Document VOyx2oQRZxa4v1GoG07zdXMK

FILE NAME: WR Grace (WRG) DATE: Unknown DOC#: WRG 186 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: 0000 Barry Castleman Notes on WR Grace Chronology CHRONOLOGY - IMPORTANT W.R. GRACE FACTS W.R. Grace was founded in 1899 in Massachusetts. In 1918 Hoffman had his report on insurance companies not giving coverage to asbestos workers. In 1919 Dewey & Almy was founded in Massachusetts. In 1919 the vermiculite and asbestos corporation was founded in Montana which later became zonolite which later became W.R. Grace. It expanded and eventually Zonolite company had factories in Spokane, Chicago, Detroit and Canada. 1916 - The Multibestos company which did brakes, was operated in Walpole, Massachusetts. It was a major asbestos factory in Massachusetts besides the Gatke Corporation which also was involved in brakes. 1927 - Asbestosis got its name in England through a Cooks' report. Also in 1927, according to Lanza's 1936 JAMA article, asbestos was officially recognized in the United States when the Massachusetts Industrial Accident Board upheld a claim for worker's compensation of a foreman of the weaving department of an asbestos plant. There is a good argument to be made that this involved the Multibestos plant which later became part of W.R. Grace. By 1928, there was a compensation crisis at that plant and this can be found the 1939 article in radiology by George & Leonard which refers to all of the cases of asbestosis at the Dewey & Almy 1 plant. They refer to the fact that Dr. Hawes, who wrote an article, in 1937 in the New England Journal of Medicine was the physician for the doctors. Dr. Hawes' article makes it very clear about the dangerousness of asbestos. "He concludes that asbestos is extremely dangerous and fatal." There is Mr. Dewey's letter to Mr. Boditch of the Division of Occupational Hygiene in Massachusetts in February 23, 1938 which is our Grace Exhibit No. 5 where he talks about the disease record at the Walpole plant and states "... asbestosis is a very serious and sometimes fatal disease." Dewey Almy acquired Multibestos in 1930. That can be taken from the history of the ATI as well as the merger documents. Dewey had knowledge, of course, and because of all of the compensation claims being filed, took an active involvement with Johns-Manville, Raymark - this can be found in the minutes of the meetings regarding dust hazards and Siegel's office between Johns-Manville and Raymark. In December 29, 1933 dealing with Met Life and what eventually became the Saranac Study, this is J&C Document No. 5114 from the JM document production. On the page 2, it talks about Dewey having asked them/him for information, they were going to talk to him about it. The subsequent correspondence involving Dewey makes it clear that he was involved in all of this. 2  In 1954 - Dewey & Almy merged with W. R. Grace. Dewey continued to be involved. The next set of documents deal with Zonolite in the 1950s and their knowledge of asbestos disease and the problems they had with their plant in Montana. Zonolite merged with W.R. Grace in 1963. It appears that most of the products that people were exposed to were zonolite products. W.R. Grace continued to expand, they acquired Western Mineral Products in 1966. In 1968 - Various documents regarding the concern about the New Yorker article, Compensation Claims, and decision whether or not to put a warning on. This is very significant. W.R. Grace never had a warning on their products. See involvement is the whole EPA exemption for small amounts of asbestos which they, interesting enough, were fighting with the Sprayed Mineral Products Association as Sprayed Mineral Products. By that time, it had gotten rid of asbestos and were lobbying against asbestos and W.R. Grace was trying to keep it in. One can look to the Herb Levine deposition for that information. Other Miscellaneous Matters There is a reference to ASTM - 1936 which talks about conversations with Dewey Almy plus W.R. Grace was a member of IHF - 1957 - 1961. 3