Document aJbqndL4nrg84JNYK3vQx1oBB

% M r 1 IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA 2 IN AND FOR THE COUNTY OF SOLANO 3 --oOo--4 5 IN RE: CLAPPER & BRAYTON SHIPYARD AND APPLICATOR 6 ASBESTOS CASES CONSOLIDTED FOR DISCOVERY. 7 Hisc. No. 959 8 ----oOo------ 9 IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA 10 IN AND FOR THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO 11 --oOo-- 12 13 IN RE: SHIPYARD AND APPLICATOR ) ASBESTOS CASES (CLAPER & BRAYTON) > No. 804416 14 CONSOLIDATED FOR DISCOVERY. ) ) 15 (Captions continued on next page.) 16 17 DEPOSITION OF DOUGLAS WAYNE MERRILL 18 NOVEMBER 1, 1984 19 20 KOTfCC s . * ."f 21 a-.cfo-. tC iir - . .*> ' .ar* : : pen2 . ? . * 1 " i. - - 22 \:s. t. * - _ .r - bi U,r i -e-xtu 23 24 25 REPORTED BY: MARJORIE R. FORMAN, CSR# 2783 26 MARY HILLABRAND & ASSOCIATES 27 Certified Shorthand Reporters 449 Powell Street Mezzanine 28 San Francisco, CA 94102-1570 i MARY HILLABRAND & ASSOCIATES (415) 788-5! 58 1 Two is two. i 2 (Luncheon recess was taken from 12:20 p.m. to 1:25 3 p nt) * 4 CONTINUED EXAMINATION BX MR. BRAXTON 5 MR. BRAXTON: 0. With respect to raw asbestos fibers, who was your contact at Carey with respect to 7 procuring these fibers? 8 A. The only contact that I recall is with . S. 9 Browning. 10 Q. Xou don't recall any contact with anybody 11 directly at Carey? 12 A. I don't recall any names, no. 13 Q. What about Johns-Manville? 14 A. I think the guy's name was Joe McCarthy. 15 Q. And Onion Carbide? IS MR. SCHOFIELD: Is -- 17 THE WITNESS: No. 18 Onion Carbide, we had local. They had a local 19 representation through Harrisons 6 Crosfield, and -- 20 MR. SHARP: Excuse me. What is that second name? 21 I've heard it two or three times. 22 MR. SCHOFIELD: Crosfield 23 MR. SHARP: Cross, as in. 24 MR. SCHOFIELD: C-r-o-s-f-i-e-l-d. 25 MR. SHARP; Thank you. 2 THE WITNESS: There are some names that I know were 27 with Harrisons Crosfield, Dick- Lieber, Leon Pierce. 28 That'3 all I can think of right now. I'm not sure if they MARX HILLABRAND & ASSOCIATES (415) 788-5350 59 !I I 2 were there during the period of the asbestos purchases. I } 2 HR. BRAXTON: Q. Do you recall having any contact 3 with anybody directly at Onion Carbide with respect to 4 purchasing their fibers? 5 A. Yes, we did. I don'tirecall any names. 6 Q. Did you review any documents prior to the 7 deposition today to refresh your recollection? j J 8 A * No i 9 Q. Who vas your predecessor at Kelly-Hoore? Who 10 was there before 1968 in your position? 11 A. Well, my position in 1968 started out in a 12 quality control lab. I don't know who did that. My ! 1i 13 predecessor on the Paco -- as manager of the Paco, was Tom : 14 Smith. IS Q. Do you know how long (he was with the Paco 16 Division? 17 A. No. 18 Q. Do you know where he is today? i j 19 A. He's selling, 1 believe, for A. J. Lynch. 20 Q. Where are they located? I 21 A. I think their main office is in Southern 22 California, Los Angeles area. 23 Q. Do you think Mr. Smith is selling in Northern 24 California? 25 A. Xes. 1 i 26 Q. Do you know where het resides, or where his 27 office is? > 28 A, I don't know if he has an office. He could verv MARX HILLABRAND & ASSOCIATES (415) 788-5350 i l I i 60 1 well work oat of his home, and I'm not sure where he i 2 lives. i | 3 Q. I noticed on your summary that the purchases of 4 raw asbestos fiber began in 1968. Did either Paco or | j5 Kelly-Moore produce asbestos-containing products prior to 6 1968? 7 -a. lea. i 8 Q. And do you know for what period of time prior to 9 1968 they produced asbestos proIducts? 10 A. I don't have any firsthand knowledge, so x don't I 11 know. 12 Q. What is the extent of your knowledge of their t 13 production of asbestos-containing products prior to 1968? i 14 A. Kelly-Hoore acquired the Paco Division in the 15 end of December of 1960. They[manufactured Drywall . 18 products at that time. t 17 Q. To the best of your knowledge, the products that 18 you previously described were produced through the '60s by j 19 the Paco Division? 20 A. Yes. *1 , ! I 21 Q. When they acquired the Paco Division, did they ! I 22 acquire all of these other plants that you've talked to us , 23 about? 24 A. No. There was only one Paco plant that I know 25 of at that time. I 26 Q. And that was in Richmond? 27 A. In Richmond. I 28 Q. Do you know how long Paco was in existence in MARY HILLABRAND & ASSOCI IATES (415) 788-5350 I I i i 61 1 Richmond prior to December 1960? i i 2 A. It's my understanding. Paco got started in '58. 3 Q. Did you try and obtain records of procurement of 4 raw asbestos fiber for the period 1960 through 1968 from 5 the Paco Division? 6 A. Yea. There were no records available. ,,t 7 Q. Were there any records available for the period 8 1960 through 1968 with regard to production? 9 A. I'm not sure. There'could be. XO Q. Have you ever looked for such records? A. Yes. | 11 I 12 Q* If there were such records, are they reflected * 13 in your cumulative report that you've previously 1 ri 14 described? j IS A. Yea. ! 16 Q. Is it fair to say that this cumulative report 17 that you have compiled and described here today, both on 18 use of raw fiber and production records, involve all 19 available records from the period 1960 on that are 20 available to Kelly-Moore and to Paco Division. i 21 MR. SCHOFIELD* I am going to object to that question 22 as being argumentative in form. That's extremely broad. 23 When you say, "is it fair to say that," it encompasses all I 24 the records. * ; i 25 We have not brought production records with us j26 because I don't remember seeing anything in your request 27 to produce, even though there ,'are 50 items on it, that } Ij 28 dealt specifically with the production end of it, so that J i II MARY HILLABRAND & ASSOCIATES (415) 788-5350 I I