall when it was acquired? What business was the Best Wall company in when it was acquired by Georgia-Pacific? PRITCHETT a ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS I 1" JAMES R..HURD 26 1 A. I have no idea. I don't know. 2 Q. You have no idea? 3 A. No. All I know is that the Gypsum 4 Division was a part of it. I don't know what 5 products they produced other than that. 6 Q. Did Georgia-Pacific purchase Best Wall 7 and enter into a merger, or do you know what form 8 the t ransae tion took? - 9 A. I wasn't involved at the time. I have 1 0 no idea. 1 1 Q And have not looked back? 1 2 A . No , sir. 1 3 Q . Have you ever reviewed safety records 1 4 from Bes t Wall that were brought to Georgia-Pacific 1 5 when Best Wall was acquired? 1 6 A . No , sir. 1 7 Q Do you know of anyone at Georgia-Pacific 1 8 who has reviewed safety records from Best Wall after 1 9 Georgia-Pacific acquired it? 20 . A. I don't know that there was any records 2 1 reviewed. 2 2 Q. Do you know whether there are any 2 3 records in existence concerning health and safety at 24 Best Wall? 2 5 A. I have no knowledge of that. PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS 1 JAMES R. HURD 27 1 Q. Okay. I take it -- well, first of all 2 you've had your deposition taken before, have you 3 not, or is this the first time? 4 A. No, I've given a deposition before. 5 Q. Just one? 6 A . Yes, sir. 7 Q. And when was that? 8 A. About a year ago. 9 Q. Whe r e ? 1 0 A. In -- it was done in Atlanta. 1 1 Q. Was that someone from Mr. Motley's 1 2 office that took that deposition? 1 3 A. No, sir. 1 4 Q. Do you know who it was? 1 5 A. I can't recall the lawyer's name. 1 6 Q. Was it in the asbestos litigation? 1 7 A. No, sir. 1 8 Q. What type of litigation was it involved 1 9 in? 2 0 A. It was involved with a workmen's 2 1 compensation disability case. 2 2 Q. And did it involve a purported lung 2 3 disease? 24 A. No, sir. 2 5 Q. So you have been able to stay clear of PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS JAMES R. HURD 28 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 XX 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 asbestos litigation, have you not? A . Yes, sir. Q. Do you presently have any responsibilities at Georgia-Pacific concerning asbestos litigation? A . No , sir. Q You know what asbestos litigation is, I take it? A . I'm familiar with it. MR. BISHOP: I think everyone in the country is <5- Do you know what the Gypsum Association is? A . Yes, sir. Q And is Georgia-Pacific a member of the Gypsum Association? A . Yes, it is. Q . And do you know how long it has been a meaber of the Gypsum Association? A . I have no idea. Q. Do you know who their representative has been to the Gypsum Association? A . Within what time frame? Q - Since you've been employed by Georgia-Pacific. PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS i-- JAMES R. HURD 29 (^1 I i i2 I :3 ;4 i 5 A . Yes, sir. Q. Who has it been? A. Jim Hurd. Q. When did you first become the Georgia-Pacific representative to the Gypsum 6 Association? 7 A. I can't give you a time. I've been 8 involved with them for a number of years. 9 Q. Was it prior to 1973 before you became 1 0 part of the Gypsum Division? 1 1 A. No, sir. 1 2 Q. So again, prior to 1973, you would not 1 3 have been the representative to the Gypsum 1 4 Association? 1 5 A. Do you mean prior to 1974? 16 1 7 what you meant. MR. BISHOP: I think that's ^ Q. Okay. I wrote '73. But '74 is when 1 9 you started with the Gypsum Division? 20 A. Yes. 2 1 Q. You're right, January 1. Who was the 2 2 Georgia-Pacific representative to the Gypsum 2 3 Association prior to January 1, '74? 24 A. I don't know. I don't know whether they 2 5 had one or not. PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS I JAMES R. HURD 30 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Q. Do you know an M. F. Fink? A. Yes, sir. Q. Who is he ? A. Matt Fink was -- he was a western regional safety man that worked for Mr. Bill Richards at the time I came with the division. Q. Who Bill Richards? A. He was the operations manager. Q. For? A. For the Gypsum plants. Q. And Mr. Fink -- what was his safety title that you just described? A. I don't know what his title was. He was the safety man. He worked in the area of safety and workmen's compensation at the time. Q. Where is he now? A. I have -- I haven't the slightest idea. Q. Does he still work for Georgia-Pacific? A . No , sir. Q. Do you know when he separated his eaployment ? A. No, I can't give you the date. He retired. Q. He retired? A. (Witness nodded head up and down.) PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS 1 JAMES R. *HURD 31 1 Q. And he was located in what city? 2 A. In Portland, Oregon. 3 Q. When did you first become the 4 representative to the Gypsum Association? 5 A. I can't give you a date. It was after I 6 came with the division. 7 Q. Shortly or several years? 8 A. Oh, it was -- I'd be' speculating, but it 9 was some time after I came with the division. 1 0 Q. Have you ever had the opportunity to 1 1 review the minutes of the Gypsum Association? 1 2 A. The Gypsum Association? 1 3 Q. Yes. 14 TIT A. No, sir. Q. When you attend meetings of the Gypsum 1 6 Association, you subsequently receive the minutes of 1 7 those meetings, do you not? 1 8 A . Yes, sir. 19 Q. Okay . 20 A. Now let me clarify that, if I may. I 2 1 receive the minutes of the Safety Committee of the 2 2 Gypsum Association. 2 3 Q. Are you on the Safety Committee of the 24 2 5 A. Yes, sir. ^ PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS I r JAMES R. HURD 32 1 Q. And how long have you been on the Safety 2 Committee of the Gypsum Association? 3 A. For as long as I've been involved with 4 the association. 5 Q. Was Mr. Fink on the Safety Committee of 6 the Gypsum Association? 7 A. I don't know whether he was or not. 8 Q. Does Georgia-Pacific keep records in one 9 place concerning their relationship with the Gypsum 1 0 Association? 1 1 A. I don't know. 1 2 Q Do you keep your records in one place 1 3 concerning the Gypsum Association? 1 4 A. Yes, sir. 1 5 Q. So you have a file or something of that 1 6 nature concerning the Gypsum Association? 1 7 A. Safety Committee -1 8 Q. Safety Committee? 1 9 A. -- of the Gypsum Association. 20 Q. All right. On January 1, 1974, when you 2 1 began your work as safety director and personnel 2 2 manager of the Gypsum Division of Georgia-Pacific, 2 3 had you had any experience with a material called 24 asbestos? 2 5 A. No experience. PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS i l" JAMES R. HURD 33 1 X 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 ,1 5 16 17 i8 (19 to j 21 22 23 24 25 " Q. Were you familiar with the material in any way? A. Yes, 1 knew what asbestos was. I knew that they had used it in brake linings and things like that. Q. Would it be fair to say that your prior experience before January 1, 1974, was with cardboard, primarily? That was your area of expertise? A. Folding cartons was the industry I was in, yes, sir, Q. And you had never done anything professiona1y with the asbestos industry in any way? A. That's true, correct. Q. In 1974, had you become knowledgeable that asbestos could present a health hazard to people on who inhaled it? A . No, sir. Q. When you came to work for the Gypsum Division in January 1, 1974, were you made aware that the old Best Wall Division used asbestos in some of the their products? A. I did become aware that they did. Q. When did you become so aware? A. Fairly early in '74. I suppose around PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS l lr JAMES R. HURD 34 '1 Mar ch, Apri1 . 2 Q. And when, if ever, have you become aware 3 that asbestos has a potential health hazard for 4 people who inhale it? 5 A. A potential health hazard? 6 Q. Or a health -- 7 A. A potential health hazard? 8 Q . Yes. 9 A. I don't know that there's a health 1 0 hazard, personally, but the potential, I guess I've 1 1 known since I became affiliated with the division. 1 2 Q. So as of today, you are not sure that 1 3 asbestos really does cause health hazards? You've 1 4 just heard that from people? 15 A. John, (sic) I'm not a doctor. I don't 1 6 have a medical expertise. 1 7 MR. BISHOP: It's Fred. 1 8 MR. BARON: It's Fred, but 1 9 I've been called worse. 20 ^ Q. Mr. Hurd, so it would be fair to say as 2 1 we sit here right now you are not an expert in 2 2 asbestos-related diseases? 2 3 A. Tha t 's true. 2 4 Q. And you have not really done any special 25 -- study or review of asbestos-re 1 ated diseases that PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS , TEXAS JAMES R. HURD 35 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 would make you an expert? A . That's t rue. Q Is there someone at Georgia-Pacific who Is an expert on asbestos-related diseases that you are aware of? A . No that I am aware of. Q Has there ever been anyone? A . Not that I am aware of. Q. Okay. If we wanted to select a job category at Georgia-Pacific for the person who we would think would be most knowledgeable about asbestos health hazards in the Gypsum Division, would it be your job title? A. I honestly don't know whether there would be anyone that would be more familiar or not Q. Well, you are the person in charge of health and safety for the Gypsum Division, are you not? A . Yes . Q. The buck stops at your desk for health and safety matters? A . For our division. Q For the Gypsum Division? A . Yes , sir. Q And the Gypsum Division is the only PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS JAMES R. .HURD 36 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 division of Georgia-Pacific that's ever used asbes tos? A. I don't know that, Q. Do you know otherwise? A. No , sir. Q. So to the best of your knowledge, based on what you understand, the Gypsum Division is the only one that has used it, unless somebody proves otherwise? A. It's the only one that I'm aware of. Q. And you are the person in the Gypsum Division who is in charge of health and safety? A. Yes, sir. Q. And you do not consider yourself to be knowledgeable about the hazards of asbestos; is that right, sir? MR. BISHOP: I think he said he did not consider himself to be an expert in asbestos diseases. MR. BARON: Right. Q. Is that right? A. That's true. Q. Have you done any personal research on asbestos-re1 ated diseases? A. No, sir. PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS 1 JAMES R. HURD 37 /1 1 i2 \3 \ 1* ' b /6 / l7 8 :9 lio U i2 1 I3 i4 1 16 1 " 18 I9 20 21 22 23 24 25 Q. Have you compiled a medical library or anything of that nature on asbestos-re1 ated di seases? A . I have not. Q- Have you attended any seminars on asbestos-related diseases? A . No , sir. Q Have you directed anyone under you to a t tend such seminars ? A . No, sir. Q Have you directed anyone under you to accumulate materials on asbestos-re1 ated health hazards? A . No, sir. Q . To your knowledge, has Georgia-Pacific corporation ever engaged in testing its products to determine whether they present a health hazard? And when I say "its products," those containing ashes t os. A . Whether they contain health hazards? A . Yes, whether Georgia-Pacific products would present a health hazard. A . Any produc ts ? Q No, asbestos-containing products. A . I'm not aware of any. PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS JAMES R. HURD 38 1 Q. Again, so we make this question clear, 2 you are not aware of any test that Georgia-Pacific 3 has ever done on its asbestos products to determine 4 whether or not they present health hazards? 5 A. I'm not aware of any. 6 Q. Does Georgia-Pacific still manufacture 7 asbestos products? 8 A. Not that I'm aware of. 9 Q. When was the last time they manufactured 1 0 such products? 1 1 A. Georgia-Pacific? 1 2 Q. Yes. 1 3 A. I have -- I can only speak for our 1 4 division. 1 5 Q . All right. 1 6 A. I have no knowledge. r? Q. When was the last time your division 1 8 manufactured asbestos? 1 9 A. To the best of my knowledge, we got out 20 of isbestos-contained products in '76, I believe. 2 1 Q. Well, let me see if I can refresh your 2 2 recollection here. 2 3~ MR. BARON: Let me have you 24 mark this as Exhibit 1 to this deposition. (Deposition Exhibit 1 PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS 1 JAMES R. HURD 39 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 13 14 a5 /1 6 ; 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 marked for identification.) Q. Mr. Hurd, I'm going to hand you a document that's been marked as Deposition Exhibit No. 1. For the record, it's on the stationery of Georgia-Pacific Corporation, Portland, Oregon, dated May 20, 1977, to Mr. Robert J. -- and I'm going to spell this one -- U-d-a-v-c-a-k, from a town in Pennsylvania from J. R. Hurd, Personnel Manager Gypsum Division, and ask you if you've ever seen this particular document before. A. Yes, sir. Q. Okay. And is that your signature at the bo 11om? A. Yes, sir. Q. The first question I have is: The stationery is Portland. Were you working in the Portland Division? A. No. That was our headquarters up until ateettt -- almost five years ago. Q. I didn't realize that. Okay. That appears to be a letter to a customer, does it not? A . Yes, sir. Q. Do you have any recollection of that letter? PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS i i-- JAMES R. HURD 40 :1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 .9 i io ai /I 2 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 A. Yes, sir. Q. Can you tell us the circumstances. A. This gentleman had written in with a concern over whatever publications he had read that there may be a health hazard in using some of our products in remodeling his home. Q. A. asbestos . And was that health hazard asbestos? Well, it was a product that contained Q. Right. 1977, is it not? And the date of the letter is A. Yes, sir. Q. Does that refresh your recollection as to when Georgia-Pacific stopped making asbestos-related products? A. Not necessarily because when we discontinued putting them in the products was different than when we completed the inventories that we had. Q. So it would have been entirely likely that somebody in May of 1977 could have still been buying Georgia-Pacific products that contained asbestos? A. Possible. Q. What particular product was this PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS 1 r~ i JAMES R. -HURD 41 1 2 3 4 5 \6 ,7 \ ? i f < / 1/3 1 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 3 `3 4 25 customer inquiring about? Do you recall? A. Ready-Mix joint compound. Q. Could I see the letter for just a moment. You state in paragraph 3 here, "To our knowledge, Mr." -- whatever his name is -- "there is no known case where harm has come to somebody from their use of our Ready-Mix joint compound containing asbestos fibers, even after prolonged exposure numbered in many years." What was the basis of that opinion that you rendered to Mr. -- whatever his name is? A. The basis for that statement was that the Gypsum Division had manufactured joint compounds that had contained asbestos fibers for a considerable length of time, and we have had no known cases that have suffered any health hazards as result of the use of that material. Q. All right. Now, you say they manufactured joint compounds for a considerable le>A0th of time. Did I understand that Georgia-Pacific first got in the asbestos business when they acquired Best Wall, or were they manufacturing them prior to the acquisition? A . No, sir. Q. Now, they acquired Best Wall in what PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS JAMES R. HURD 42 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 year? Do you recall? Was It '66? MR. BISHOP: Excuse me, let's make that last answer clear. I think you were clear, but he said, "No, sir." to a yes, sir? MR. BARON: Was it a no, sir MR. BISHOP: Would you read back that question. I just want to make sure that the record is clear on it. I think he was agreeing with you. MR. BARON: Okay. (At this time, the requested material was read back by the Court Reporter . ) MR. BARON: Well, let me clarify the record. I can clarify it real easily here. Q. Mr. Hurd, I'm going to read some Answers to Interrogatories that have been filed by Georgia-Pacific. One of the questions that was asked of them -- when did Georgia-Pacific begin manufacturing asbestos containing products? And the answer was as follows: Quote, Georgia-Pacific did not begin manufacturing asbestos-containing products PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS l r~ JAMES R. HURD 43 a 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 \14 V l17 i8 |l9 ! (2 0 21 22 23 24 25 until 1965 when it merged with Best Wall Gypsum Company. As stated in the previous answer, Georgia-Pacific became aware of the hazards of asbestos exposure in the early 1970s. So it would be, based on this information that was provided to us under oath, Georgia-Pacific acquired Best Wall in 1965. Does that sound about right to you? __ A. That sounds about right. Q. And so when you said that Georgia-Pacific had been manufacturing joint compounds containing asbestos for a considerable amount of time, the considerable amount of time would have been about 10 or 12 years? A. Would have been back to when we acquired -- Q . '65? A. Yes, sir. Q. And at that time, you, then, were not familiar with any hazards associated with the use of #betos-containing joint compounds; is that right, sir? A. A t t ha t time. Q. Yes, 1977 when you wrote the letter because that's what you advised the customer. A. Tha t 1s right. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS I i JAMES R. HURD 44 f 1 Q. Would It be fair to say that by May 20 2 of 1977 you were not knowledgeable about health 3 hazards associated with asbestos products? 4 MR. BISHOP: What do you mean 5 by "knowledgeable," Fred? Are you asking him if 6 he - - 7 MR. BARON: If he felt that 8 he was expert enough to advise people about hazards 9 of health-related effects of asbestos products. 1 0 A. The only thing I was aware of, Fred, was 1 1 that we had no known cases where anybody had had any 1 2 health problems as a result of using our products. 1 3 Q. All right. 14 MR. BARON: I want to have 1 5 this one marked, if I could, as Plaintiff's Exhibit 1 6 No. 2 to this deposition. 1 7 (Deposition Exhibit 2 1 8 marked for 1 9 identification.) 20 Q. I'm going to hand you what I've marked 2 1 as Plaintiff's Exhibit No. 2, which is what purports 2 2 to be a two-page document, an intracompany memo on 23 Georgia-Pacific stationery to Mr. G. E. Wilson from 2 4 Mr. 0. E. Burch, Subject: Asbestos - JT Cement 2 5 Products, dated May 17, 1974. First of all, who is PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS l' JAMES R. HURD 45 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 6 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Mr. G. E. Wilson. Do you know him? A. Yeah, he's our vice-president. Q. He is the vice-president in charge the Gypsum Division, the one that you described earlier? A. Yes. Q. And who is 0. E. Burch? A. He is our sales manager. Q. When it says here on the memo "Asbestos - JT Cement Products," would that be joint cement products? A. Joint cement products, yes, sir. Q. So that would be what we've previously described as a joint compound, right? A. Yes. Q. This shows as a c.c. on the memo one J. Hurd, Portland. Would that be you? A. Yes, sir. Q. And it also shows C. W. Lehnert, L-e-h-n-e-r-t. Who is he? A. He is the director of our research and development lab. Q. And that's called the Tigard or Tigard? A. Well, it was located in Tigard at the time this correspondence was -- Q. What is the name of laboratory? Do you PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS i i I JAMES R. -HURD 46 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 know? A. The formal name of It? Q. Yes. If you wanted to call the lab, what Is the name? A. Our research lab. Q So Georgia-Pacific has its own research lab? A. Yes, sir. - Q. How long has Georgia-Pacific had that? A. I don't know. Q. As 1ong as -- A. When I came with the division, it was located in Tigard, Oregon. I don't know when it was es t ab1ished. Q. Where is it now? A . Is in Decatur. Q. Decatur, Georgia? A. Yes. Q. As opposed to Illinois? A Yes. I'm sorry about that. <3 . I grew up near Decatur, Illinois. And it also shows to M. Fink which is the same individual we discussed before at the laboratories? A. Yes, sir. Q. And then Mr. D. C.Corkill, PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS , TEXAS 1 JAMES R. HURD 47 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 C-o-r-k-i-1- 1 , in Portland. Who is he? A, Dave was the sales manager for the joint system products at that time, and he reported to Mr. Burch. Q. Do you recall seeing this intracompany memo before? Have you ever seen this one? A . May I see it? Q. Sure. Go right ahead. Take a look. Do you recall ever having looked at this before? A. Well, Fred, you are asking me to recall things that were -- what? -- 12, 13 years ago. Q. Yes . A. And if my name was on it, I guess I have to assume I have seen it, but I don't recall every piece of paper 1 have seen that long ago. Q. Okay. Well, Mr. Hurd, for the record, the memo has attached to it -- well, again, for the record, the memo is one sentence. It says, "Subject, Asbestos Joint Cement Products. Attached appeared in the Walls & Ceilings magazine, May issue. This is the first time I have seen actual cases reported." And it has attached to it an article saying, "Asbestos Danger Cited. Taping and spackling compounds used in drywall finishing may expose workers to dangerous levels of asbestos PRITCHETT a ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS 1 r- JAMES R. HURD 48 1 fibers, according to OSHA officials. The warning 2 followed an examination of 17 members of a New York City painters' local. Tests showed the lungs of 4 nine painters had X-ray evidence of fibrosis or 5 excessive secretion build-up in the lungs. Employer 6 groups and unions are being asked to alert workers 7 to the potential hazard, said federal safety 8 authorities." Do you want to take a look at it? \ 10 MR. BISHOP: Yes, please. MR. HENDERSON: What is the 1 1 date, Fred? 12 MR. BARON: 1974, and I 1 3 believe it is May 17, 1974. 1 4 Q. Okay. So first of all, do you have any 1 5 question but that you received that memo? 1 6 A. I don't have any question that I 1 7 re c eived this. 1 8 Q. So you believe you did? 1 9 A. I believe I received it. 20 - Q. And that, if you had read it, would have 2 1 given you knowldege that people using a product such 2 2 as your joint compound were reported to have illness 2 3 -- at least reported to have illness? 24 A. It said that they have an illness. 25 Q. Yes. It doesn't prove that they have an PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS 1 JAMES R. HURD 49 a 2 3 ;4 i 5 I t i6 i' \t 8 i9 ^0 i; 14 iI 5 a7 ;i8 19 '20 I 21 I ! 22 i23 i24 i '2 5 illness, but it says that they have got one. A. It says that they have anillness. Q. So when you wrote the letter to your customer three years later, you apparently had forgotten about this particular document; is that r ight, sir? A. That doesn't prove that that illness was as a result of our product. Q. Okay. It just - A. I have no knowledge, even at that time, that any of our products ever caused a health problem. Q. All right. So what you are telling me, sir, is that the fact that you received an internal memo regarding asbestos in joint compounds, which described asbestos or at least -- how many cases were there? -- that nine painters using this type of material had developed fibrosis of the lungs and secretions in the lungs allegedly caused by the products, that wasn't enough information for you to believe that there might be any harm with your products? Would that be a fair statement? A. I have -- again, I had no knowledge of any specific cases that we had that resulted in any lungs diseases as a result of using our products. PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS 1 JAMES R. HURD 50 /' , 1 Q. All right. 2 A. And I believe that that gentleman was 3 cautioned that he ought to use a respirator as a 4 precaution if he did use any of our products and 5 sanded them. 6 MR. BISHOP: You are 7 referring to Exhibit 1? 8 THE WITNESS: Yes. 9 Q. When you received this memo in 1974, did 1 0 you do any further inquiry concerning potential 1 1 asbestos health hazards? (1 2 A. Not that I'm aware of. 1 3 Q. And when you received the inquiry from 1 4 the customer in 1977, did you do any further looking 1 5 to see about asbestos-re1 ated health hazards with 1 6 joint compounds? 17 i it V| 1? io A . Not that I can recall. Q . Do you know of anybody a t Georgia-Pacific who did? A . No , sir. 2 1 Q. Mr . Hurd , if you had wanted the 2 2 laboratories t o test to see if the joint compound 2 3 really was capable of causing lung damage, such as 24 described in that article, would they have been 2 5 available to do it? PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS JAMES R . .HURD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 To 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 A. Not in our division. I assume there's facilities in this country that would have the capability of doing it. I don't know. Q. Well, let's talk about the laboratory in Tigard. Was that laboratory capable of doing such tests in 1974? A . To evaluate for health hazards ? Q Yes A . No , sir. Q Was there any facility a t Georgia-Pacific, that you are aware of, that had the ability to test Georgia-Pacific products to determine whether they caused harm to people using them? A. No, sir, not that I am aware of. Q. Is there presently such a facility? A. Not that I am aware of. Q. How old a corporation is Georgia-Pacific, by the way? Turn the century or before theti? A. I don't know. It started in one little plant in Augusta, Georgia, way back when. I can't give you a date. Q. As far as you know, since it started in that one plant in Augusta, Georgia, and now has PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS 1r JAMES R. HURD 52 1 2 3 4 5 \ \6 7 8 9 10 11 12 ;1 3 i i 114 il 5 ; 16 '.17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 hundreds of plants all over the world, has Georgia-Pacific ever had a facility that could test its own products to determine whether they caused harm to users? A . I have no idea. Q . And you are not aware that they have one now? A. No, sir. Q. And so as safety manager of the Gypsum Division, if you were to find that one of the products -- well, let me strike that question and ask it a different way. As safety manager of the Gypsum Division, do you feel like you have any responsibi1ity to people other than Georgia-Pacific emp1oyees ? A. Yes, sir. Q. So do you feel - A. A concern certainly. Q. Do you feel like Georgia-Pacific should stand behind its product when they sell them? A. With what regard? Q. With regard to their being safe products. MR. BISHOP: What do you mean PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS I i JAMES R. HURD 53 ./'I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 \ '9 i io :i i ^2 13 M I5 16 ii 7 ;1 8 19 12 31 32 M 2 i5 by that? Q. Let me ask it a different way, so we are sure we are getting proper communication here. If Georgia-Pacific receives information that one of its products is a health hazard, do you think that Georgia-Pacific has an obligation to find out whether that product really is a health hazard? A. Yes, I would think -- I would say that they wou1d. Q. That would be the prudent thing to do, wouId it no t ? A. Yes, sir. Q. And the reason to do that is so that you can prevent consumers from receiving injury as a result of products that may be unsafe? Would that be a fair statement? A. Yes, I would say so. Q. In 1974 if it had come to the attention of the Gypsum Division that some of its products were alleged to be unsafe and causing injury to users, who would have been the person in 1974 that was in charge of investigating that problem? A. I suspect I would have been. Q. Did you at any time investigate the health hazards of your asbestos products? PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS I i JAMES R. HURD 54 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 A. No, sir. Q. Do you know of anyone at Georgia-Pacific who commissioned such an investigation by an outside source? A . No( sir. MR* BARON: Now, I'd like the reporter to mark this one as PX 3. (Deposition Exhibit 3 marked for identification.) Q. I'm going to hand you what I have had the reporter mark as Deposition Exhibit No. 3 which is another Georgia-Pacific intracompany memo to Mr. W. A. Nalbone, N-a-1-b-o-n-e, from J. R. Hurd concerning asbestos caution labels dated June 7, 1974, and ask you if you can identify that is your Jim at the bottom. A . Yes, sir. Q. Okay. Do you recall having ever seen before? A. Again, I'm going -- I have to assume that I've seen it if I wrote it, and it certainly looks like my signature. Q. No bells are going off, though? A . No . PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS JAMES R. HURD 55 1 Q. Okay. Mr. Hurd, for the record, so that 2 I can read this in because we've got other lawyers 3 sitting here who don't have this in front of them, 4 it states as follows: "This memo is in response to 5 your letter dated June 3, 1974, concerning the above 6 subject," and the subject is asbestos caution 7 labels. Who was Mr. W. A. Nalbone? Do you recall? 8 A. Nalbone was -- he was the quality -- and y 9 I believe he was in charge of safety, too, but I 10 know he was a quality guy that was responsible for ii1 the testing program at Akron at that time. \ 1 2' Q. Okay. When you say the "testing 13 program," what testing program? l 4 A . We run s tandard tests on the product for 1 5 consistency and so on . 1 6 Q Qua 1it y control? 3 7 A . Qua1it y control. 1 8 Q Is that what the Akron facility is for? 19 Is that the primary purpose of the Akron facility, 20 to do quality control? 2 1 A . No . 22 Q Tha t ' s just part of their facility? 2 8 A . It's just a func tion. 2,4 Q The memo states as follows : Quo t e, I 25 appreciate your concern over the changes in the PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS I JAMES R. HURD 56 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 v in ]I II 2 \ M 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 asbestos caution labels; however, our attorneys are also deeply concerned over recent findings of asbestosis in workers in the construction industry which is a result of working with joint system products. Do you recall the basis for your s t a tement? A . No ,, sir, I don 1 t . Q So wou 1 d it be fair to surmise from that June 7, 1974, memorandum that you were aware that people using joint compounds were having problems with asbestosis or at least it was being alleged? A. The only thing that I could -- that I could recall is that it was being alleged. Q. Had you been the one dealing with the attorneys that were worried about asbestosis in joint compound workers? A. No. The only involvement with attorneys was to help us evaluate the labels that were going on our products. Q. Would it be fair to surmise, however, Mr. Hurd, that on that June 7, 1974, when you wrote this memo, you were at least aware that claims were being made that people using your joint compound were developing asbestosis? MR. BISHOP: Wait a second. PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS i JAMES R. HURD 57 1 '2 3 4 5 t6 ;7 \ !8 I9 `1 0 \1 \2 13 M 15 1 6 27 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 I object to that. It doesn't say anywhere in here that it's GP products. Q. Let me rephrase it. Would it be fair to surmise from that memorandum dated June 7, 1974, that workers were making allegations that they were developing asbestos-re1 ated disease from using joint compounds, period? A. There was allegations being made. Q. What action did you take to investigate those allegations? A. I didn't take any action to investigate those allegations. Q. Now, your company was making joint compounds that contained asbestos in 1974, was it not? A. Yes, sir. Q. Is there a particular reason why you did not investigate those allegations? A. Well, the reason that we didn't investigate those allegations is that we were -- we had put in place programs as a result of OSHA regulations and because of the involvement with hygienists to come up with the standards. And they did some very extensive studies on that product, with knowledge that our employees were being PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS I 1 JAMES R. HURD 58 1 2 3 4 5 6 /7 / /8 i I9 i io i !i 11 |12 h3 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 24 25 adequately protected as a result of OSHA1s extensive studies on that subject, and they are on the cutting edge of that particular standard. I was comfortable that we were adequately protecting our employees and that there wasn't a health hazard involved in the consumer products. Q. So even when you wrote that letter, you were convinced that consumers using your product were safe? A. I don't -- I'm not qualified to know whether they were safe or not. Q. Who would be qualified to know that? A . I don't know. Q. Did you make any inquiry to determine whether consumers using your products were safe? A. No, sir. Q. Do you know of anyone at Georgia-Pacific who made any inquiry whatsoever of any kind or character to determine whether their customers were developing health problems related to their products? A. Not that I am aware of. MR. BISHOP: I need to take a break. MR. BARON: Sure. Let's take PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS l JAMES R. HURD 59 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 a five-minute break. (Recess taken.) Q. I was showing you what I had marked as Deposition Exhibit No .. 3 and had asked you if this was, in fact, your J. R . H . down here, and you said it was ? A . Yes , sir. Q All righ t. On paragraph 2, you state as follows: "You asked if we as Georgia-Pacific representatives are in a position to recommended the type of approved respirators to be used" -- "to be used to our customers. I feel that we should be prepared to answer and discuss any questions dealing with our products. If we can give assistance to our customers as to what type of respirators are approved by OSHA, I see nothing wrong in doing so." Did you, in fact, do research to determine what type of respirators should be used with such products? A. Yes. The standards are quite clear on the type of respirators that were permissible. Q. And did you familiarize yourself with those standards? A . Yes, sir. Q, And did you advise customers as to what type of respirators should be used? PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS JAMES R. HURD 60 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 i6 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 A. I did not advise any customers specifically. I did advise customers that they should be wearing respirators when sanding. Q. Mr. Hurd, I've showed you these memos, and I think it probably kind of, hopefully, stirred your memory a little bit about your dealing with asbestos joint compounds back in the early '70s. Do you believe that this was the first time that Georgia-Pacific had developed information about asbestos hazards with their products, or do you know of any other times that they had? MR. BISHOP: Excuse me, I'm going to object to that question. It makes an assumption that these were Georgia-Pacific products that were being referred to. Q. On the intracompany memo dated June 7, 1974, concerning asbestos caution labels, that pertains to Georgia-Pacific asbestos-re1ated products, does it not? A . Yes, sir. Q. And on Plaintiff's Exhibit 2, which is the intracompany memo dated May 17, 1974, concerning asbestos joint cement products, that would also be pertaining to Georgia-Pacific asbestos-containing joint cement products, would it not, or this would PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS I 1' f JAMES R. HURD 61 1 be relevant to it? 2 A. This article does not refer to it. 3 Q. Certainly the article does not, but do 4 you believe that the reason that you got this 5 article out of the clear blue was because it was 6 known that Georgia-Pacific made asbestos products? 7 A. Georgia-Pacific did make products that 6 contained asbestos. 9 Q. All r igh t. 2 0 MR. BARON: I'm going to have 1 1 the reporter mark this one right here as Deposition 1 2 Exhibit No. 4, if you would, please. 1 3 (Deposition Exhibit 4 1 4 marked for 1 5 identification.) 16 Q. All right. I'm going to hand you a copy 1 7 of a letter that is dated September 15, 1971, on the 1 8 stationery of National Gypsum Corporation, Building 1 9 Products Division, Buffalo, New York. And it is 20 wltJk the' stationery of Albert Fay who is 2 1 vice-president of research and marketing, and it's 2 2 addressed to Mr. William Hunt, President of 2 3 Georgia-Pacific Gypsum Division in Portland, 2 4 Oregon. First of all, do you know who Mr. William 2 5 Hunt was or is? PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS JAMES R. HURD 62 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 a8 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 A. Do I know who he was? Q. Yes, or who he is. Is it a was or an is? A. I don't know whether he's still alive or not. He was the president of Georgia-Pacific. Q. Was he the president of the entire corporation or just the Gypsum Division? A. Of the entire corporation. Q. When did he retire or leave the company? A. I have no idea. Q. Or has he retired and left the company? A. He has retired and left the company. Q. Okay. Again, for Jennifer's purposes and the record's purposes, on page 2 the letter is dated September 15, 1971, and it's addressed to William Hunt, President of Georgia-Pacific Corporation inviting him to a seminar in New York at the Union League Club on Tuesday, September 21. "The purpose of the" -- and I'm reading from the letter here for Jennifer and the record's purposes -- "The purpose of the Seminar is to acquaint your organization with the background of research and investigation which has been conducted by industry, government and labor concerning the supposed hazards of asbestos. All users of asbestos fibers in any PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS I 1* JAMES R. HURD 63 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 VI 6 \ 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 form in products produced will be affected by regulations which are expected to be issued by the Environmental Protection Agency." And it goes on, and in the first paragraph on page 2 it states as follows: "In my opinion, if your Company uses asbestos fiber in any product such as, asbestos cement, joint treatment products, acoustical products, or sprayed interion finishes, it is important that you be informed of its effect on your Company's operation and markets. We hope that you will be able to send someone from your orgainization to attend this Seminar." Have you ever seen this letter before -- Deposition Exhibit 4 ? A. No, sir. Let me look, but I'm sure I haven't, I wasn't involved in '71. No, sir (Deposition Exhibits 5 and 6 marked for identification.) Q. All right. In 1971, was Georgia-Pacific engaged in the manufacture of asbestos products? A. I don't -- I don't know whether there was asbestos in them at that time or not. Q. Well, there was in 1973 when you became -- PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS I i r" JAMES R. HURD 64 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MR. BISHOP: ' 74 . A . 1 74 . Q. January 1, '74. Do you have any reason to believe that the asbestos was not involved in Georgia-Pacific products in 1971, or is your best information that it was? A . I don't know. Q. You don't have any idea? A. Well, you are asking me to speculate on something I wasn't even involved with in the division at that time. I know it was there when I got there, and how long it had been in there, I have no idea. Q. You honestly have no idea how long it had been there? A. I honestly don't know. Q. And you've never looked at records to see? A. I have never gone back and looked at the reperds. Q. Have you ever gone back and done a study of the workers who had been manufacturing this compound to see if they have developed asbestos-related diseases? A . No . PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS I JAMES R. HURD 65 1 Q. You have never done any research to find 2 out how much exposure they've had? 3 A. Our employees? 4 Q. Yes, your employees. 5 A. We did tests, certainly, once we had a 6 program in place to monitor our dust. 7 Q. When was that? 8 A. Well, I first became aware of it in 1974 9 when I got involved in the program. 1 0 Q. So in 1974, there was a program to 1 1 monitor asbestos dust levels at Gypsum? 1 2 A. Yes, sir. 1 3 Q. In the Gypsum Division? 1 4 A. Yes, sir, 1 5 Q. And had that program been in effect at 1 6 the time that you started working for 1 7 Georgia-Pacific? 1 8 A . Yes, sir. 1 9 Q. I mean, for the Gypsum Division? 20 A . Gypsum Division,. yes , sir. 2 1 Q. So on January 1, 1974, when you took 2 2 over your position with the Gypsum Division of 2 3 Georgia-Pacific, there was an ongoing program to 24 test your employees to determine whether or not they 2 5 had asbestos-related injuries, or was it merely to PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS 1 JAMES R. HURD 66 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 A 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 ,19 ^0 ;2i 22 \2 3 2V 25 A. We were testing air concentrations. We were also doing X-ray and pulmonary function tests on emp1oyees. Q. Was that because Georgia-Pacific was aware that asbestos could cause health problems to their own employees? A. We were aware of the potential as a result of OSHA putting in their regulation, that there was -- the potential was there. Q. So from the time that you started working, January l, 1974, you, yourself, were aware that asbestos could cause health hazards -- health problems to workers who were exposed to it? A. I don't -- I don't know that. I have no evidence that there was any health problems. Q. It had the potential to cause health problems to people who were exposed. That's why you were doing the testing, was it not? - A. The government had done extensive testing, and they came out with regulations as a result of those tests that, yes, they determined that asbestos products could cause health hazards. Q. And you knew that on January 1, 1974, or thereabouts when you started working in the Gypsum PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS J 1 JAMES R. HURD 67 1 Division? 2 A. Thereabouts. 3 Q. And would it be fair to say that whoever 4 was there before you also knew that fact? 5 MR. BISHOP: I object to 6 that. That's asking him to speculate about someone 7 else's knowledge. 8 Q. So you came in, then, on January 1 with 9 a clean slate and never reviewed anything that your 1 0 predecessor or anyone else in the safety division of 1 1 Gypsum had done? Is that what you are saying? 1 2 A. I reviewed the status of the programs 1 3 that were in effect at that time to reinsure that we 1 4 were -- we were complying with OSHA regulations. In 1 5 fact, there was some modifications to those programs 1 6 that were made in 1974. 1 7 Q. I show you what's been marked as 1 8 Deposition Exhibit No. 5 which is a letter dated 1 9 September 17, 1971, addressed to Albert Fay, 20 Vice-president of National Gypsum Company in 2 1 Buffalo. And, again, for Jennifer and everyone 2 2 else's purposes, I will read it into the record. 2 3 "Dear Al: Thanks for your follow-up letter 2 4 concerning the Asbestos Information Association 2 5 meeting. We have already declined the invitation on PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS , TEXAS JAMES R. HURD 68 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 ,2 5 the theory that we have no active interest in the asbestos business or in products that involve the use of asbestos. For these reasons we really wouldn't fit in this meeting. Our sympathies, of course, are with any problems with which the industry may be faced, and it is my hope that your deliberations will be effective. Best personal regards, sincerely yours." Have you ever seen that before? Has anyone ever shown you that? A. No, sir. Q. Okay. Now, I will hand you Deposition Exhibit 6 which is a letter on the stationery of National Gypsum Company dated September 24, 1971, to Mr. W. H. Hunt, President, Georgia-Pacific Corporation. I'll read it into the record. "Dear Bill: We were indeed sorry that you were unable to attend our seminar. Of course, I cannot be certain, but I would guess that you do use asbestos fiber in joint treatment products and in finishes for well'board . Our tests indicate that sanding of joint treatment products and particularly the spraying of wall finishes offers some substantial potential hazards. You may feel it advisable to check into this. Sincerely." And it's signed by Albert Fay. Have you ever seen that one before? PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS i" JAMES R. HURD 69 1 A . No, sir, I have not. 2 Q * But William Hunt was the president of 3 Georgia-Pacific in September 1971, was he not? 4 A . I have -- I don't know what dates he was 5 president. All I know is he was president of 6 Georgia-Pacific at some point in time. 7 Q - All r ight. 8 MR. BARON: Let's mark this 9 one as 7. 10 (Deposition Exhibit 7 1 1 marked for 1 2 identification.} I,13 Q Now, you mentioned to me, sir, that you were the representative to the Gypsum Association ll 5 Safety Committee? 1 )l 6 A . Yes, sir. lf7 Q And that, further, you kept a file 1/8 concerning your attendance and the minutes of the | T Gypsum Association Safety Committee, right? ^ A. Yes . t i'.i Q- Have you ever held an office in the 2.2 Gypsum Association Safety Committee? 23 A . Yes , sir. 24 Q - What office have you health? 6 A . Committee chairman. _ rri.___ PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS JAMES R. HURD 70 1 Q. Okay. What year were you committee 2 chairman ? 'T A. Let me -- let me say this, Fred. I am 4 the current chairman of the Safety Committee and 5 have been for the pas t year and a half , and I held 6 one other two-year term o f office prior to this 7 time , and I can ' t tell you what years they were. 8 Q As chairman o f the Gypsum Ass ociation 9 Safety Committee, have you participated in programs 10 concerning asbestos-related health hazards? 1 1 A. No, sir. 1 2 Q. Do you know of any programs that have 1 3 been sponsored by the Gypsum Safety Committee 1 4 concerning asbestos? 1 5 A . No , sir. 1 6 Q As chairman o f the commi11 ee , did you 1 7 have access t o the minutes o f the Safety Commit tee? 1 8 A . Of the Safety Commit tee, yes, sir, 1 9 Q. And t ha t wou1d be on a historical bas i s 20 -- Jt'n other words, minu t es that had been kept over 21 ii 22 the years? A. I don't know whether -- I've never 2 3 requested to see them. Whether they are available 2 4 or not, I don't know. 2 5 Q. I'm going to show you what's has been PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS T JAMES R. .HURD 71 1 marked as Deposition Exhibit No. 7 which purports to 2 be the minutes of the Safety Committee meeting at 3 the Marriott Motor Hotel in Saddle Brook, New 4 Jersey, September 19, 1967. Is this the general 5 form that the minutes take, sir? Is that what they 6 normally look like when they come back? 7 A. Yeah, that's the general format. a Q. And at the top here it gives the names 9 of those in attendance, and one of them would have 1 o been M. F. Fink, Georgia-Pacific Corporation Gypsum 11 Division. I think you stated that you knew who Mr. 1 2 Fink was, did you not? 1 3 A. Yes, sir. 1 4 Q. Was he the representative to the Gypsum 1 5 Association before you were? 1 6 A. If he attended the meeting, I guess he 1 7 was -- he at least attended that meeting. Whether 1 8 he was a representative on the Safety Committee, I 1 9 don.-1 t know. 20 .A Q. Do you know who was the representative 2 1 of Georgia-Pacific before you were? 2 2 A. No, sir, not in safety. 23 Q. You took it just out of a vacuum? You 2 4 never found out who did it before you did? 2 5 A. If Mr. Fink was involved, then he was PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS I lr JAMES R. HURD 72 1 involved, but I don't know whether he was a regular 2 member of the committee or not. Obviously, he 3 attended the meeting. 4 Q. Have you ever seen these minutes from 5 this meeting before? 6 A. No, sir. 7 Q. What is the purpose of the Gypsum 8 Association Safety Committee? 9 A. The purpose is to discuss and get 1 0 involved in safety activities of the association in 1 1 the safety area. We conduct a safety awards program 1 2 through the association. 1 3 Q. What's the safety awards program? 1 4 A. It's an industrywide program that is 1 5 based on the OSHA statistical record keeping 1 6 criteria. 1 7 Q. What else does the Gypsum Safety 1 8 Commit tee do? 1 9 A. We are involved in a safety seminar 20 that we put on -- it depends on the seminar 2 1 and the locations, but two to four times a year. 2 2 Q. And what is the purpose of the safety 2 3 seminar program? 2 4 A. It's to conduct safety training for 2 5 member company employees. PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS 1 JAMES R. HURD 73 1 2 3 4 5 \6 \7 P \ 9 Xo ll ''1 2 13 14 l5 i 1 17 i jp `\ 20 21 22 23 24 25 Q. What else does the Safety Committee do? A. That's basically it. Q. To your knowledge, has the Safety Committee ever put on a seminar program concerning health hazards regarding asbestos? A. Hot that I'm aware of. Q. Do you know why? A. No, sir. Q. Could they have, if they wanted to? If you wanted to put on a seminar for the members who had employees working around asbestos as to how to properly handle that asbestos, could you have done so? A. I don't know, and the reason I say I don't know is because it would have to be approved by the board of directors of the association before we would be allowed to put on any seminar or program, and I can't speak for those folks. Q. And the board of directors of the Gypsum Association is composed of whom? A. I can't name them for you. Q. Does Georgia-Pacif i c have anybody on the board of directors of the Gypsum Association or have they ever? A. Yes, sir. PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS JAMES R. HURD 74 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Q. Do they currently? A. Yes , sir. Q. Who is it? A. Mr. Richards. Q. How long has he been on the board of directors of the Gypsum Association, approximately? A. He's been on there for -- again, approximately -- I can't give you the dates -- for the last two years. Q. Who was the Georgia-Pacific representative before him on the board of directors? A. Mr. WiIson. Q. He was the vice-president in charge the Gypsum Division? A . Yes, sir. Q. Was he on the board of for some time? A . Yes, sir. Q. Since you've been there? ** A. Yes, sir. Now, let me clarify that. He vras on and off a couple of times. Q. There have been some workers' compensation claims filed by Georgia-Pacific employees claiming injuries related to asbestos exposure, have there not? PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS 1' JAMES R. HURD 75 1 A . Not that I1 m aware o f. 2 Q Give me just a minute. 3 A . You said as a result of asbestos 4 exposure? 5 Q - Yes . 6 A . That there have been claims filed? 7 Q . That there have been workers' 6 compensation claims filed against Georgia-Pacific by 9 people who claim lung disease from asbestos 1 exposure. You are not aware of any? Is that right, 1 X you are not aware of any? 1 2; A. Well - J MR. BISHOP: He's thinking. M A. Let me think about it a minute. Q. Okay. 1 6 (Discussion off the 1 7 record.) 1 8 THE WITNESS: There was one 1 9 claim that was alleged to be asbestos-re1 ated in 20 Texas 2 1 Q. Okay. And that was a claim out of the 2 2 the Acme plant? 2 3 A. Out of the Acme plant. 24 Q. And when was that claim filed? Do you 2 5 recall? PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS I 1 JAMES R. HURD 76 1 A . I can't tell you the date that it was 2 filed. 3 Q. And do you recall the disposition of the 4 claim? 5 A. It is still in litigation. 6 Q. Okay. 7 MR. BISHOP: Is it a recent 8 claim? 9 THE WITNESS: It's been 1 0 ongoing for some time, and when I say "some time," I 1 1 mean a couple of years. 1 2 Q. It's been a couple of years. 1 3 A. The employee is deceased now. 1 4 Q. I'm sorry. I've got some material here, 1 5 and I just can't put my hands on it. If you give me 1 6 just a minute. That would be the claim by Shirley 1 7 Tate, would it not? 1 8 A. Yes, that is the Tate claim. 1 9 Q. Are you aware of a claim by Charles 20 Bateaack? 2 1 A . Babcock. 2 2 Q. Out of a Maine Workers' Compensation 2 3 Commission. You don't know about that one? 2 4 A . No. 2 5 Q. What about Alfred Puglisi in Oregon? PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS JAMES R. HURD 77 1 A . No . 2 MR. BISHOP: How do you spell 3 that? 4 MR. BARON: P-u-g-1-i-s-i. 5 Q. How about William Weaver in Oregon? 6 A. (Witness shook head from side to side. ) T ~ Q. You don't know that one either? I take 8 it that was a no? 9 A. No, I'm sorry. No. 1 0 Q. What about Charles Moody in Oregon? You 1 1 don't know that one either? 12 A. I'm not aware of that one. 1 3 Q. Do you have any responsibilities with 14 workers' compensation claims in your present job? 1 5 A. Yes. 1 6 Q. What are your responsibilities? 1 7 A. I have responsibilities to be apprised 1 8 of decisions made where there is workmen's 1 9 compensation claims involving our division. 2 0 Q. To help you out, Mr. Puglisi claims 2 1 injuries due to asbestos exposure while working as a 2 2 janitor for Georgia-Pacific in Portland, Oregon. 2 3 You don't recall that one? 24 A. No, sir. 2 5 Q. Mr. Weaver was a contract worker working PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS 1 r~ JAMES R. HURD 78 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 ifv i 2/0 i1 i 22 23 24 25 at the control panel at Georgia-Pacific Vs Toledo, Oregon, plant. You don't recall that one? A. (Witness shook head from side to side. ) Q. Mr. Babcock, was a millwright in the Maine plant. A. Never heard of him. Q. And Mr. Moody claims injuries due to asbestos exposure as a pipe fitter and welder at Georgia-Pacific's Toledo, Oregon, plant. know that one ? You don't A. No, sir. Q. Does Georgia-Pacific have a library in its headquarter buildings? A. A general library? Q. A general library concerning health and safety. A. I've never seen one, if there is one. Q. If in 1974 you had wanted to find out everything you could know about asbestos-related dltvases, where would you have gone? A. I guess my first contact probably would have been with somebody in OSHA because, as far as I know, they have done the most extensive research on t he sub j e c t . Q. Are you then stating that there was PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS I JAMES R. HURD 79 1 nowhere in Georgia-Pacific that you could have gone 2 to obtain that information? 3 A. Not that I'm aware of. 4 Q. So in 1974, there was no place that you a could go in the Georgia-Pacific Corporation to 6 obtain material about asbestos-re1 ated health 7 hazards, to the best of your knowledge? 8 MR. BISHOP: Objection, asked 9 and answered. 1 0 Q I s that right ? 1 1 A . To the best of my knowledge. 1 2 Q I n this case , we asked Georgia-Pacific 1 3 in Interrogatories to list by title, date, and 1 4 author all books, manuals, and pamphlets or other 1 5 literature within their possession dealing with 2 6 drywall , insulation and/or asbestos-containing 1 7 products. And they have provided us with a list of 1 8 materials that are in their possession concerning 1 9 asbestos products. And I'm going to ask you if you 20 hs7S ever seen some of these particular items, if 2 1 you recall ever having seen them. One of them is 2 2 called Suspected Carcinogens, a subfile of the NIOSH 2 3 toxic substance list published in June 1975. Does 2 4 that ring a bell to you? 2 5 A . No . PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS i JAMES R. HURD 80 1 Q. Chemical Abstract, American Chemical 2 Society, 1955. You don't recall that? 3 A . {Witness shook head from side to side. 4 Q You've never seen t ha t one ? 5 A . No , sir. 6 Q Te chnica1 Service Repor t Data f rom the 7 National Technical Information Service dated 1974 8 concerning asbestos. You never saw that one? 9 A. I have not seen it. 10 Q. Okay. A book called Environmental 1 1 Polution dated 1973 by a Mr. Hodges. Does that ring 1 2 a bell to you? 1 3 A . No, it doesn ' t. 1 4 Q. A book called the Industrial 1 5 Environment, Its Evlauation and Control, U.S. 1 6 Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, 1973. 1 7 Does that ring a bell to you? 1 8 A. Do that one again. 1 9 Q. The Industrial Environment, Its 20 Evaluation and Control. It's an HEW publication, 2 1 1973. Does that ring a bell to you? 2 2 A. I don't recall seeing it. 2 3 Q. All right. A book called Occupational 2 4 Diseases and Industrial Medicine by Johnston and 2 5 Miller, 1961 edition. It doesn't ring a bell to PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS 1 r~ JAMES R. .HURD 81 1 you? 2 A . No , sir. 3 Q . Another book called Handbook of 4 Industrial Toxicology by Plunket, 1966. 5 A . I'm going to say no. I'm not - 6 Q Another NIOSH - 7 MR. BISHOP: Wait a second. 8 Let him finish his answer. 9 Q. Okay. It doesn't ring a bell to you? 1 0 A. No. And if I had any reference to those 1 . during that particular period, I don't recall it. 1 2 Q. A book called Early Detection of 1 3 Occupational Diseases published by NIOSH, 1974. 1 4 Does that - - 1 5 A . Yeah . 1 6 Q You ring a be 11 on that one ? 1 7 A . Tha t one rings a bell, yes, sir. 1 8 Q Where would you have seen that booklet 1 9 be fore? 20 A . I would imagine tha t I had probably seen 2 1 i t within Georgia-Pacific. 2 2 Q. Did you have a booklet such as that in 2 3 your office? 24 A. I don't recall whether I did or not. 2 5 Q. Do you know whether you had access to PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS JAMES R. HURD 82 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 booklets such as that If you wanted to use them? A. I would have had access if they were available within GP. Q. Where would they have been kept? Was there a special place for books like that? A. The only logical place would have been in our corporate safety office. Q. And the corporate safety office is where you worked, is it not? A . Yes, sir. Q. Who is the corporate safety director? A . Currently? Q. Yes. A. Mike Skinner. Q. Who was in 1974 whe . you came into your position A Ken Gibson. Q Gibson? Did you have any reporting duties to Mr A . No, sir. Q Gibs on? So you acted autonomously from Mr. A . Yes, sir. Q And as I understand it, the Gypsum Divison was the only division of Georgia-Pacific PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS JAMES R. HURD 83 1 that used asbestos? 2 A. As far as I know. 3 Q. Have you ever discussed the topic of 4 asbestos-re1 ated diseases with the corporate safety 5 d e p^ rtment, that you can recall? 6 A. Not that I can recall. 7 e Thank you very much. MR. BARON: Pass the witness. 9 MR. HENDERSON: No questions. 1 0 Thank you. 11 MS. JUDIN: I have no 1 2 ques tions 2 3 MR. BISHOP: I'll reserve 1 4 mine. 1 5 (End of deposition.) 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS i l r~ JAMES R. HURD 84 1 2 3 4 5 6 SIGNATURE OF WITNESS 7 8 9 10 11 STATE OF TEXAS ) 12 COUNTY OF______________) 13 14 1 5 Subscribed and sworn to before me by the said 1 6 witness, JAMES R. HURD, on this the ________day of 17 ______ 1 987 . 18 19 20 21 Notary Public in and for 2 2 the State of Texas 23 24 25 PRITCHETT St ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS i r* JAMES R. HURD 85 1 STATE OF TEXAS) 2 COUNTY OF DALLAS) 3 I/ Antonice J. Ruesch, a Certified Shorthand 4 Reporter and Notary Public in and for the State of 5 Texas, do hereby certify that, pursuant to the 6 agreement hereinbefore set forth, there came before 7 me on the 27th day of February 1987, at 9:30 a.m., 8 at the offices of Hughes & Luce, 1000 Dallas 9 Bulding, Dallas, Texas, the following named person, 1 0 to wit: JAMES R. HURD, who was by me duly sworn to 1 1 testify the truth and nothing but the truth of his 1 2 knowledge touching and concerning the matters in 1 3 controversy in this cause; and that he was thereupon 1 4 carefully examined upon his oath and his examination 1 5 reduced to writing under my supervision; that the 1 6 deposition is a true record of the testimony given 1 7 by the witness, and that the deposition may be i 8 signed by said witness before any Notary Public, 1 9 purusant to the agreement of the parties. 20 - I further certify that I am neither attorney 2 1 or counsel for, nor related to or employed by, any 2 2 of the parties to the action in which this 2 3 deposition is taken, and further that I am not a 2 4 relative or employee of any attorney or counsel 2 5 employed by the parties hereto, or financially PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS I 1" JAMES R. HURD 86 1 interested in the action. 2 In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my 3 hand and affixed my notarial seal this 4th day of 4 March 1 987 . 5 6 / ' 7 Uiitci ucl 8 Antonice J. Ru^sch, CSR #3389 Certified Shorthand Reporter 9 In and for the State of Texas 8140 Walnut Hill Lane 1 0 Suite 310, LB 15 Dallas, Texas 75231 1 1 (214} 373-4977 1 2 My Commission expires: 12/31/89 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 TAXABLE COST OF ORIGINAL: C<?(t <7 S ( , 25 PRITCHETT & ROMANS 373-4977 DALLAS, TEXAS 1 Page Link LAWYER'S NOTES Georgia-Pacific Corporation y 900 J.U5'. Fifth At tttut PortUnd, Ortfoit 97204 Ttltpbout (20}) 222-2561 *7 Hr. Robert J. Udavcak 928 Fourth Avenue Seat McKeesport, PA 15035 Dear Mr. Odavctk: Tour latter dated May 13, 1977 concerning Georgia-Pacific Ready-Mix Joint Cozapound haa been brought to ay attention* First of ell, let ne say that ve are pleased that you have chosen Georgia-Pacific products for your hone remodeling project. To our knowledge, Mr* Udavcak, there la no known case where hats has eons to someone froa their use of our Ready-Mix joint compound containing asbestos fibers, even after prolonged exposure numbered in many yeare. . Tour description of the use and handling of our product should eliminate any concern that you may have of being exposed to free asbestos fibers as the fibers wore suspended in a vet state during mixing and application and are encased In e dried compound now making it virtually lapoaaibla for the fibers to become airborne. As indicated on the cam, precautions should bs taken when sanding this product. Sanding will produce dust, which includes airborne asbestos fibers; therefore, a dust mask should be worn during eny sanding operation* 1 hope that after receipt of this letter you will rest secure In the knowledge that you mead have no concern or anxiety over the exposure you or members of your family may have suffered, or may suffer in the future, due to the use of our product* If I can ha of furthar aaalatanca, plaaaa faal frea to contact me* be- Messrs. C, E. Wilson, 0. E. Burch, 6. C. Corklll^ Sit' 1 N, GfcorgiaFtecific ntracompany memo Mr* G* E. VUaon ' from 0. E. Burch subiect ASBESTOS - JT CEMENT PRODUCTS location location date Portland Portland May 17, 1974 Attached appeared In the Valla & Ceilinga magazine, May lasue. This la the flrat time 1 have eeen actual caaea reported* OEB/mf O.E.B. CC Meaara: end* C. W. Lehnert - Tigard Lab J. Hurd - Portland M. Fink - Tigard Lab D.' C. Corkill, Portland^. . Is CPSC A Sleeper? Tfce construction industry hod lit tle idea what was over the horizon when the Occupational Safety and, Health Act was passed by congi In due course, OSKA develops Into a major source of concern lor all contractors. Everybody's /for safety, of course, and few thenght passage of the federal law would make very mueh difference inf ducting a business. If* made a whale of a big difference. I Congress has created anothef bu reau which hasn't received a Brest deal of attention. Maybe it won't have too much impact on con tion. On the other hand, it coui come a bureaucratic giant affec almost every business. It's the Consumer Product Safer Commission, which believes the home is second only to the automo bile as the most dangerous "product" on the market today. If CPSC is all that worried about homes, why not offices, warehouses, and all build ings? The Commission reasons that since it has jurisdiction over appliances, it follows that it has authority over wiring. The wiring's attached to structural framing, so that too must come within their jurisdiction. By any type-of wall and ceding con struction. Perhaps It won't happen. But then, whoever thought OSKA would be come eo important? Asbestos Danger Cited Taping and spackling compounds used in drywall finishing may ex pose workers to dangerous levels of asbestos fibers, according to OSHA officials. The warning followed an exami nation of 1? members of a New York City painters* local. TestJ showed the lungs of nine painters had X-ray evidence of fibrosis, or excessive se cretion build-up in the lungs. Employer groups and unions are being asked to alert workers to the potential hazard, said federal safety authorities. Moosbrugger Passes Longtime isWCC member Louis J. Moosbruggcr died in Lake Worth. Florida, in February. He founded Northwestern Plastic Art. Milwau kee, in 1923. and developed the NuStone system of simulated stone masonry executed in plaster. North western Plastic Art St Nu-Stone Co.. Inc., is now headed by his son, Robert. When //reproofing wit/ Zonolite MONO - KOTE for the best results use "K" BALLS a Mode especially for Nathan Kimmel, Inc. longer lasting urethane material. Will fit Thomsen and Essick plastering guns. NATHAN KIMMEL, INC. 1213 South Santa Pe Avenue las Angeles, California 90021 (213) 627-9556 tttm -.-W.. g.-\ JVVW.' .* 1 -t irf1 * KifeftYiffV *' Paper-backed diamond mesh CECO Kraft paper-backed Self-furred asphalt-backed Asphalt paper-backed SelMurring asphalt-bached GVDo'&siB ILatelh SAVE MATERIAL, TIME AND MONEY Asphalt-bached diamond mash MAT 1174 THE CECO CORPOR AT I N 3601 W. 26TH STREET. CHICAGO. ILL. 60650 7 GeorgiaFfecific ^ intracompany memo . ' 10 Mr* V. A* tfalbone from J. A, Burd subject Asbestos Caution Labels location location ; date Akron, K* Y* Fort land Juno 7, 1974 P b This Memo la la response to your latter dated June 3, 1974 concerning the above subject* X appreciate your concern over the changes in the aabeatoa caution labela; however, our attorneys are aleo deeply concerned over recent findings of aabeatoeia la workers In the construction Industry which is a result of working with Joint system products. The new wording for the caution labels is In compliance with OSHA regulations* The fact that the wording, "Respirator Protection Required When Sanding11 was added will only give us additional protection if any liability threats are made against our products. Our sales effort should not be affected, as the Implication of the OSHA wording is to wear e respirator vhlla working with these products anywsy* You asked If we as Ceorgla~?aclflc representatives are In e position to recormsend the type of approved respirators to ba used to our customers. I feel we should ba prepared to answer end dlscuae any questions dealing with our products. If we can give assistance to our customer# as to what types of respirators are approved by OSHA, X sea nothing wrong in doing so* I am enclosing a copy of tba Occupational Safety end Health Standards which deals with tha subject for your reference if you do not already have a copy* If X can ba of further assistance in clarifying this matter for you, please contact me. JRH:Jb Enclosure cc: Meesre\j. D, Rauch Akron, N. Y* B. Hollingsworth - Vllmington , 0. E* Burch C* V* Lehnert Tigard Lab H* V* Psele Vllmington t DEPOSITION EXHIBIT I -3 y- * i NATIONAL GYPSUM COMPANY OFFALO. HIT TOIX 141*1 September 15, 1971 Hr. Yilliaa Hunt, President Georgia Pacific Corporation Gypsum Division P.0. Box 311 Portland, Oregon 97207 Dear Bill: Tou have recently received a communication from Asbestos Information Association/North America, inviting your Company to attend a Seminar, in New York at the Union League Club, {38 E. 37th) on Tuesday, September 21, from 10:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. The purpose of the Seminar is to acquaint . your organization with the background of * research and investigation which has been conducted by industry, government and labor, concerning the supposed hazards of asbestos. All users of asbestos fibers, in any form in froducts produced, will be affected by regulat ions which are expected to be issued by the Environmental Protection Agency. The use of asbestos fibers in sprayed fire proofing insulation has already been banned. The State of Illinois has legislation in progress to ban the use of asbestos in break- linings by 1975. -' And there are many more. 1 t September 15, 1971 Mr. William Hunt page 2 In my opinion, It your Company uses asbestos fiber in any product aucb aa, aabeatoa cement, joint treatment products, acoustical products, or sprayed interlon finishes, it is Important that you be Informed of its effect on your Company's operation and markets. Ve hope that you mill be able to send someone from your organization to attend this Seminar. Sincerely, 4' 1" I September 17, 1971 Dear Al: Thanks for your followup letter concerning cho Asbestos Information Association meeting. tfe have already declined cho invitation on the theory that ve have no active interest In the asbestos business or in producta\that Involve the nee of asbestos. For these reason* we really wouldn't fit in this meeting. Our empathies of coarse ere with eny problems with which the ihdustry may" be faced and it is sty hope that your deliberations jrfill be effective. regards Sincerely yours. Kr. Albert ft. Fay Vice President national Gypsum Company 325 Delaware Buffalo, lev Fork 14202 Georgia-Pacific Corporation 900 S.W. Fifth Street Portland, Oregon 97204 Dea r Bill: ITe mere Indeed sorry that you mere unable to attend our Seminar. * Of course, 1 cannot be certain, but 1 mould guess that you do use asbestos fiber in joint treatnent products and in finishes for mallboard. ' Our tests indicate that sanding of joint treatment products and particularly the spraying of mall finishes offers some substantial potential hazards. Tou may feel it advisable to check into this. Sincerely, AHF:les i i p' : ."> KXKUTES OF THE SAFETY COMMITTEE KEET1KG ` * MARRIOTT MOTOR HOTEL SADDLE BROOK, KEU JERSEY V*",vr'-V* m' ` * . \r >.** * - "SEPTEMBER 19, 19S7 *V ; .iSisaiSl t ^f / ;. /' ' 1 V-; Vv-'-Mr* T. H. Elanentan, Chairan* thejgCVBSUB Association -=r>'V' '-' ' / Safety C*-o---o-'nlAtte.iei.,Jicalled the westing tbordexat ^the^Marrlott Motcw^^^ " ' ` *" ~ * " ~ k `~ ` tfiv^fcYhoaein attendance w" A. The chairman requested thatthe secretary relate'the aeoher ceapiny response for safety articles to he .wed in the Bulle ->% r J * tin. Following a brief discussion.hy the -coBaltteer* It ms zecooaendation that each wember coopay stlwlateJemploaree partic^T^p^^: patlon by urging the plant ^^^^yMS.t^vrl^ n^ iB^b^^aafety^^^mm articles to the Association, 4Y -. u /.V, ;. - r-. -;** _ , . ...................... yi* * " B* The cownlttec miesed the^Bulletlai foroat'and It the consensus thst.lt was satlafactory'ln Ate present lorB/J^One'^^^V;^'/-^: A,^^ewber suggested that a possible change beceoaidered when the^wxt Bulletin oast head is printed. f-The secretary indicated that present'}\ .\vv`^ Bulletin stock supply would be depleted *st the efed ofj the fiscal year;f .v; ` ' and at that tine, coanittee suggestions would he lolicltcd..* *** Mlk k4HC| bVHBAb^CC *"llr WWW* * , *L. ^ S.^'%-*. * . *>; ^ ve*T V-A^ '; .;. ; if y * t ^ -f .The coacittee requested that the, secretary construct s v., chart showing the industry frequency rating'over..the past four years, V ; . - as related to the all industry frequency rating reported by the / V ; Rational Safety Council^ and print this ,chart in the Safety Bulletin, j. . The secretary indicated that sudh a chart was already being considered -.^v. ' .for the October issue, -. v .- . .* K\ The eoenlttec directed that this item be carried on the >'r<TfrX j:- %'^FUSE? X ?v OT a^:^'Mr-! - " - ` ' ; V! The 'secretary lubidtted V'*rtlficite of llerit^1 *avarfj^^ ^ *#<sc plaque lor- cocadttee investigation*" >Be Inforoedthe coonlttee `tnat^T^fei^ ,; - ; :, the award cost the Association $20*00 to purchase and Mail', 'an*"' ' quested that they night consider ortngrisc an oisrd that Aright-'have x^/v&try^ ******* utility for the viancr. such as an .ashtaray5'tr`pen aet^^ttfte ' cocadttee, af" ter such ........................... to obtains -.., ^^^'^fche' Safety Bollrtis,' __________e>yh*Uo,u t>The article ."Tkid'Too c Tan li&rjy td duction Supriirti. wA d. The FIiulwr^Ccryony yMplMUBB Divlslon, Frerx=st^ California. CtB5^t'^97Jv^iTO^the _ Robertson till meiut a'certificate land iasctiicd as^tm^arlls' ^ .-:a- r,,,.^,^-.. ... The chairman clted a 'fev.pollution problems .lnvolyf^jj^.. on a local level* He ttressedthe''Ixapoeltaacae"of all; cocnitte^neer1 P:-;rS^s-: keeping abreast with local, stae,''and fcdrral uollutfon'progTj ;>i : tee camber noted a .recent jo^abBsTfaBn^hMiK tSe,aste; " hitiy ubere a number of long''ca&'rbiiran cmmes ftt^^ftuuak*n!pbrtel .,, M ,:. '<* : : igfaafaltants of the ncishborhood 'nia'n'MjlfiTflSM'hp^BtfaeaEgaM ^iatt " ifcither noted that clinical 'tests ~ ^------- JUT r-esulieailn: should talur the initia^ive^.ko facet^ t should occur in the amsuafclasastry* `Saa&jbfW: ; f*:.r Following" e dlfcyiyian bf,yellsCfes jenafeXeear ^ . dustrles^ It vas the consensus that^the safety' syrdtaSu^stewld.hsvi store active program in this area^' octjinlac *he pro61e5as`tht>'ii*r. ,,,;j and vhat steps have Wen taken to solve .- . - . ' a BbtlM Mcmtct aad c*srU"i, the';' coradtiW^rtromendsd that the chhaiiirrssccn *aMdrsfte the dircctcrs of tthe poilrtio, n fre^leay^^an-d . . suefest thKWit tUyTew *p*inwtsr eyrf join locel *> ifi iiii^' i f unf'' fir i iin^liii . lion prob} ere. toots ark our Indnstry ere aterecent rol^of. tie.procle The coerristee directed Shat this .subject be et;ied\J5i S*j-