Document YDm4o4gRMVO3mEEkq3e7ROoJD

FILE NAME: RT Vanderbilt (RTV) DATE: 1990 May 11 DOC#: RTV053 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Excerpt - Dept of Labor Public Hearing Proposed Rule on Occupational Exposure to Asbestos, Tremolite, Anthophyllite & Actinolite 1 . UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT. OF LABOR . r-p 2 OCCUPATIONAL- SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION 3 4 PROPOSED RULE ON OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE 5 TO ASBESTOS, TREMOLITE, ANTHOPHYLLITB AND ACTINOLITE 6 7 AAAAERVQL INFORMAL PUBLIC HEARING VOLUME IV 'B-WAND-8 FRIDAY MAY 1 1 , 1990 11 12 13 The a b o v e - e n title d m a tte r came on f o r 14 fu rth e r h e a rin g , p u rsu a n t to ad jo u rn m en t, a t 9:00 15 a .n u , in th e D epartm ental A uditorium o f th e Frances 16 P e rk in s B u ild in g , U .S. D epartm ent o f L a b o r, 200 17 C o n s t i t u t i o n A v enue, N .W ., W a sh in g to n , D .C ., la A d m in i s t r a ti v e Ju d g e G eorge A. F a th p r e s i d i n g . 19 PRESENT: . 20 THE HONORABLE GEORGE A. FATH, A dm inistrative Judge 21 ROBERT BLICKSILVER, OSHA 22 HUGH CONWAY, OSHA 23 AMANDA EDERS, OSHA 24 JOHN MARTONIK, OSHA 25 (202) 234-W33 EDITH NASH, OSHA . NEAL R. GROSS COUT RIKJIITEM AND TRANSCKUEES 1323 RHODE ISUND' AV EN U E,H W . WASHINGTON. D.C. 20005 (202) 232-6600 1 CONTENTS 2 STATEMENTS PAGE . 3 A m erican M ining C ongress by Mark E l l i s , 4 Accompanied by B ern ard R. Roy, D r. R o b ert 5 . B. R e e g e r a n d D r . W. C l a r k C o o p er 4-4 6 R .T . V a n d e rb ilt Company by D ennis R ace, 7 A ccom panied b y D r . B r i a n A. B o e h le c k e 8 and John V. K e lse 4-86 9 I n s titu te o f A pplied S c ie n c e s, E nvironm ental 10 S c i e n c e s L a b o r a to r y b y D r . A r t h u r M. L a n g e r , 11 Accom panied by D r. R o b e rt N olan and ' 12 John A ddison 4-154 13 W h ite Lung A s s o c i a t i o n o f New Y ork by 14 M yles O 'M alley . 4-281 15 EXHIBITS IN EVIDENCE . 16 No. 494 . 4-7 17 No. 495(p re v io u sly m arked as 494) 4-86 18 No. 496 4-140 19 497(a) th ru ( f f ) r 498 (1) th r u 20 (22) and 499(1) th ru 921) 4-216 21 500(a) thro u g h (e) 4-288 . 22 23 24 25 <202)234-4433 NEAL R. GROSS COURT ROUTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVENUE, N.W. WASHIHOTON, D.C. 20005 <202) 232-3600 *\ ( \ 4-B6 1 t h i s , t i m e . f o r te n m in u tes* and we w i l l reco n v en e a t 2 te n m inutes a f te r 11. - 3 ' (Whereupon, a s h o r t re c e ss was ta k e n .) 4 JUDGE FATHt B efo re c o n tin u in g w i t h t h 5 n e x t p r e s e n ta tio n , w e 're going to make a c o r r e c tio n 6 on the numbering o f th e e x h ib its . 7 Ms. Nash. 8 ; MS. NASH: Y e s, Y our H o n o r. We w ould 9 li k e to red e sig n a te Dr. C ooper's curriculum v ita e as 10 E x h ib it No. 495. 11 (W hereupon, E x h ib it No. 494 12 was rem arked a s E x h ib it No, 13 ' 495 fo r i d e n t i f i c a t i o n and; 14 received in evidence.) 15 JUDGE PATH: L e t t h e r e c o r d show t h e 16 c o rre c tio n . . *7 ' I s 'th e next panel ready? 18 MR. RACE; Y es, Your Honor. 19 JUDGE FAXH: A ll r i g h t . L e t 's p ro c e e d . 20 STATEMENT OF DENNIS RACE ON BEHALF OF R . T . ' 21 .VANDERBILT COMPANY, ACCOMPANIED BY DR. BRIAN A. 22 BOEHLECKE AND JOHN V. KELSE ' ' ; 23 - ' F at h , p a n e l members, my '. 24 name i s D ennis Race. I'm h e re on b e h a lf o f th e R.T. 25 V a n d e rb ilt Company. (202) 23A-4R33 NEAL R. GROSS COURT PORTERS ANO TRANSCRIBERS 1325 RHODE U N O AVENUE. N.W. WASHINGTON, O.C. 20005 (202)232-6600 _________________ 4-87 1 B efore I in tro d u c e th e V a n d e rb ilt 'N 2 Company's two p rim ary s p e a k e rs r I would li k e to make 3 a few c o m m e n ts o n my ow n, m o s t o f w h ic h w e re 4 a d d r e s s e d i n d e t a i l i n my p r e s e n t a t i o n o r my 5 subm ission o f A p ril 23rd. 6 S in c e much o f my s u b m is s io n d e a ls w ith 7 le g a l is s u e s , I w i l l honor Mr. M a rto n ik ' s e a r l i e r 8 r e q u e s t and d e f e r t o my w r i t t e n te s tim o n y , r e s e r v in g 9 f u r t h e r . com m ents' f o r p o s t - h e a r i n g b r i e f s . 10 N e v e r th e le s s , 1 do h av e a few th in g s th a t I would 11 lik e to say th is m orning. 12 I n i t i a l l y , on b e h a lf o f the V anderbilt 13 Company, I would l i k e to acknow ledge t h a t u n lik e th e M p a s t, p a st form al p resen ta tio n s as w ell as inform al 15 m e etin g s t h a t we have had w ith OSHA in v o lv in g i s s u e s 16 p e r ta in in g to t h e n o n asb estifo rm am phiboles, 17 tr e m o lite , a n th o p h y llite and a c t i n o l i t e , i t was n ic e 18 fo r th e company t h i s tim e to p la y a su b o rd in ate r o le 19 in th ese h earin g s and leave th e lio n 's share o f th e 20 work to in d u s try . 21 W ||k ^r^V V ery \p_otidf an d p le a s e d ; w ith th e 22 ^ i e ^ a n d .'t a ^ s h 't e d r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s Jbf . m in in g ,' cru sh e d '1' 23 Stone, .sand and g ra v e l, and hard rock in d u s trie s , and, 24 ex p erts such as D rs. W ylie, L anger, N olan, Cooper and 25 R eeg er, who d id an a d m ira b le jo b . <202)234-4433 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1351 RHODE ISLAND AVENUE. K.W. WASHINGTON, D.C 20005 (202)232-5600 ` -N 1 4-88 1 _ In p a r t i c u l a r , th e V a n d e rb ilt Company 2 ' w ould li k e to a p p lau d th e p r e s e n ta tio n o f th e 3 n a tio n a l Stone A sso c ia tio n . I t was one o f th e - 4 f a i r e s t and most p ro v o cativ e p resen tatio n s o f the 5 ma j o r m e d i c a l , m i n e r a l o g i c a l , t e c h n i c a l i s s u e s 6 involving th e se nonasbestiform am phiboles. 7 '! A lso, based on subm issions a lre a d y in th e 8 r e c o r d , we a r e c o n f i d e n t t h a t o t h e r w i t n e s s e s t o 9 fo llo w , such as John Addison from E d in b u rg h , a lo n g io w ith D rs, Danger and Nolan and th e Bureau o f M ines, 11 lik ew ise w ill add p o s itiv e and m eaningful inform ation 12 f o r OSHA's d e l i b e r a t i o n s . I t r u s t t h a t OSHA, to o , 13 " ' r e c o g n iz e s t h i s . \ ' . / : . ' 14 On th e o th e r h an d , I w ould b e re m is s n o t 15 to p o in t o u t a few co n cern s th a t I have o v e r th e 16 p u b lish e d n o tic e o f p ro p o sed rulem aking and th e se 17 hearings them selves. ' 18 , Number o n e , l i k e o t h e r s , I , t o o , am v e ry 19 concerned over th e d is to r te d p re s e n ta tio n o f th e 20 m edical and s c ie n t if ic lite ra tu re th a t appeared in 21 ,the n o tic e of proposed rulem aking. I , to o , can 22 c o n c e iv e th a t many in d iv id u a ls n o t in tim a te ly 23 f a m i l i a r w ith th e e n t i r e r e c o r d b e f o r e OSHA w o u ld 24 assu m e t h a t OSHA' s p r o p o s a l u rg e s m e re ly th e s t a t u s 25 quo, allow ing th e nonasbestiform am phiboles to rem ain (202) 23A-M33 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS' 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVENUE, N,W. WASHINGTON, D.C 20005 (202)232-6600 4-89 1 in the standard. . ^ 2 Fundam ental fa irn e s s d ic ta te s th a t a l l o f 3 t h e r e l e v a n t e v id e n c e t h a t i s i n t h e OSHA d o c k e t be ; .. 4 p re s e n te d in th e o f f i c ia l docum ents th a t a re 5 p u b lis h e d f o r th e g e n e ra l p u b l i c ' s c o n su m p tio n . To ' : ' :V 6 7 say th a t we and o th e rs are su sp e c t over th e m otives o f the n o tic e o f proposed rulem aking's d ra fte rs i s , ' . B . 9 a t b e s t, an understatem ent. . N um ber tw o , we c o n c u r w ith th e N a t io n a l 10 Stone A sso c ia tio n and Dr. C ooper' s a sse ssm e n t t h a t 11 th e 1972 s ta n d a rd did not cover th e nonasbestifofm 12 h a b it o f a n th o p h y llite , tre m o lite and a c tin o lite , and 13 never was in ten d ed to . ; -' ' ' ' ; ; 14 - Indeed, th e re is no c re d ib le evidence to 15 in d ic a te th a t nonasbestiform a n th o p h y llite , tre m o lite 16 o r a c t i n o l i t e have ever been law fu lly reg u lated by 17 OSHA. To d a t e no f e d e r a l g o v e rn m e n t a g e n c y r e g u l a t e s 18 any of th o se m in e rals. . 19 More im p o r ta n tly , a s we have s e t f o r th in 20 o u r p a p e r s tim e and tim e a g a i n , b o t h b e f o r e OSHA i n ` ; ' . ' , : 21 . 22 ' 23 the co u rts and i i th is p a rtic u la r rulem aking, fo r the p a s t decade or so , th e re has been a b so lu te ly no e v id en ce w hatsoever o f any c ita tio n s o r enforcem ent . . ' 24 a c tiv ity in v o lv in g n o n a sb estifo rm t r e m o l i t e , 25 nonasbestiform a c tin o lite , nonasbestiform (202) 234-M33 NEAL R. GROSS COURT KRORTERS AMD TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE I5UMD AVENUE. N.W. WASHINGTON. D.C. 20005 (202) 232*6600 j y*v. X 4-90 1 a n th o p h y llite or even the asbestiform o f tre m o lite , l ' 2 a n th o p h y llite ox a c tin o lite . ' 3 T hus, d e re g u la tio n should n o t be a 4 concern o r an issu e before us today. These m inerals 5 j u s t have n o t been re g u la te d . However, as d iscu ssed 6 i n my p a p e r s , ev en i f we assu m e f o r th e s a k e o f 7 a rg u m e n t t h a t th e m in e ra ls c u r r e n t l y a r e u n d e r some . 8 rfeg u lato .ry schem e, th e le g a l s ta n d a r d f o r 9 ( d e re g u la tio n i s no d if f e r e n t than th e le g a l stan d ard 10 for reg u latin g .: . \ II A c c o r d in g ly , s in c e OSHA i n i t s F e b ru a ry 12 1 2 th HPR p l a i n l y s t a t e s t h a t t h e r e la c k s s u f f i c i e n t ' 13 h e a lth d ata to w arran t r g u la tio n , th e , q u o te, 14 d ereg u latio n o r, q u o te, n o n re g u la tio n o f th e se 15 m in erals should n o t pose a problem fo r anyone in s id e 16 o r o u t s i d e o f OSHA, w h ich b r i n g s u p p o i n t num ber 17 ' t h r e e . ' . - ' ' . 18 And t h a t i s th e a s to n is h in g e r r o r t h a t 19 was made by H r. M artonik in h is opening s t a t e m e n t. 20 I n t h e p re a m b le t o th e 1986 r e v is e d OSHA s ta n d a r d , 21 OSHA s t a t e d m d ic a l d a ta on n o n a s b e s tifo rm am p h ib o les 22 w as, q u o te, in c o n c lu siv e . That appears a t th e 23 F ederal R egister a t' pages 22631. 24 . Then in F eb ru ary o f 1990, alm ost fo u r 25 y e a r s l a t e r , OSHA a g a in r e i t e r a t e d t h a t th e a v a i l a b l e . <202)2340439 NEAL R_ GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVENUE, N.W. WASHINGTON, D.C 2000S <202) 232-0600 4-91 1 adv erse m edical d a ta was la c k in g , concluding t h a t th e ) 2 d a ta w as, q u o te , in s u f f ic ie n t, and th e re fo re , 3 recommended t h a t th e n o n a s b e s tif o r m a m p h ib o les b e 4 removed from th e expanded 1986 s ta n d a rd . 3 In Mr. M a rto n ik 's o p e n in g re m a r k s , I 6 b e lie v e a t page 2 , he s ta te d on th e reco rd th a t th e re 7 was, indeed, quote, s u b sta n tia l evidence to su p p o rt 8 th e o rig in a l in te n tio n to in clu d e th e nonasbestiform 9 am phiboles in th e expanded 1986 sta n d a rd . T h at W> statem ent sim ply is in c o rre c t. 11 . There is nothing th a t appears a t the page 12 th a t he c ite d in h is p a rtic u la r statem ent; th ere is 13 n o th in g th a t a p p e a rs in th e pream ble to th e 1986 14 .sta n d a rd th a t s u b s ta n tia te s t h a t . The term used in 15 th e pream ble to th e 1986 s ta n d a rd was " in c o n c lu s iv e ." ' 16 T hat is a f a r c ry from th e term " s u b s ta n tia l 17 e v id e n c e ," w hich i s th e l e g a l s ta n d a r d t h a t OSHA and 18 every o th e r fe d e ra l agency has fo r in i tia tin g 19 p articu lar regulations. 20 Number f o u r , w ith re g a rd to i t s re c o rd o f 21 nonenforcem ent o f fthe am phiboles in question and i t s 22 adm itted lack o f s u f f ic ie n t evidence# one must wonder 23 why OSHA f e e l s so co m p elled t o d w e ll on a l t e r n a t i v e 24 modes o f re g u la tio n o f the th re e nonasbestiform 25 amphiboles in q u e stio n . (262) 234-U33 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS . 1323 RHOOt ISLAND AVENUE, N.W. WASHINGTON. D.C. 20005 ' (202) 232-6600 4-92 1 , Indeed, i f , in fa c t, th e re r e a lly are `l 2 documented h e a lth hazards caused by th e exposure to 3 th e s e p a r t i c u l a r n o n a s b e s tlfo rm am p h ib o les, th e n OSHA 4 has been egregiously negligent in th e p ast years fo r 5 n o t e n fo rc in g th e 1972 o r th e 1986 s ta n d a rd . 6 I f , on th e o th er hand, th e re i s a lack o f 7 s u f f i c i e n t a d v e rs e h e a l th d a t a , a s OSHA h a s s t a t e d a and a s we c o n c u r , th e n a l t e r n a t i v e r e g u l a t i o n t o th e 9" d e g re e t h a t OSEA s u g g e s t s i s t o t a l l y u n w a r r a n te d . io I n s u f f i c i e n t m e d ic a l d a ta means j u s t what i t sa y s. 11 I t ' s i n s u f f i c i e n t . You e i t h e r have m e d ic a l s u p p o r t 12 f o r r e g u l a t i n g a p a r t i c u l a r s u b sta n c e o r you d o n 't . . 13 For purposes of th i s p a r t i c u l a r 14 r u le m a k in g , i n OSHA's own w o rd s, a t l e a s t a s th e y 15 ap p ear in th e F ed eral R e g iste r, th e evidence is 16 in su fficien t. 17 M oreover, there has been nothing 18 presented a t th is rulem aking to d a te th a t changes 19 th a t p a rtic u la r conclusion. 20 F in a l ly , I a ls o f e e l t h a t a few words 21 need ,t o be s a i d a b o u t NIOSH. As I m e n tio n ed t o th e 22 NIOSH s t a f f who a p p e a re d b e f o r e t h i s p a n e l e a r l i e r 23 th is week, i t was v e ry d isa p p o in tin g n o t to have D r. 24 John Gamble h e re p e r s o n a lly t o p r e s e n t h i s d a ta , 25 .. which i s (202) 234-4433 p la c e d i n t h e OSHA d o c k e t, and t o NEAL R. GROSS c o u n t ftERORTIR AND TRa NSCRIIERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVENUE. N.W. WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005 share w ith (202) 232-6600 4-93 1 u se some o f th e know ledge t h a t he h a s a c q u ir e d i n 2 s tu d y in g and w orking w ith th e se nonasbestiform 3 am phiboles fo r more th a n a decade. That was n o t to 4 be. ' . . 5 ' U n fo rtu n a te ly f o r Dr. Gamble and fo r u s , 6 same w ith in h i s o r g a n iz a ti o n who la c k th e know ledge 7 o r the w herew ithal to adequately atta c k h is data have chosen in stead to a tta c k his c r e d i b i l i t y . F o rtu n a te ly , th a t should have no b earin g on th is 10 p a r ti c u la r rulem aking. Dr. Gamble's d ata i s in th e 11 r e c o rd , and more im p o rta n tly . Dr. Gamble's 12 c re d e n tia ls , h is experience and h is e th ic a l conduct 13 ; w ere s u p p o rte d by th o s e who r e a l l y c o u n t, h i s p e e r s , 14 th o s e who worked c l o s e l y w ith him o v e r th e y e a r s a t 15 NIOSH. T h at in c lu d e s th e NIOSH p a n e l , who ap p ea red 16 h e re on W ednesday, and D r. R e e g e r, who t e s t i f i e d 17 e a r lie r th is m orning. ' 18 I m ig h t a l s o add t h a t a s we sp eak to d a y , 19 I am t o l d t h a t D r. Gamble i s c u r r e n t l y p ack in g up h i s 20 p e r s o n a l b elo n g in g s and i s leav in g governm ent 21 s e r v ic e . The governm ent i s lo s in g a v ery d e d ic a te d 22 and t a l e n t e d s c i e n t i s t , and t o th e e x te n t t h a t NIOSH 23 has le t th is happen, i t is most unfortunate fo r a ll 24 / 25 of us. (202) 234-4433 . .. ..: . . : W ith th e s e few comments b eh in d , I would NEAL R. GROSS COURT KtPOBTEKS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVENUE. N.W. WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005 ' (202) 232-6600 ' 4-94 now l i k e t o tu r n th e c o n v e rs a tio n o v e r t o D r. B ria n ' Bofehlecke. ' . D r. B oehlecke was fo rm e rly w ith NIOSH and . i s now th e O c c u p a tio n a l M ed icin e D i r e c t o r o f th e Pulm onary F u n ctio n Laboratory a t th e U niversity of North C aro lin a School o f M edicine a t C hapel H i l l . ' Dr. Boehlecke has performed m edical su rv e illa n c e fo r th e R. T. V a n d e r b ilt Company m in ers and m i l l e r s s in c e ' ' 1985. ; : .. -, . , . : ' . .. - . , .' A f te r Dr. Boehlecke speaks, John K lse, Manager f t O c c u p a tio n a l H eath and S a fe ty o f th e R. - T .- V a n d e r b ilt .Co' mpa'ny, w i l l a' d d r e s s th'e h i s.t o r y and.! r e s u lt s o f th e company's s a fe ty and h e a lth program s, i n c l u d i n g d u s t c o n t r o l s . He w i l l a l s o p r o v id e a summary r e s p o n s e t o th o s e who c o n te n d t h a t R . T . V anderbilt ta lc is carcinogenic. Even though the m in eral ta lc i t s e l f i t n o t an a p p r o p r i a t e s u b j e c t i n t h i s p a r t i c u l a r ru le m a k in g , th e re g u la tio n o f R.T. V an d e rb ilt ta lc continues to be a focal p o in t w henever anyone d i s c u s s e s n o n a s b e s tifo rm am p h ib o le s. T h e r e f o r e , we f e l t com pelled to p resen t s p e c ific exposure d a t a - on R. T. V a n d e rb ilt's m iners and m ille rs . P or purposes of e ffic ie n c y and fo r c o n t i n u i t y o f th e two p r e s e n t a t i o n s , Your H onor, we (202) 234-4433 NEAL R. GROSS COURT RIPORTHS AMD TRANSCRIBERS t J 2 J RHODE I5U N& AVENUE, N.W. . WASWNQTOH. D.C. 20005 _ . (202) 232-6600 4-95 1 would re q u e s t th a t th e q u estio n s be h e ld u n t i l th e 2 co m p letio n o f Mr. K e ls e 's testim o n y - Thank you. 3 Dr. Boehlecke. 4 DR. BOEHLECKE: . Thank y o u , Your Honor, 5 p a n e l members and members o f th e au d ien ce. 6 As j u s t s t a t e d , I 'v e been a c o n s u lta n t to 7 th e R. T. V a n d e rb ilt Company and G o v ern o r T a l c 8 Company in te rm s o f review ing t h e i r m edical 9 s u rv e illa n c e program sin ce 1985. 10 In 1985, I review ed c h e st radiographs 11 ta k e n in 1984 o f 203 c u r r e n t w o r k e r s . I a l s o 12 ta b u la te d re a d in g s o f two e x p e r t re a d e rs o f film s 13 th a t had been taken in 1982, and then review ed a l l 14 r a d io g r a p h s a v a i l a b l e f o r whom th e c o n sen su s re a d in g 15 f e l t th e r e was an ab n o rm a lity o f th e r a d io g r a p h in ie 1982. 17 . The company a ls o s u p p lie d work h is to ry 18 in fo rm a tio n as given on th e employment a p p lic a tio n o f 19 each o f th e s e men. The d e t a i l s o f th e s e r e s u l t s have 29 b e e n e n t e r e d i n t o t h e r e c o r d f o r m a l l y i n my 21 statem ent. ' '- . ' : \ 22 ; T h re e men, th e ra d io g ra p h s o f t h r e e men 23 showed parenchymal o p a c itie s c o n s i s t e n t w ith 34 pneum oconiosis. A ll o f th e se had had ten years or 25 more o f ex p o su re p r i o r t o w ork, p r i o r to h i r e a t (202) 234-4433 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVENUE. N.W. WASHINGTON. O.C. 20005 <202) 232-6600