Document oMkvMj6eYMoEM4bL9oeYdJeJ8

1 1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 2 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA EASTERN DIVISION 3 JOHN R. SWIFT and 4 BARBARA SWIFT, 5 Plaintiffs, CIVIL ACTION NUMBER 6 versus CV-97-AR-2430-E 7 MONSANTO COMPANY, INC., et al., 8 Defendants. 9/ 10 CONTINUATION OF DEPOSITION OF BETH RUSERT 11 12 The continuation of the deposition of 13 BETH RUSERT, was taken before Deborah Salers 14 Garrett, Certified Shorthand Reporter, 15 Registered Professional Reporter, as 16 Commissioner, commencing at 10:00 a.m. on 17 September 1, 1999, by the Plaintiffs, at the 18 law offices of Lightfoot, Franklin & White, 19 The Clark Building, 400 North 20th Street, 20 Birmingham, Alabama, pursuant to the 21 stipulations set forth herein. 22 Regional Reporting Service, Inc. 23 755 Walnut Street Gadsden, Alabama 35901-0755 188 SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038680 1 APPEARANCES 2 For the Plaintiffs: 3 ELLEN B. MALOW, Esq. KASOWITZ, BENSON, TORRES & FRIEDMAN, LLP 4 700 Louisiana Street, Suite 2200 Houston, Texas 77002 5 For the Defendants: 6 ADAM PECK, Esq. 7 LIGHTFOOT, FRANKLIN & WHITE, LLC The Clark Building 8 400 North 20th Street Birmingham, Alabama 35203 9 MICHAEL E. KELLY, Esq. 10 SMITH, HELMS, MULLISS & MOORE P. O. Box 21927 11 Greensboro, North Carolina 27420 12 13 14 INDEX 15 Stipulations 16 Reporter's Certificate 17 Page 190 307 18 19 EXAMINATIONS 20 Witness: BETHRUSERT Page 21 By Ms. Maiow 191 22 23 REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038681 189 1 EXHIBITS 2 Plaintiffs' Marked Offered 3 Thirteen Fourteen 4 Fifteen Sixteen 5 Seventeen Eighteen 6 Nineteen Twenty 7 Twenty-one Twenty-two 8 Twenty-three Twenty-four 9 Twenty-five Twenty-six 10 Twenty-seven Twenty-eight 11 Twenty-nine Thirty 12 Thirty-one Thirty-two 13 Thirty-three Thirty-four 14 Thirty-five Thirty-six 15 Thirty-seven Thirty-eight 16 191 194 197 197 197 197 207 240 244 244 244 244 244 257 257 276 278 279 281 282 283 284 287 288 290 296 17 No other exhibits were marked for identification, offered or attached as 18 exhibits hereto. 19 20 21 22 23 SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038682 REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 190 1 STIPULATIONS 2 IT IS STIPULATED AND AGREED by the 3 parties, through their respective counsel, 4 that the deposition of BETH RUSERT may be 5 taken before Deborah Salers Garrett, CSR, RPR, 6 as Commissioner and Notary Public, Alabama at 7 Large, at Birmingham, Alabama, on September 1, 8 1999, at 10:00 a.m. 9 IT IS STIPULATED AND AGREED that the 10 signature to and Redding of the deposition by 11 the witness is waived, the deposition to have 12 the same force and effect as if full 13 compliance were had with all laws and rules of 14 Court relating to the taking of depositions. 15 IT IS STIPULATED AND AGREED that it 16 shall not be necessary for any objections to 17 be made by counsel to any questions except as 18 to form or leading questions and that counsel 19 may make objections and assign grounds at the 20 time of trial or at the time said deposition 21 is offered in evidence or prior thereto. 22 IT IS STIPULATED AND AGREED that notice 23 of filing by the Commissioner is waived. SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038683 REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 191 1 BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, SEPTEMBER 1, 1999 2 3 (Plaintiffs' Exhibit Number 4 Thirteen was marked for 5 identification.) 6 7 BETH RUSERT, 8 after having been first duly sworn, was 9 examined and testified as follows: 10 11 EXAMINATION 12 BY MS. MALOW: 13 Q. Ms. Rusert, as you know, I'm Ellen 14 Malow. We are going to continue your 15 deposition. Are you ready to go 16 forward? 17 A. I'm ready. 18 Q. Let me hand you what has been marked as 19 Plaintiffs' Exhibit Thirteen and ask if 20 you have seen that before. 21 A. Yes. 22 Q. That's the renotice of your deposition. SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038684 23 Is that right? REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 192 1 A. I've seen it, yes. 2 Q. Did you do anything to locate the 3 documents that were requested in the 4 document request? 5 A. The community advisory panel file. 6 Q. That's the documents we discussed at 7 your last deposition? 8 A. Right. 9 Q. Since your last deposition have you made 10 any efforts to locate any additional 11 documents? 12 A. The only other thing I found was I had a 13 community relations plan for the 14 Anniston plant because it was at my 15 southeast region, and I did also carry 16 that forward. 17 MS. MALOW: Do we have that now? 18 MR. PECK: Yeah, we produced that. 19 MS. MALOW: That came in the stuff 20 Mike gave us? 21 MR. KELLY: Yes. SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038685 22 Q. Do you recall what year that community 23 relations plan was for? REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 193 1 A. I don't. 2 Q. Since you deposition back in July, have 3 you looked at any documents to get ready 4 for your deposition today? 5 A. No other than the deposition itself. 6 Q. You did read your deposition testimony? 7 A. Yes. 8 Q. When did you read that? 9 A. Yesterday. 10 Q. To freshen your mind? 11 A. Yes. 12 Q. Have you talked with anybody other than 13 your attorneys about the testimony that 14 you've given already in this case? 15 A. No. 16 Q. Did you talk with Diane Herndon about 17 her deposition last week? 18 A. No. 19 Q. Have you talked to Kevin Cahill 20 recently? SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038686 21 A. Yeah. I have spoken with him recently. 22 Do you mean have I spoken with him -- 23 Q. About this case. REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 194 1 A. No. 2 Q. Have you spoken with Kevin about 3 anything regarding Anniston recently? 4 A. I don't think so, no. 5 Q. And I take it you had a chance to meet 6 with the attorneys again before today to 7 get ready for today? 8 A. Yes. 9 Q. All right. I'm going to kind of be 10 bouncing around just because I'm going 11 to follow up on some areas from before 12 and cover some new areas. So bear with 13 me. If at any time you are confused 14 about where we are, just let me know and 15 I will be happy to clarify. Okay? 16 A. Okay. 17 Q. We had talked before about community 18 assistance panels. Do you recall in 19 general our discussion about CAPs? SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038687 20 A. Yes. 21 (Plaintiffs'Exhibit Number 22 Fourteen was marked for 23 identification.) REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 195 1 Q. Let me hand you what I have marked as 2 Plaintiffs' Exhibit Fourteen and ask you 3 to identify that document, please. 4 A. It's a document from John Mitchell of 5 Prudential, and the letter says the 6 purpose is to provide -- 7 MR. PECK: All I think she wants 8 you to do is identify -- 9 A. To me -- okay -- dated October 1st, 10 1997, from John Mitchell of Prudential. 11 Q. Did you contact Mr. Mitchell to ask if 12 Prudential could provide community 13 interaction services for Solutia? 14 A. Let me read this real quick. 15 Q. Sure. 16 A. Okay. 17 Q. My question was whether you contacted 18 Mr. Mitchell to see if Prudential could SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038688 19 provide some community interaction 20 services for Solutia. 21 A. Yes. 22 Q. Do you recall when your initial contact 23 was with Mr. Mitchell? REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 196 1 A. No. 2 Q. Why is it that you were contacting 3 Mr. Mitchell? 4 A. We were evaluating whether or not to put 5 together a community advisory panel at a 6 number of locations, and Anniston was 7 one of them. 8 Q. If you recall, at your last deposition 9 we talked about a company named Bourne 10 Elliott. Do you recall that company? 11 A. Yeah. I think so. 12 Q. And Diane Herndon was the person that 13 had been dealing with Bourne Elliott on 14 establishing a CAP. Is that right? 15 A. Yes. 16 Q. The correspondence that we have marked 17 as exhibits to her deposition indicates SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038689 18 that those discussions were going on 19 back in 1996. Does that fit with your 20 recollection? 21 A. I don't know the timing. I wasn't 22 working on this in '96. 23 Q. Okay. I'm handing you Plaintiffs' REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 197 1 Exhibit Eighteen, which is a letter from 2 Bourne Elliott Associates to Diane 3 Herndon dated May 27th, 1996. 4 (Plaintiffs' Exhibits Numbers 5 Fifteen, Sixteen, 6 Seventeen, and Eighteen were 7 marked for identification.) 8 MR. PECK: Is that Plaintiffs' 9 Exhibit Eighteen to Diane's 10 deposition? 11 MS. MALOW: No. Unfortunately I 12 don't know what number it was 13 to Diane's. 14 MR. PECK: I just thought since it 15 was out of sequence it might 16 be to hers. SWIFT 09-01 1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038690 17 Q. Have you seen that document before? 18 A. I think you showed it to me last time. 19 Q. I think I did too. What I'm trying to 20 figure out, Ms. Rusert, is the timing of 21 this, because I understand from 22 Ms. Herndon that this CAP was never put 23 in place by Bourne Elliott. Is that REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 198 1 your understanding? 2 A. Yes. 3 Q. Why is it, then, that in '97 you were 4 revisiting this issue of establishing a 5 CAP in Anniston? 6 A. Because at the time what we were looking 7 at, as I recall anyway, is we were 8 looking at a number of plants, not just 9 Anniston. We were trying to determine 10 whether there might be some cost savings 11 by having one company help us put 12 together and facilitate community 13 advisory panels. And Anniston was one 14 of those sites. 15 Q. I believe you told me at your last SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038691 16 deposition that you did not select 17 Prudential to go through with trying to 18 help establish CAPs. Is that accurate? 19 A. We didn't select anyone. I had several 20 different people that gave me proposals, 21 and we ended up not doing it at all 22 because there really wasn't a big cost 23 savings for us. REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 199 1 Q. Other than Exhibit Fourteen do you 2 recall any other correspondence or 3 contacts that you had with Mr. Mitchell 4 of Prudential on this issue of a CAP? 5 A. I mean, I spoke with him on several 6 different occasions over the course of 7 time. He has called me on occasion to 8 see if there is any new locations that 9 we might want to develop a CAP or if we 10 have a site that has one but could use a 11 facilitator. But I couldn't 12 specifically tell you when those 13 conversations occurred. He calls me 14 periodically. SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038692 15 Q. In the October 1st, 1997 letter to you 16 from Mr. Mitchell he outlines various 17 stages of this CAP program. Did he ever 18 go beyond just a solicitation level? 19 A. No. As far as speaking with anyone, no. 20 Just all the conversation was between 21 the two of us in looking at just 22 generally what their approach is to 23 handling a community advisory panel and REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 200 1 the costs associated. 2 Q. Ms. Herndon testified last week that one 3 of the reasons the CAP was not set up 4 for Anniston was due to the fact there 5 was litigation that had commenced. Is 6 that your recollection? 7 MR. PECK: Object to the form of 8 the question. 9 A. Yes. In fact I think I testified to 10 something very similar during the last 11 deposition. 12 Q. Right. And the part I'm trying to 13 understand, Ms. Rusert, is given the SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038693 14 fact there was ongoing litigation, why 15 was the issue of a CAP being revisited 16 at this date in October of '97? 17 A. Because honestly we thought their value 18 to them, it would have been nice, and we 19 have continuously reevaluated the 20 circumstances to see whether there was a 21 way we could put together a community 22 advisory panel working around the 23 litigation. And I do recall REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 201 1 conversations where we determined there 2 was no way to do it and to ensure we 3 were not involving anyone who was 4 involved in litigation. So we dropped 5 the whole Anniston idea. 6 Q. The conversations about trying to 7 determine if there was a way around the 8 litigation issue, were any of those 9 conversations with non-attorneys? 10 A. It would have involved the folks who 11 were on the team working on Anniston, 12 Bob Kaley. Beyond that I don't recall SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038694 13 anyone else. The plant manager, surely 14 the plant manager would have been 15 involved in that conversation. 16 Q. Would that have been Jack Mayausky or 17 Blake Hamilton at that time? 18 A. It would have been Blake Hamilton. 19 Q. Other than Prudential do you recall any 20 companies that you received bids from or 21 information on CAPs in this'97 time 22 frame? 23 A. For any plant, you mean, or just -- REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 202 1 Q. For Anniston. 2 A. I thought that for Anniston I had also 3 asked for bids from Ann Green, and I 4 think it was Vandever Group. However, 5 when I pulled the material for you and 6 was looking at it, I didn't see anything 7 for Anniston from those other two 8 companies, just for other plants, 9 Greenwood, Augusta, and I think it was 10 Decatur. So perhaps I did not ever ask 11 them to even look at Anniston. I don't SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038695 12 recall. I can't remember. It has been 13 a while since I looked at that. 14 Q. When did you do that search to look back 15 and see whether Ann Green -- 16 A. When I was pulling the material to give 17 it to you. 18 Q. Back in July? 19 A. Yes, after our deposition, after we 20 talked. 21 Q. After the deposition-- 22 A. Right. You asked for the community 23 advisory panel file, and I pulled REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 203 1 everything out. When I pulled it all 2 out, I looked to see because I knew we 3 had talked about it. And I was trying 4 to recall for myself what I had actually 5 asked for. 6 Q. And it was based on looking at those 7 documents that you determined those 8 others entities had not solicited work 9 for Anniston? 10 A. Apparently not, because there was no SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038696 11 reference, at least that I recall, on 12 Anniston. 13 Q. Let me hand you what I have marked as 14 Exhibit Fifteen and tell me if those are 15 your notes. 16 A. Yes. 17 Q. Can you read for me what those say? 18 A. With difficulty. One of people quoted 19 was member of CAP group -- something -- 20 I can't read it -- in getting word out, 21 went looking for people, comments by 22 plant, says something of Motco, 23 favorable, helped, change, something or REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 204 1 another, save money, quarterly meetings 2 with CAP, setbacks, relationship. 3 Q. And at the top there is number one, 4 performance? 5 A. Performance, two, dialogue. 6 Q. Do you recall what those notes were 7 taken in conjunction with? 8 A. I can't say for sure, no. 9 Q. I mean, it looks like you are talking SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038697 10 about CAPs, right? 11 A. Yes. 12 Q. And the part about Motco, was there a 13 CAP in place at Motco? 14 A. Yes. 15 Q. Is that a Monsanto site? 16 A. It was, yes. It was a Monsanto site. 17 Q. Was there any litigation arising out of 18 the Motco facility? 19 A. I'm not sure. 20 Q. Why was a CAP put in place at Motco? 21 A. It was a Superfund site. 22 Q. So there were some issues of 23 contamination? REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 205 1 A. Right. And they took the community 2 members and put together a community 3 advisory panel. 4 Q. Where is that site located? 5 A. South of Houston. 6 Q. Is that CAP still in place at Motco? 7 A. No. The whole thing -- project is done. 8 Q. And when you say favorable, helped in SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038698 9 relation to Motco, what does that mean? 10 A. We -- meaning that the community 11 advisory panel was successful in the 12 sense we had good community dialogue. 13 And when they had concerns, they would 14 talk to us about them. We had feedback, 15 conversations back and forth, and they 16 were involved in the whole process of 17 the remediation. 18 Q. And I'm not sure if I understood your 19 answer. Has there ever been any 20 litigation arising out of the Motco 21 site? 22 A. I'm not sure. I don't know. I can't 23 answer that. REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 206 1 Q. This part about saving money, what does 2 that refer to? 3 A. I don't remember. 4 Q. And there is this second thing about 5 group something and getting word out, or 6 group best -- 7 A. I don't know either what that was SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038699 8 referring to. 9 Q. Do you know what you mean by performance 10 and dialogue? 11 A. Well, dialogue I don't know. I don't 12 know about performance because I don't 13 recall the context of this. It looks 14 like I was probably talking to somebody 15 and taking notes. It has been too long. 16 I don't know when I did this. 17 Q. I'm going to show you some other 18 documents. Maybe it will put it in 19 context. 20 A. Okay. 21 Q. Do you recall trying to set up some sort 22 of presentation for the Manufacturing 23 Leadership Council in Anniston, Alabama REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 207 1 on CAPs? 2 A. No. 3 (Plaintiffs' Exhibit Number 4 Nineteen was marked for 5 identification.) 6 Q. I'm going to hand you what has been SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038700 7 marked as Plaintiffs' Exhibit Nineteen 8 and ask you to take few moments to read 9 through that. 10 A. Okay. 11 Q. Will you identify what Exhibit Nineteen 12 is, please? 13 A. It is an e-mail message to Mike Pierle 14 regarding the presentation on community 15 advisory panels tothe Manufacturing 16 Leadership Council. 17 Q. Are you the author of this e-mail? 18 A. Yes. 19 Q. And a copy of it went to Lawrence 20 O'Neill? 21 A. Right. 22 Q. Was Mr. O'Neill your boss at the time? 23 A. Yes. REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 208 1 Q. Tell me what was going on here. Why 2 were you proposing a presentation to the 3 Manufacturing Leadership Council in 4 Anniston, Alabama on CAPs? 5 A. Well, I can't speak exactly to this one. SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038701 6 I just know in general that there were 7 times when we do presentations on 8 community advisory panels to different 9 leadership folks at the company, because 10 in public affairs we feel they are very 11 important to maintain our right to 12 operate our manufacturing sites. So it 13 wouldn't be uncommon when there is a 14 meeting at a particular site to have a 15 proposal -- I mean, a presentation on a 16 particular subject and in particular 17 CAPs. 18 Q. Who would be the participants in the 19 Manufacturing Leadership Council? 20 A. They are the site managers and the 21 people who run the manufacturing, like 22 vice president or whatever over 23 manufacturing. REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 209 1 Q. So they are all I guess at this time 2 Monsanto employees? 3 A. Yes. 4 Q. Okay. Were there any outside people SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038702 5 that would be in attendance at a 6 Manufacturing Leadership Council 7 meeting? 8 A. No. 9 Q. And it indicates on this e-mail that you 10 sent to Mr. Pierle that there is going 11 to be a CAP anecdote which discusses 12 that the Anniston plant is going to 13 share how it might have benefited from 14 having a CAP in place before a problem 15 occurred. What does that refer to? 16 A. Just what it says. The fact that if we 17 had had some ongoing dialogue already in 18 place with our community members, it 19 would have been very beneficial to us to 20 understand their concerns and be able to 21 talk with them about what we are doing 22 to help resolve issues, concerns, and 23 also to show them what we are doing at REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 210 1 our manufacturing site. 2 Q. How would it have benefited the company? 3 A. How would it have benefited them? SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038703 4 Because we would have a better 5 understanding of what their concerns 6 are. Without talking to them we can't 7 possibly address them and help them 8 understand what we are doing to 9 alleviate them. 10 Q. Was it your belief that had a CAP been 11 in place that litigation would have been 12 prevented? 13 A. I can't predict that. It is like having 14 a crystal ball. 15 Q. Well, you are proposing a hindsight 16 discussion and trying to teach a lesson 17 anecdotally about the Anniston plant. 18 What was your purpose there? 19 MR. PECK: Object to the form of 20 the question, asked and 21 answered. 22 A. First of all, I wouldn't have been 23 giving that presentation. That would REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 211 1 have been given by someone at the plant. 2 That was the objective, for the people SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038704 3 there to actually give the anecdotal 4 presentation about what they are doing. 5 So I can't predict -- We never can 6 predict what is or is not going to 7 happen. All we do know is that in 8 places where we have community advisory 9 panels we find the open dialogue and the 10 outreach through a community advisory 11 panel very beneficial to us. And it 12 doesn't mean that people don't get upset 13 with us. They do. We talk to them 14 about it, and it is nice to be able to 15 have that dialogue. 16 Q. Compare and contrast for me the 17 difference in the situation at the 18 Augusta plant, which is referenced in 19 Exhibit Nineteen, and the Anniston 20 plant. 21 A. Well, it is stated there. The Augusta 22 plant, there is no immediate issues in 23 the sense of there is no neighbors who REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 212 1 are living right adjacent tothe plant. SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038705 2 That is one thing. They're not 3 concerned about whether there is too 4 much traffic, if it is too noisy, or if 5 there is a smell. There are none of 6 those current issues that happen to be 7 coming out of that site, yet they felt 8 there was a lot of value to their 9 community advisory panel, because where 10 there were issues and concerns they 11 could talk directly to them about them. 12 But there was nothing there that the 13 people were already upset about. And 14 they found value. 15 Sometimes the feedback you get 16 from people -- and this is just an 17 educational thing, but on community 18 advisory panels is you don't need one 19 unless there is an issue. We totally 20 disagree. We think it is important to 21 have ongoing feedback even where there 22 is not a lot of concern about anything 23 ongoing, no matter what. And there are REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 213 SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038706 1 those in the world that think that's not 2 the case. 3 Q. Is part of the reason you have that 4 philosophy because then when there is a 5 problem that occurs you have already 6 established that dialogue? 7 A. Right. 8 Q. If you will go back to section B in your 9 e-mail of 2-19-96, it talks about a 10 community advisory panel adding value 11 for several reasons. One of the things 12 it says is providing some insurance. 13 What do you mean by that? 14 A. I'm not sure what we meant by that. It 15 has been a while since I wrote that up. 16 I would be guessing. 17 Q. With all your familiarity with CAPs and 18 as we are sitting here right now, what 19 does that mean? How do CAPs provide 20 insurance for the company? 21 A. Well, I'm sure -- if I were speaking 22 from this today, it would be around that 23 it helps you provide insurance that you REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 214 SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038707 1 are going to have some ongoing dialogue 2 with people no matter what the 3 circumstances are, because people tend 4 to be willing to talk with you when they 5 have developed a relationship and 6 understand what it is you are doing and 7 establish some trust that you are not 8 trying to hurt them. 9 Q. And the people that serve on a community 10 assistance panel can then serve as 11 spokespeople for the company? 12 A. No. Actually we would never advise them 13 nor would we ask them to do that. If 14 people choose to do that on the side on 15 their own, that is different. But 16 actually that is counterproductive to 17 what we are looking for. We are really 18 looking for people who are going to be 19 really honest with us and tell us their 20 concerns and issues. There is no way to 21 address them if we don't know what they 22 are. 23 Q. Your handwritten notes on the left-hand REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 215 SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038708 1 margin of Exhibit Nineteen says two 2 hundred fifty visited plant. Do you 3 know what that refers to? 4 A. I don't remember. I read that, and I 5 don't recall what that was referencing. 6 Q. It mentions students, teachers, 7 northeast Alabama safety engineer? 8 A. Yes. 9 Q. Do you know what any of those notes 10 refer to? 11 A. No. 12 Q. What does the next sentence say? 13 A. See CAP book small plants options 10-1. 14 Q. Do you know what that means? 15 A. No. 16 Q. Did in fact a presentation take place 17 for the Manufacturing Leadership Council 18 in Anniston, Alabama? 19 A. I don't remember if we did it or not. 20 Q. If you will go down to section two, it 21 talks about why hold a workshop on 22 improving community dialogue. One of 23 the session topics is worst case REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038709 216 1 scenario, risk communications. Do you 2 see that? 3 A. Yes. 4 Q. The second part is lessons learned from 5 worst case scenario case studies? 6 A. Yes. 7 Q. What are you referring to there? 8 A. In this particular time frame I would 9 have been referring to Nitro, West 10 Virginia where they rolled out the very 11 first management program worst case 12 scenario communications that happened 13 prior to that date. 14 Q. What was that about? 15 A. EPA's risk management program requiring 16 that companies that use or manufacture 17 certain hazardous chemicals develop 18 worst case and alternative case 19 scenarios and communicate those to the 20 public and to the emergency management 21 folks. 22 Q. So was that a mandate from EPA? 23 A. Right. It is a requirement. And this SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038710 REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 217 1 was the very first step in that process, 2 was Nitro, West Virginia did sort of a 3 test run, I guess you would call it, 4 before the law went into effect. 5 Q. Continuing on there in section two, 6 section A three talks about community 7 outreach strategies. The last one there 8 is environmental justice. To what does 9 that refer? 10 A. The subject of environmental justice? 11 You are asking what environmental 12 justice is? 13 Q. What are you talking about there? Why 14 are you referencing environmental 15 justice as part of an community outreach 16 strategy? 17 A. Because it is something we would 18 consider, I guess, as to whether -- when 19 you are looking at the communities that 20 you would try to involve in a community 21 advisory panel, certainly you want to 22 make sure you get all of the different 23 folks that would be around in your SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038711 REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 218 1 community, whatever that looks like, and 2 being sure not to leave out any that 3 might fall under the environmental 4 justice issues. 5 Q. What is an environmental justice issue? 6 A. Environmental justice is essentially 7 where -- a community that is usually a 8 poor minority community that is 9 perceived to be at a disadvantage 10 because of the location of industry or 11 businesses. 12 Q. Based on your work at the Anniston site, 13 did you have a concern thatthere were 14 some environmental justice issues in the 15 neighborhood? 16 A. Yes. 17 Q. Based on what? 18 A. Based on the community immediately 19 around the plant. 20 Q. That is it is made up of poor -- 21 A. Poor minority, right. 22 Q. And what was your plan to deal with that SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038712 23 potential issue for Anniston? REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 219 1 A. We didn't have a plan per se. I mean, 2 ideally we would have liked to establish 3 a community advisory panel that would 4 include that neighborhood but not 5 exclusive to those neighborhoods. 6 Q. How do you think that would have 7 prevented the possibility of 8 environmental justice issues being 9 raised? 10 MR. PECK: Object to the form of 11 the question. 12 A. I can't say one way or the other whether 13 it would. It is just a matter that 14 people -- historically when you are 15 talking with people and trying to obtain 16 an understanding of their issues and 17 concerns, it helps open up dialogue and 18 mutual understanding of one another and 19 oftentimes can alleviate concerns. 20 Q. You also mentioned, going back up to one 21 B, that a community advisory panel can SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038713 22 add value by helping reinforce our 23 commitment to fulfill your requirements REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 220 1 of complying with the Monsanto pledge 2 and responsible care. Do you see that? 3 A. Yes. 4 Q. When you talk about responsible care is 5 that a concept that comes out of CMA? 6 A. Yes. 7 Q. And CMA is the Chemical Manufacturers 8 Association? 9 A. Yes. 10 Q. Monsanto and Solutia are both members of 11 CMA? 12 A. I don't know if Monsanto is or not 13 still. Solutia is. 14 Q. Is responsible care a mandatory 15 requirement for members of CMA? 16 A. Yes. 17 Q. Is the right to operate also a concept 18 that grows out of CMA? 19 A. I think it is wrapped in part of the 20 responsible care program. SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038714 21 Q. Which again is mandatory for CMA 22 members? 23 A. Right. REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 221 1 Q. Ms. Rusert, I'm handing you what has 2 been marked as Exhibit Sixteen. If you 3 could, take a look at that document and 4 let me know when you have read it. 5 A. Okay. 6 Q. Please identify what Exhibit Sixteen is 7 for the record. 8 A. It's a response from -- It would be 9 D. M. Vandever, Donna Vandever. 10 Apparently I had a question on community 11 advisory panels and was asking her to 12 respond to it. 13 Q. Okay. And this e-mail which is marked 14 as Exhibit Sixteen is dated August 20 of 15 1997? 16 A. Yes. 17 Q. And Ms. Vandever is with what company? 18 A. Vandever Group. 19 Q. What kind of group is that? SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038715 20 A. A PR marketing firm. 21 Q. Had you used Ms. Vandever's firm before 22 August of '97 for any purpose? 23 A. No. REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 222 1 Q. How did you get her name? 2 A. I knew her. She was a previous employee 3 of Monsanto and then started herown 4 business. 5 Q. What did she do at Monsanto? 6 A. She was -- When I knew her she was in 7 media communications. 8 Q. And according to her reply to your 9 questions on CAPs, it lookslike she is 10 suggesting to you ways to find potential 11 CAP members. Is that accurate? 12 A. Yeah. This appears to be her relatively 13 informal proposal on establishing a 14 community advisory panel. 15 Q. Were you talking to Ms. Vandever about 16 establishing a CAP for the Anniston 17 site? 18 A. I think this is one where I just asked SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038716 19 her about Greenwood, Decatur, and 20 Augusta. But I'm not one hundred 21 percent sure of that. 22 Q. What makes you think it is those three 23 sites that you were asking her questions REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 223 1 about? 2 A. Mostly because of the material I glanced 3 at before turning it over to you, 4 because I thought I had originally put 5 Anniston in that group. And I didn't 6 see evidence of that as I was flipping 7 through it. But I went through it 8 pretty quick. It may have, but I don't 9 think it did. 10 Q. In looking at her reply on your question 11 of CAPs, do you see any problems with 12 her proposal on how you get CAP members? 13 A. I don't know that I would do it exactly 14 like this. I might make some 15 adjustments. 16 Q. What adjustments would you make? 17 A. It could be done differently in SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038717 18 different communities. Sometimes it is 19 good to do like a survey of plant 20 employees and get different names from 21 them and then do some of this approach 22 to identify individuals that might be 23 suit -- good to participate in a REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 224 1 community advisory panel. Also 2 sometimes asking these very people that 3 she talks about talking to who are 4 movers and shakers who they think would 5 be good to participate on a community 6 advisory panel, whether they are not -- 7 whether the folks themselves or not 8 would be dependent on the material you 9 put together and what they recommend. 10 Q. Did you end up retaining the Vandever 11 group to do any work for any Solutia 12 site? 13 A. No, we didn't. 14 Q. Why is that? 15 A. Because like I said before, we decided 16 not to go that route. SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038718 17 Q. Let me hand you what has been marked as 18 Plaintiffs' Exhibit Seventeen and ask 19 you to identify that. 20 A. I'm sorry. I'm still trying to figure 21 out what it is. Some document that says 22 resources and where to find help on the 23 top. REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 225 1 Q. And at the top does it have your name 2 written? 3 A. It does. It says Beth Rusert on the 4 top. 5 Q. And it looks like -- and I talked with 6 Diane Herndon about this document in her 7 deposition -- that this is a referral 8 source for Bourne Elliott, which is on 9 one of the pages. 10 A. Here it is, a little arrow. Michael 11 Elliott's name is on there. 12 Q. Really all I'm trying to find out from 13 you, Ms. Rusert, is do you know where 14 you got that document? 15 A. No. SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038719 16 Q. It looks like, if you look at the very 17 first page, that you forwarded that on 18 to Ms. Herndon; is that right? 19 A. It looks that way, yes. 20 Q. But you don't know the source of the 21 document? 22 A. No. Whoever it was spelled my last name 23 wrong, so it wasn't anyone who knew me REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 226 1 very well. 2 Q. Not a close friend. 3 Take a look at -- This has 4 actually been marked previously as 5 Exhibit Thirty-five to Ms. Herndon's 6 depo. Take your time and let me know 7 when you have finished looking at 8 Exhibit Thirty-five to the Herndon depo. 9 A. Okay. 10 Q. What is Exhibit Thirty-five to 11 Ms. Herndon's depo? 12 A. It's a community -- a presentation on 13 community dialogue and specifically 14 community advisory panels. SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038720 15 Q. Who prepared Exhibit Thirty-five? 16 A. I'm not sure. I think I did. 17 Q. That's what Ms. Herndon thought. That 18 is what I'm trying to confirm. 19 A. I think I did put this together. 20 Q. Why were you putting together Exhibit 21 Thirty-five? 22 A. Apparently someone asked me to give a 23 presentation on community advisory REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 227 1 panels. 2 Q. Do you know when you gave that 3 presentation? 4 A. I don't remember, no. 5 Q. Do you know where you gave it? 6 A. No. 7 Q. Do you know who was in attendance? 8 A. No, I don't. I do remember putting it 9 together. I'm quite sure it was me. 10 Q. You are sure it was you? 11 A. I'm pretty sure it was me that did this. 12 Q. Let me ask you a few questions about the 13 document. SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038721 14 A. Okay. 15 Q. On the third page of the document you 16 talk about the growth of CAPs, and you 17 have some numbers from the Chemical 18 Manufactures Association or CMA. Do you 19 recall where you got that information? 20 A. I would have gotten it from CMA. 21 Q. The specific documents you would have 22 received from them in that regard? 23 A. No. I mean, I could have either called REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 228 1 them and they could have faxed me 2 material. I don't know specifically, 3 no. 4 Q. The next page talks about Monsanto 5 plants where there are CAPs in place and 6 where there are not CAPs in place. And 7 Anniston is listed as a no there, 8 correct? 9 A. Correct. 10 Q. Can you explain why it is that the CAPs 11 were put in place at the facilities 12 where there is a yes indicated? SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038722 13 A. I wouldn't know because those decisions 14 are usually made locally. And sometimes 15 there is involvement from the folks in 16 St. Louis, the corporate headquarters. 17 But I mean, some of these go way back, 18 long before my time or are areas I have 19 never worked in. I couldn't tell you 20 because each situation is different. 21 Q. If you will flip a couple of pages it 22 says community advisory panels, no 23 response. What does that mean? REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 229 1 A. I have no idea. I was wondering the 2 same thing when I looked at this. I 3 don't remember what that means any more. 4 Q. Those locations that say no response, 5 are those Monsanto facilities? 6 A. I'm not sure. I don't remember any 7 more. 8 Q. Well, Nutrasweet is a product -- 9 A. It would have to be, because Nutrasweet 10 and -- They would have to be. 11 Q. But you don't know what it means when it SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038723 12 says no response? 13 A. I don't remember what that means. 14 Q. Let's go to the next page where it says 15 strengths and weaknesses of CAPs. Under 16 strengths the third one says create 17 credible allies and supporters. I 18 believe that goes back to the point I 19 was raising earlier where if you had 20 people who were on a CAP, those people 21 can then be spokespeople for your 22 company, right? 23 A. But that doesn't say that we're creating REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 230 1 spokespeople. Allies and supporters 2 don't necessarily go out and speak on 3 behalf of your company. 4 Q. What do you mean when you say credible 5 allies and supporters? 6 A. Because they are not spokespeople. I 7 might be a spokesperson, but I wouldn't 8 probably have credibility because I work 9 for the company. 10 Q. Because you are a PR lady? SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038724 11 A. That's right. 12 Q. You would rather have someone who is not 13 known as putting things in a favorable 14 light for a living? 15 A. But you are still not asking them to go 16 out and speak on your behalf. In fact 17 we would not encourage them to do that 18 in the sense of going out and raising 19 the flag like I would do. 20 Q. But by credible ally and supporter, you 21 are referring to people that have 22 listened to the position the company has 23 made and are willing to share those REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 231 1 thoughts and views with other people 2 that they know? 3 A. If they choose to do so. 4 Q. And you hope that the members of your 5 CAP turn out to be allies and supporters 6 of the company, right? 7 A. I mean, you would like to think that is 8 going to happen. It doesn't always 9 happen that way. Usually they may not SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038725 10 support everything you do or all the 11 decisions you make, but they at least 12 have an understanding as to why you have 13 made them or what it is you are doing. 14 Q. Let's look at the weaknesses. When you 15 talk about that a CAP can result in a 16 loss of control, what are you referring 17 to there? 18 A. Usually that really just refers to 19 concerns that a lot of site managers 20 have who are unfamiliar with community 21 advisory panels. They are often 22 concerned about that. 23 Q. And what specifically is their concern? REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 232 1 A. Their concern is that a community 2 advisory panel member will ask for 3 something that they couldn't or wouldn't 4 do from a business decision and the 5 community advisory would drive that 6 decision one way or the other, 7 regardless. And really the objective of 8 the CAP up front is that we don't always SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038726 9 take every idea and go forward, but we 10 would certainly explain why we chose not 11 to or couldn't from a business 12 perspective. 13 Q. Because sometimes there might be a 14 conflict between what the community 15 wants and what the business group is 16 willing to do? 17 A. I don't even know if it is so much 18 willing. It is usually a matter of 19 being able to support that from a 20 business decision or the technology 21 doesn't exist yet. But normally that 22 conversation itself allows for an 23 understanding mutually, and also it REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 233 1 oftens gives Solutia and companies like 2 us that have CAPs an opportunity to see 3 where there are -- where there are 4 things that we might strive for in our 5 next phases of improvements in the 6 future. 7 Q. Let's say for example you guys made SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038727 8 something that had a really bad odor and 9 the members of your CAP told you, "We 10 don't like the odor. Get rid of that 11 chemical." Are you with me on the 12 scenario? 13 A. Right. 14 Q. There may be -- Based on the company's 15 business interest that is in making 16 money in producing this chemical, there 17 may be no way they could stop making it 18 even if it is an odor problem, right? 19 A. Possibly. 20 Q. All right. One of the other weaknesses 21 is create perception that facility is 22 attempting to manipulate community 23 opinion. What do you mean by that? REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 234 1 A. It gets right to your question that 2 there could be a perceptionthat we are 3 putting them in place to be spokespeople 4 for our company. 5 Q. And where did you get this list of 6 weaknesses from? SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038728 7 A. I probably drew it from a variety of 8 sources of people out there who have 9 become experts on community advisory 10 panels and things I would have read. 11 Q. And that is one of the criticisms of 12 CAPs, is that is really what they are, 13 is an attempt by the company to 14 manipulate community opinion? 15 MR. PECK: Object to the form of 16 the question. 17 A. It could be a concern. It is a concern 18 and something that is important to be 19 aware of as a company. That is one of 20 the reasons why a lot of community 21 advisory panels have tenures and roll 22 people off after a couple of years, so 23 that doesn't. One, it doesn't happen REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 235 1 because that can happen if they are 2 there too long, or also to help prevent 3 that from happening, so it doesn't look 4 like all we are doing is having somebody 5 who rubber stamps things for us. SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038729 6 Q. And what do you mean by the weakness 7 CAPs can lead to a loss of trust and 8 credibility? 9 A. I don't know exactly what that was 10 referring to. 11 Q. Well, if you will look at the strengths 12 side, the last strength is that a CAP 13 can build trust and credibility. I 14 guess I'm trying to figure out how it 15 can be both a strength and a weakness. 16 A. I suppose if you think about your 17 example of where we are not willing to 18 get rid of an odor problem and can't 19 instantaneously correct the odor 20 problem, something could lead to a loss 21 of trust and credibility. There is that 22 risk because we couldn't fix their main 23 issue. REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 236 1 Q. Okay. If you will go to the next page, 2 it talks about community advisory panels 3 can add value by, and then there is a 4 list of items on there. If you will SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038730 5 look, we have the same one about 6 providing some insurance. I'm just 7 trying to get back to j ogging your 8 memory on what that is intended to mean. 9 A. I don't think it -- It doesn't mean 10 anything in the sense of what I think we 11 use as a simplified way to state things. 12 It is more a matter of providing a 13 mechanism for having open conversation 14 and to know that you have at least some 15 sense -- I guess the insurance part 16 would be from having some sense of what 17 the people in the community are thinking 18 and the concerns about your plant and 19 also a sense of what they like about 20 your plant and what they are happy with 21 that you are doing, both sides of the 22 coin there. If there is insurance, that 23 would be what I would refer that to. REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 237 1 Q. Okay. And if you will flip down a few 2 more pages, there is a page called 3 anecdotes. SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038731 4 A. Yes. 5 Q. Do you recall the specifics about the 6 anecdotal information you gave on the 7 Anniston, Alabama CAP? 8 A. I don't other than very similar to the 9 previous reference that we had on that 10 other document. 11 Q. And it looks like this document, which 12 is Exhibit Thirty-five to Ms. Herndon's 13 deposition, seems to mimic a lot of the 14 statements that were in Exhibit 15 Nineteen. Is that right? 16 A. That would be reasonable, yes. 17 Q. Okay. Let's see if we can find out more 18 about the Anniston anecdote. If you 19 will go to -- I guess it is the second 20 to last page. Do you see a section on 21 Anniston? 22 A. Yeah. I found it. 23 Q. What is meant by Anniston is REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 238 1 experiencing some challenges? 2 A. Well, based on -- if you keep reading SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038732 3 where it says now there are lawyers 4 involved and in many cases the plant no 5 longer can speak, I would assume it is 6 referencing litigation. 7 MR. PECK: The plant can no longer 8 speak? 9 THE WITNESS: Right. The plant 10 can no longer speak directly 11 with community members. 12 Q. Okay. Now, tell me if I'm wrong, but I 13 read this to say that the lesson you 14 have learned from Anniston is that you 15 would have been able to possibly prevent 16 some of this litigation. 17 MR. PECK: Object to the form of 18 the question. 19 A. Well, again, that is like a crystal 20 ball. I can't predict that, and neither 21 can anyone else. All we do know is we 22 were no longer able to even talk to 23 people and sit down with them because REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 239 1 the litigation prevented us from doing SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038733 2 that. We know there is definitely value 3 -- like everybody does, that two-way 4 dialogue is a lot better than no 5 dialogue. That was the point of the 6 message behind Anniston, is now with the 7 situation we no longer have the ability 8 to talk to people, many people, because 9 they are involved in litigation. So 10 even if a litigation had occurred, if we 11 had previously had conversations with 12 them, that would have benefited us. 13 Q. In what way? 14 A. Because they would have been -- We would 15 have been listening to them and hearing 16 their concerns, and we would have been 17 also -- We would also have been able to 18 relay to them what we were doing and how 19 we were running our manufacturing. 20 Q. Having looked through Exhibit 21 Thirty-five to the Herndon deposition, 22 does it refresh your memory as to who 23 you gave this presentation to? REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 240 SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038734 1 A. It doesn't, no. 2 Q. Do you know who would have looked at 3 your presentation materials before you 4 made the presentation, who would have 5 approved them? 6 A. Very likely my -- whoever I was 7 reporting to at the time, which I 8 believe that would have been Larry 9 O'Neill. 10 Q. And would it have been run by Mr. Pierle 11 as well? 12 A. Possibly. 13 Q. Did you gather information on CAPs from 14 other chemical companies such as BASF? 15 A. Yes. 16 (Plaintiffs'Exhibit Number 17 Twenty was marked for 18 identification.) 19 Q. Would you identify what Plaintiffs' 20 Exhibit Twenty is, please? 21 A. This says BASF Corporation, Community 22 Advisory Panel Handbook. 23 Q. Is that a document that you obtained? REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 241 SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038735 1 A. Yes. 2 Q. Why did you get that document? 3 A. At some point in time I was obviously 4 gathering information on what other 5 companies were doing with community 6 advisory panels. 7 Q. Do you remember who your contact was at 8 BASF? 9 A. I don't. 10 Q. Do you recall at what point in time you 11 were gathering this information? 12 A. No, not specifically. 13 Q. Why was it important to you to know what 14 those other companies were doing? 15 A. Usually we do that to gather ideas for 16 ways to improve our community advisory 17 panels or ways to evaluate our 18 communities, but I can't tell you 19 specifically what I was working on at 20 the time. 21 Q. Do you remember having any discussions 22 with anyone at BASF regarding any CAPs 23 they have implemented? REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 242 SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038736 1 A. I don't remember. 2 Q. Do you remember other companies besides 3 BASF from whom you obtained CAP 4 information? 5 A. There were others. I just don't 6 specifically recall who they were. 7 Q. Do you know Diane Sheridan? 8 A. I know who she is. 9 Q. Who is she? 10 A. She is a community advisory panel 11 facilitator. 12 Q. Have you ever had any discussions with 13 her about CAPs? 14 A. Yes. She taught a course -- she was one 15 of the instructors in a course I took. 16 Q. What course was that? 17 A. I don't remember the name of it. 18 Q. Where was it held? 19 A. In -- near Houston. 20 Q. Was it dealing with the issue of CAPs? 21 A. Yes. 22 Q. Do you remember what year you went to 23 that? REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038737 243 1 A. No. 2 Q. How many courses have you taken on CAPs? 3 A. That's the only one. 4 Q. Was anyone else from Monsanto or Solutia 5 in attendance at that seminar? 6 A. No. 7 Q. Do you remember if that seminar took 8 place before or after you had solicited 9 information from Prudential? 10 A. Before. 11 Q. Do you remember if it was before or 12 after Bourne Elliott had been referred 13 to you guys? 14 A. I don't know because I wasn't involved 15 in the Bourne Elliott referral. 16 Q. Well, let me ask it this way: At the 17 time you went to the seminar, do you 18 know if Monsanto had even tried to form 19 a CAP in Anniston? 20 A. I don't recall because I don't remember 21 the specific timing. I know we had CAPs 22 at other plants at that time. 23 Q. Well, based on the letter from Bourne SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038738 REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 244 1 Elliott to Diane Herndon which we have 2 marked as Exhibit Eighteen to your 3 deposition, which was showing that he 4 had done work in January of 1996, do you 5 think it was before that time? 6 A. I do. I think it was before that time. 7 MR. PECK: Can we take a quick 8 break while you look for your 9 next document? 10 MS. MALOW: Sure. 11 (A break was taken.) 12 (Plaintiffs' Exhibits Numbers 13 Twenty-one, Twenty-two, 14 Twenty-three, Twenty-four, 15 and Twenty-five were marked, 16 for identification.) 17 Q. What I'm going to do, Beth, is hand you 18 a bunch of things I have marked and let 19 you look at them, and then I'll ask you 20 some questions. Can you identify for 21 the record what Exhibits Twenty-one 22 through Twenty-five are? Just identify 23 what Exhibits Twenty-one through SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038739 REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 245 1 Twenty-five are, please. 2 A. Read off the titles? 3 Q. Sure. 4 A. Twenty-one is Chemical Industry Tries to 5 Improve its Community Relations. 6 Twenty-two is Steps to Address the 7 Concern of an Overly Supportive CAP; 8 Twenty-three, Forming a Community 9 Advisory Panel; Twenty-four, ATSDR 10 Community Assistance Panels; and 11 Twenty-five, Challenges Faced by 12 Community Advisory Panels and 13 Recommendations to Address Them. 14 Q. Are Exhibits Twenty-one through 15 Twenty-five documents that you gathered 16 when you were trying to get information 17 on CAPs? 18 A. No. Actually, Twenty-one, Twenty-two, 19 Twenty-three, and Twenty-five were from 20 the class I just referenced. 21 Q. Twenty-one? 22 A. Twenty-two, Twenty-three, and SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038740 23 Twenty-five were all provided to me when REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 246 1 I attended that class in Houston. 2 Q. That leaves Twenty-four, which is the 3 ATSDR document on CAPs. 4 A. I don't recall ever seeing this before. 5 Q. Do you know what ATSDR is? 6 A. ATSDR 7 Q. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease 8 Registry, which is part of the U.S. 9 Department of Health and Human Services. 10 A. Okay. 11 Q. But you don't know where Twenty-four 12 came from? 13 A. No. 14 Q. Let's talk about -- Well, strike that. 15 In attending this seminar on CAPs 16 and in gathering information from other 17 companies about CAPs, did you come to an 18 understanding of what the historical 19 reason was that CAPs were instituted in 20 the first place? 21 A. The understanding I'm aware of is to SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038741 22 establish dialogue and improve community 23 outreach. REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 247 1 Q. Weren't CAPs started because the 2 chemical industry was having problems in 3 terms of its reputation? 4 A. I can't say that is why CAPs were 5 started. 6 Q. Well, weren't there a series of 7 disasters such as Bhopal, India, and 8 various explosions that generated the 9 interest in forming CAPs? 10 MR. PECK: Object to the form of 11 the question, no foundation. 12 Q. Let me back up with you. Responsible 13 care, which we have talked about, which 14 is mandatory from CMA for all CMA 15 members, grew out of events such as the 16 Bhopal, India, chemical disaster; is 17 that right? 18 A. That is what CMA says. 19 Q. And CMA promotes the use of CAPs as part 20 of responsible care to bolster the image SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038742 21 of chemical companies, don't they? 22 A. They support CAPs for the same reason 23 that we do, to improve community REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 248 1 dialogue and to, you know, improve 2 outreach to the community. 3 Q. Okay. Are you telling me that there is 4 no literature that CMA has published or 5 issued to its members that talks about 6 the exact fact that CAPs are helpful to 7 bolster the image of chemical companies? 8 MR. PECK: Object to the form of 9 the question. 10 A. I don't really recall them using those 11 words. I recall them saying it is good 12 for improving dialogue and developing 13 relationships with your community 14 members and helping understand their 15 concerns and helping them to understand 16 what we do to ensure the safe operation 17 of our company. 18 Q. And is there any link between developing 19 that understanding and the fact that SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038743 20 chemical companies have spills and 21 releases and incidents that can 22 potentially harm people? 23 MR. PECK: Object to the form of REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 249 1 the question. 2 A. I'm not sure. Could you rephrase the 3 question, please? 4 Q. Is there any connection between the need 5 for open dialogue in the community and 6 the fact that in the chemical industry 7 it is not uncommon for there to be 8 spills or releases or events that can 9 potentially harm the community? 10 MR. PECK: Object to the form of 11 the question. 12 A. Well, I don't -- That is sort of a 13 statement that I don't actually agree 14 with. In our business today and the 15 time frame I've worked, it actually is 16 uncommon. We do everything in our power 17 to ensure we don't have releases and 18 spills. We have had community advisory SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038744 19 panels at some plants for less than ten 20 years but around that time frame. And 21 so I -- And in the time frame I've 22 worked for this company, which has been 23 a little over nine years, that has not REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 250 1 been a regular occurrence by any 2 stretch. It certainly is the exception. 3 So we obviously have not put them in 4 place for that purpose exclusively. We 5 have done it to establish dialogue and 6 outreach. 7 Q. Doesn't this document, Exhibit 8 Twenty-one which was provided to you at 9 the seminar you attended on CAPs, talk 10 about the fact that as a result of 11 incidents like in Bhopal, India, the 12 chemical industry has been feared? 13 MR. PECK: Object to the form of 14 the question. 15 A. Let me read it for a minute. 16 Q. Okay. 17 A. If you read the first paragraph, it does SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038745 18 talk about how the general public's fear 19 that another chemical disaster like 20 Bhopal could occur and that they have 21 needed something besides just general 22 assurances from the chemical industry to 23 allay those fears. REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 251 1 Q. And that is what brought about both 2 responsible care by CMA and also the 3 concept of CAPs? 4 MR. PECK: Object to the form of 5 the question, no foundation. 6 A. Well, if you want to read this, it says 7 encouraging dialogue with communities 8 surrounding chemical facilities 9 overrides every facit of responsible 10 care. So responsible care or elements 11 of it have to do with community outreach 12 and interaction with communities which 13 involves dialogue. CAPs are just one 14 mechanism for doing that. We have 15 always told our sites that if they have 16 a community advisory panel, that alone SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038746 17 is not enough either. That is one of 18 the avenues for outreach. 19 Q. But all of this grew, Ms. Rusert, out of 20 the fact that there were mishaps at 21 chemical plants? 22 MR. PECK: Object to the form of 23 the question. REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 252 1 A. It grew out of the Bhopal incident, 2 which was a major problem, yes. And you 3 know, that is undeniable by -- It 4 happened, and it scared people, yes. 5 Q. And Monsanto has had its share of 6 problems as well with explosions and 7 chemical releases and contamination of 8 neighborhoods, hasn't it? 9 MR. PECK: Object to the form of 10 the question. 11 A. Over the history of the company there 12 have been things, yes. 13 Q. Are you familiar with the Attorney 14 General's lawsuit in the State of 15 Illinois against Monsanto arising out of SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038747 16 the Sauget site? 17 A. No. 18 Q. You haven't had any dealings with that? 19 A. No. 20 Q. Haven't heard about it at all? 21 A. No. 22 Q. Haven't heard about the fact that 23 millions of dollars were contributed by REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 253 1 Monsanto to clean up PCB contamination 2 in Dead Creek? 3 MR. PECK: Object to the form of 4 the question. 5 A. Well, sure I've heard of that, but I 6 don't know much about the details at 7 all. I haven't worked on that. 8 Q. After you attended this seminar in which 9 Ms. Sheridan was a speaker, did you 10 convey the information that you learned 11 to anybody at the company? 12 A. Well, some of that material you saw in 13 that presentation was very likely drawn 14 from these types of materials, so I SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038748 15 guess the answer would be yes. 16 Q. Do you recall having any specific 17 discussions with anybody about the 18 information that you learned at the 19 seminar? 20 A. I can't recall specifics. 21 Q. Are you aware of any other presentations 22 that you have put together or given on 23 CAPs other than the one we have already REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 254 1 discussed? 2 A. No presentations, no. 3 Q. What about something other than a 4 presentation, the way you answered that? 5 A. Well, I did a big workshop which 6 actually was referenced in that 7 presentation. 8 Q. What workshop did you do? 9 A. We -- It was a community outreach 10 workshop where we brought in site 11 managers from around the United States 12 to learn how to improve their community 13 outreach and dialogue with their SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038749 14 communities. 15 Q. When did you hold that? 16 A. It was -- I think it was in'97Just 17 prior to Solutia spinning out. 18 Q. Was there any representative from the 19 Anniston facility at that workshop? 20 A. I don't remember. It was very well 21 attended, but I don't remember. 22 Q. What was the purpose of that workshop? 23 A. To help our sites improve their ability REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 255 1 in dialogue and outreach. 2 Q. Was that a one-day workshop? 3 A. I don't remember. It was maybe one or 4 one and a half. 5 Q. Did you present the same information as 6 what is contained in Exhibit Thirty-five 7 to Ms. Herndon's deposition? 8 A. I did not give a presentation actually. 9 I had people come in who were experts 10 outside the company. 11 Q. Who were those speakers? 12 A. I don't remember all their names. Erin SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038750 13 Donavan -- I'm drawing blanks on the 14 rest of them. That is the only onethat 15 comes right to my mind. 16 Q. Is Erin a woman or a man? 17 A. A woman. 18 Q. Who is she with? 19 A. I think she is with her own company. 20 She was an independent. 21 Q. Has the Donavan group done any work for 22 you guys, for Solutia? 23 A. Other than she gave a class at that REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 256 1 workshop. 2 Q. Do we have documentation from that? 3 Were there any documents? 4 A. No, because it is a binder. It is a 5 big, fat book. It wasn't in a file or 6 anything. 7 Q. What is the binder labeled? 8 A. I don't remember. Whatever the name of 9 the class was. Community outreach 10 probably, something like that. 11 Q. Would that file have been transferred to SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038751 12 Mr. Cahill after he got responsibility? 13 A. No. 14 Q. Where would it be? 15 A. I believe I have the binder. 16 Q. Okay. If you would make that available 17 for the lawyers, they can give that to 18 us. 19 A. Sure. 20 Q. All right. Let's go to another subject. 21 We talked at your last deposition about 22 your contact with Steve Bradley. Do you 23 recall that in general? REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 257 1 A. Yes. 2 (Plaintiffs' Exhibits Numbers 3 Twenty-six and Twenty-seven 4 were marked for 5 identification.) 6 Q. Can you identify Exhibit Twenty-six, 7 please? 8 A. Anniston site issues, September 4, 1998. 9 Q. Was Exhibit Twenty-six provided to 10 Mr. Bradley? SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038752 11 A. I don't know. 12 Q. Have you seen Exhibit Twenty-six before? 13 A. At a glance, you know, in the book on 14 issues. 15 Q. Do you know who prepared Exhibit 16 Twenty-six? 17 A. I can't say for sure, but probably Kevin 18 because it is in his time frame. 19 Q. Do you know the purpose of -- or do you 20 know why it was that Exhibit Twenty-six 21 was prepared? 22 A. For our management. 23 Q. Why did they want this information? REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 258 1 A. Because they like to know what is going 2 on in the company. 3 Q. Who requested it specifically? 4 MR. PECK: Object to the form of 5 the question, no foundation. 6 A. Probably our CEO asked for these. 7 Q. Which was who at the time? 8 A. Bob Potter. 9 Q. Can you identify Exhibit Twenty-seven? SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038753 10 A. Solutia, Inc., Anniston plant fact 11 sheet. 12 Q. Have you seen Exhibit Twenty-seven 13 before? 14 A. No. 15 Q. So you have no idea where it came from 16 or who prepared it? 17 A. No. 18 Q. At your deposition in July we marked -- 19 This is not the original, but we marked 20 Exhibit Twelve, which is a proposal for 21 Solutia, Inc. Do you recall that 22 document? 23 A. Yes. REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 259 1 Q. In that document Mr. Bradley recommends 2 certain steps be taken by Solutia. Is 3 that right? 4 A. I'd have to look at it again. 5 Q. Okay. 6 MR. PECK: If you don't mind, 7 Ellen, why don't we make it a 8 copy in this deposition, SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038754 9 since it was never put in as 10 a copy in the other one? 11 MS. MALOW: That's fine. 12 Q. Does Mr. Bradley set forth some 13 recommendations in Exhibit Twelve? 14 A. I believe I addressed this last time, 15 but as I recall, this was given to me as 16 a proposal before he even really had the 17 idea of the scope of what we were 18 looking for. So this was different than 19 what we were really asking him to do for 20 us and work with us on. 21 Q. Did you ever receive any sort of report 22 from Mr. Bradley? 23 A. No. Because he was hired just shortly REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 260 1 before I moved on the other projects. 2 Q. All right. The answer may be the same 3 for the questions, but let me go through 4 them. He references conducting 5 interviews. Are you aware of any 6 interviews that were conducted? 7 A. I'm not aware of them. SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038755 8 Q. Do you know of any environmental issues 9 that he identified? 10 A. I don't know. 11 Q. Do you know of a recommended course of 12 action that Mr. Bradley suggests for 13 Solutia? 14 A. No. 15 Q. What was done to improve Solutia's 16 standing with political leaders, 17 minority and environmental communities? 18 A. I don't know. 19 Q. What media contacts did Mr. Bradley have 20 or make? 21 A. I don't know. 22 Q. I think I asked you before whether or 23 not you provided Mr. Bradley with any REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 261 1 public information about Solutia. Did 2 you? 3 A. I don't believe that I provided -- I may 4 have provided him with our annual report 5 and environmental safety and health 6 report. That is not uncommon. But I SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038756 7 couldn't tell you specifically what I 8 sent him if anything. 9 Q. While you had responsibility for 10 Anniston, did you ever put in place a 11 plan to place positive media stories? 12 A. No. 13 Q. We talked before about your contacts 14 with the media during your time that you 15 had responsibility for Anniston. Did 16 you ever put together any sort of 17 package or tour for press regarding 18 Anniston? 19 A. No. 20 Q. All right. Let me go back to some 21 follow-up from the last deposition. We 22 talked about Dr. Renate Kimbrough, and 23 you told me that you had seen the REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 262 1 GE-funded study which was the most 2 recently funded study that she did. Do 3 you recall that? 4 A. Yes. 5 Q. Haveyou seen Dr. Kaley's articles on SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038757 6 the GE epidemiological study? 7 A. I don't think so. 8 Q. You told me before that you had heard of 9 Dr. Kimbrough regarding PCBs and other 10 topics. On what other topics have you 11 heard of Dr. Kimbrough? 12 A. I don't know. I just remember her name 13 and that I had read some different 14 articles from her. 15 Q. Do you recall the names of any of the 16 articles that you have read? 17 A. No. 18 Q. You also testified that you have 19 discussed Kimbrough's studies with 20 environmental people at your company. 21 Which environmental people? 22 A. Bob Kaley. 23 Q. Anybody else? REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 263 1 A. Not that I recall. 2 Q. What discussions have you had with 3 Mr. Kaley -- Dr. Kaley in that regard? 4 A. I couldn't recall specifics. I mean, it SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038758 5 would just have been him generally 6 telling me about the studies that have 7 been conducted. 8 Q. Do you know why it is that articles from 9 Dr. Kimbrough and Dr. James are in the 10 PR files? 11 A. Because they are good information for us 12 to understand and read about the studies 13 that have been done. 14 Q. Do you know Dr. James? 15 A. No. 16 Q. You also testified that there were some 17 historical PCB studies that you 18 discussed with Dr. Kaley. Do you recall 19 that testimony? 20 A. Yes. 21 Q. What is your understanding of those 22 historical studies? 23 A. I don't recall specifically what we REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 264 1 talked about, what he told me at the 2 time. I just know we talked about it. 3 Q. Switching gears with you, you previously SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038759 4 testified that Bill DeFer had discussed 5 some on-site levels of PCBs at the 6 Anniston site with you. Do you recall 7 that? 8 A. I think so. 9 Q. What were the levels that had been 10 found? 11 A. I don't remember the numbers. 12 Q. Do you know thelocations? 13 A. No. 14 Q. See how fast we are going to clip 15 through all this. 16 You testified that you knew about 17 studies performed regarding off site 18 migration of PCBs. What types of 19 studies were performed? 20 A. I couldn't give you specifics. I just 21 remember generalities, which I think we 22 talked about last time. 23 Q. Do you know what areas were studied off REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 265 1 site? 2 A. No. SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038760 3 Q. Do you know the results of any of those 4 studies? 5 A. No. 6 Q. And you did testify that you didn't know 7 the specifics about the off site 8 contamination, but what is your general 9 understanding of that off site 10 contamination? 11 MR. PECK: Object to the form of 12 the question, no foundation. 13 A. Just generally that there was some off 14 site contamination identified. 15 Q. What do you generally know about the 16 levels found in the neighborhoods around 17 the Anniston plant? 18 MR. PECK: Object to the form of 19 the question, no foundation. 20 A. I don't know anything. 21 Q. Have you heard anything about levels in 22 the neighborhood? 23 A. I've heard there are levels in the REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 266 1 neighborhood. I don't know anything SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038761 2 about the levels. 3 Q. I also asked you at your last deposition 4 whether you had had any direct contact 5 with anyone at ADEM. My question for 6 you now is have you had any indirect 7 contact with anyone at ADEM? 8 A. No. 9 Q. You testified that you were aware that 10 Alabama Power had found some PCBs on the 11 former Monsanto property. Do you recall 12 that testimony? 13 A. Yes. 14 Q. Were you aware of the press release that 15 was issued by Alabama Power at the time 16 of its discovery of those PCBs? 17 A. No. I may have seen it. 18 Q. Did you later become aware of it? 19 A. I may have seen it. I just don't recall 20 it specifically. 21 Q. Switching gears again, you testified 22 that you had had some discussions with 23 Jack Mayausky when he became plant REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 267 SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038762 1 manager. Do you recall that? 2 A. Yes. 3 Q. Specifically you testified that your 4 conversations with Mayausky were 5 regarding what happened in the past and 6 assessing the situation. What past 7 events did you discuss with Jack 8 Mayausky? 9 A. I can't remember specific conversations. 10 Q. Can you remember any past events that he 11 shared with you? 12 A. Well, Jack wouldn't -- Jack was newer 13 than me, even though I was new. So I 14 was relaying what little I knew, which 15 wasn't much because I hadn't worked on 16 it very long before he came on board. 17 Q. What past events did you share with him? 18 A. It would have just been our general 19 conversation about the history of the 20 plant and what we were learning 21 together. 22 Q. You also in your testimony had said that 23 you were assessing the situation. What REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 268 SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038763 1 situation were you assessing with 2 Mr. Mayausky? 3 A. The fact there had been some off site 4 PCBs found off site. 5 Q. What did you and Mr. Mayausky decide to 6 do in that regard? 7 A. No final decisions were made even before 8 I was no longer working with the plant. 9 Q. What were some of the preliminary 10 discussions? 11 A. Well, we were at the time looking at 12 trying to establish a community advisory 13 panel. We spent a lot of energy around 14 that. 15 Q. You also testified that you had had some 16 discussions with Blake Hamilton 17 regarding the Anniston facility. Do you 18 recall that? 19 A. Yes. 20 Q. Do you recall any conversations you had 21 with Mr. Hamilton in that regard? 22 A. No. 23 Q. As the person in charge of PR for the REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 269 SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038764 1 Anniston site, what sort of image were 2 you trying to establish for Solutia? 3 A. I can't say that I was really looking at 4 establishing an image per se as much as 5 trying to establish a good relationship 6 in the community. 7 Q. Did you identify any key reporters for 8 that area? 9 A. No. I don't recall doing that. 10 Q. Did you interview any people from the 11 media? 12 A. No. 13 Q. Were you made aware of any articles 14 about the Anniston site before they were 15 published? 16 A. I don't think so. 17 Q. Do you know why there is a book review 18 on Mollenkamp's Big Tobacco in the PR 19 files? 20 A. No. 21 Q. Do you know Mollenkamp, a Wall Street 22 Journal reporter? 23 A. No. REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038765 270 1 Q. Have you ever heard of a book he wrote 2 called Big Tobacco? 3 A. No. 4 Q. I know from Ms. Herndon that he was 5 directly involved with Rick Bragg's 6 story on the Anniston site. Did you 7 have any involvement with that 8 whatsoever? 9 A. No. 10 Q. Were you aware that Fleishman Hilliard 11 was involved in putting together a media 12 presentation regarding a Wall Street 13 Journal article by a reporter name 14 McMurray? 15 A. No. 16 Q. Do you know why an article about PCBs 17 the Hudson is in the PR file? 18 A. No. 19 Q. Are you familiar with any information 20 about the PCB problem in the Hudson 21 River? 22 A. I believe I have read an article on it 23 before. SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038766 REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 271 1 Q. Why is that of interest to you? 2 A. I suppose it is the subject matter is 3 just similar. I don't know. I don't 4 recall the article. 5 Q. Have you read the article PCBs in the 6 Hudson are Found to Persist and to Enter 7 the Air? 8 A. I don't recall reading that. 9 Q. Are you familiar with the PCB 10 backgrounder document? 11 A. No. 12 Q. Are you familiar with the geriatric and 13 infant day care proposal? 14 A. No. 15 Q. Have you had any indirect contacts with 16 anyone at EPA? 17 A. No. 18 Q. Do you know where the letter from Carol 19 Browner of the EPA regarding the west 20 Anniston environmental justice task 21 force came from? 22 A. No. 23 Q. Do you know who Monsanto's contacts were SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038767 REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 272 1 at EPA in Washington? 2 A. No. 3 Q. How about in Atlanta? 4 A. No. 5 Q. Do you know of any congressmen or 6 senators contacted by Solutia regarding 7 the Anniston facility? 8 A. No. 9 Q. Have you ever heard of Carol Browner? 10 A. Sure. 11 Q. Have you ever had any contact with 12 her? 13 A. No. 14 Q. Do you know of anyone with Solutia who 15 has had contact with Ms. Browner? 16 A. Not specifically. 17 Q. How about generally? 18 A. I mean, it is possible, but I can't say 19 for sure. So I guess the answer is no. 20 Q. Are you familiar with a former Monsanto 21 employee named Jerry Ford? 22 A. I've heard of him. SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038768 23 Q. Do you know what support was provided REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 273 1 for Mr. Ford when he was running for 2 local election in Anniston? 3 A. No. 4 Q. Who was Solutia's lobbyist when you had 5 the Anniston site? 6 A. When I was working with the Anniston 7 site the first time, we didn't have a 8 contract lobbyist or anyone lobbying 9 per se. And then the second time I had 10 hired, just prior to when I was no 11 longer working for the plant, David 12 Roberson. 13 Q. Are you familiar with a Calhoun County 14 Chamber of Commerce map project? 15 A. No. 16 Q. Have you heard of the Spirit of Anniston 17 program? 18 A. No. 19 Q. Are you aware of any epidemiological 20 studies that have been performed on 21 workers at the Anniston site? SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038769 22 A. No. 23 Q. I asked you about the Monsanto REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 274 1 backgrounder. I wanted to show it to 2 you and see if it jogs your memory. I'm 3 not going to mark it yet. 4 A. Oh, I think I have seen this before. 5 Q. Do you know who prepared the Monsanto 6 backgrounder? 7 A. I have no idea. 8 Q. Have you ever given that to anybody? 9 A. I don't think so. It is pretty old, 10 July 1990. I started that year, so I 11 wasn't workingon this kind of thing 12 then. 13 Q. Have you heard of Michael Lythcott? 14 A. No. 15 Q. I'm going to show you what was marked as 16 Exhibit Thirty-eight to Ms. Herndon's 17 deposition and ask if you have seen this 18 before. 19 A. Since I'm on the distribution list, 20 apparently I did, but I don't recall it. SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038770 21 Q. Do you want to take a moment to look at 22 it and see if it refreshes your 23 recollection? REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 275 1 A. Do you want me to read it cover to 2 cover? I don't really recall this at 3 all. If I read it, I have forgotten it 4 entirely. 5 Q. Well, it seems to relate to community 6 advisory type issues, doesn't it? 7 A. Yeah, to some degree. 8 Q. I mean, according to that article from 9 the LA Times Mr. Lythcott is involved in 10 trying to bring chemical companies and 11 communities together on different 12 issues; isn't that right? 13 A. It looks that way. 14 Q. But you never had any contact with 15 Mr. Lythcott? 16 A. No. 17 Q. Are you familiar with Grover Hankins? 18 A. I've heard of him. 19 Q. In what context? SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038771 20 A. Just a different case. 21 Q. What case is that? 22 A. I don't remember the name of it. 23 Q. Okay. Are you familiar with REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 276 1 Mr. Hankins' web site? 2 A. No. 3 Q. Do you know anything about the Superfund 4 relocation planning committee of which 5 Mr. Pierle was a member? 6 A. No. 7 MS. MALOW: Just for purposes of 8 the record, Exhibit 9 Thirty-eight to Ms. Herndon's 10 deposition is the article 11 from the LA Times regarding 12 Mr. Lythcott. 13 (Plaintiffs'Exhibit Number 14 Twenty-eight was marked for 15 identification.) 16 Q. Can you identify Exhibit Twenty-eight? 17 A. Environmental justice issues and 18 opportunities. SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038772 19 Q. And it has a Solutia insignia at the 20 bottom? 21 A. Yes. 22 Q. Have you seen this document before, 23 Exhibit Twenty-eight? REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 277 1 A. I don't think so. 2 Q. Sol take it you don't know who prepared 3 it? 4 A. No. 5 Q. Okay. Maybe you can help with some of 6 the content of it. If you will go to -- 7 it is about midway through, there is a 8 page called environmental justice 9 vulnerability analysis. 10 A. Yes. 11 Q. Do you know why Anniston would be listed 12 as being vulnerable from an 13 environmental justice perspective? 14 A. Well, as wedefined environmental 15 justice earlier, it is when there is a 16 poor minority neighborhood in close 17 proximity to industry where there might SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038773 18 be some -- something that results from 19 that. Anniston happens to have a poor 20 minority community in close proximity to 21 the industry. 22 Q. Are you familiar with Solutia's 23 environmental justice principles, which REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 278 1 is at the back of Exhibit Twenty-eight? 2 A. No. I've never seen these before. 3 Q. Did you have any involvement in the 4 Solutia education connection program? 5 A. No. 6 Q. If you recall at your last deposition we 7 talked about the benzine incident at the 8 Anniston site. 9 A. Yes. 10 (Plaintiffs'Exhibit Number 11 Twenty-nine was marked for 12 identification.) 13 Q. Can you identify Plaintiffs'Exhibit 14 Twenty-nine? 15 A. If s a description of--It says 3-20-92 16 and 12-24-92 incidents that could be SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038774 17 used to construct a press release 18 responding to media regarding Alabama 19 spill reporting issues in Anniston. 20 Q. Who provided you with these memos? 21 A. Steve Krchma. 22 Q. He is an attorney? 23 A. Yes. REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 279 1 Q. Did you construct such a response? 2 A. I would assume I did. 3 Q. Okay. Maybe I have it. Let's see. 4 (Plaintiffs' Exhibit Number 5 Thirty was marked for 6 identification.) 7 Q. Can you identify Exhibit Thirty? 8 A. Yeah. This is it. This is a response. 9 Q. And is the response what is known as the 10 preparedness statement? 11 A. Yes. 12 Q. Did you prepare the preparedness 13 statement? 14 A. Yes. 15 Q. Do you recall what media inquiries you SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038775 16 received? 17 A. I don't remember. 18 Q. Did anyone else have input on that 19 preparedness statement? 20 A. I'm sure they did. I don't know who I 21 worked with on it though. 22 Q. Were you involved at all with the 23 Anniston site when the advisory went in REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 280 1 place that people should not consume 2 fish? 3 A. No. You mean when it was already active 4 or when it was first put in place? 5 Q. When it was first put in place. 6 A. No. I don't believe I was working with 7 the plant then. 8 Q. Was there any time you had a 9 responsibility for Anniston when there 10 was a fish advisory in place? 11 A. Yes. I think there was a fish advisory 12 in place during the second stretch I 13 had. 14 Q. Did you have any dealings with the press SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038776 15 regarding the fish advisory issue? 16 A. No. 17 Q. There was a health study that was 18 performed regarding the Anniston site. 19 Did you have any involvement in that by 20 the Alabama Department of Public health? 21 A. No. 22 Q. Were you familiar at all with any of the 23 dust samples that were collected in the REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 281 1 homes of Anniston residents? 2 A. No. 3 Q. Have you had any contact or 4 communication in any form with Dr. Brian 5 Hughes? 6 A. No. 7 Q. Have you heard of him? 8 A. No. 9 Q. Do you know John Seymour? 10 A. No. 11 Q. He was a city manager of Anniston that 12 attended the VPP -- I don't know what 13 you call it -- presentation or award at SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038777 14 the Anniston site. Do you remember 15 that? 16 A. I remember the event. I don't remember 17 him being there. I don't know who he 18 is. 19 Q. Okay. 20 (Plaintiffs' Exhibit Number 21 Thirty-one was marked for 22 identification.) 23 Q. Can you identify Exhibit Thirty-one, REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 282 1 please? 2 A. It looks like a memo from me to John 3 Seymour with a copy of a news release 4 that says Monsanto Anniston plant 5 recertified, top safety rating. 6 Q. Do you know why it was that Mr. Seymour 7 was included in this VPP issue? 8 A. I honestly do not remember at all why I 9 was in contact with him. I don't 10 remember. 11 Q. And your fax to him of July 1997, it 12 says thanks for your assistance. Do you SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038778 13 know what assistance he provided? 14 A. No. 15 (Plaintiffs' Exhibit Number 16 Thirty-two was marked for 17 identification.) 18 Q. Ms. Rusert, I'm going to hand you what 19 has been marked as Exhibit Thirty-two. 20 It appears to be a chapter from a book 21 about lobbying. Have you seen this 22 document before? 23 A. I don't think so. REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 283 1 Q. Doesn't look familiar? 2 A. No. 3 Q. We talked before about the fact that you 4 had received various information from 5 Alabama Chemical regarding different 6 legislation. Do you recall that? 7 A. Yes. 8 (Plaintiffs' Exhibit Number 9 Thirty-three was marked for 10 identification.) 11 Q. Can you identify Exhibit Thirty-three, SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038779 12 please? 13 A. A legislative alert, tort reform in the 14 senate, action needed. 15 Q. And it is from Rita Hartman at AlaChem, 16 is that right, if you look at the top 17 fax line? 18 A. Rata Hartman was with Monsanto. 19 Q. Okay. Do you know why it has the 20 AlaChem information at the top? 21 A. No. Maybe she was down there. I don't 22 know. 23 Q. Actually, the other documents that are REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 284 1 attached to that probably don't go with 2 that, just the first page. 3 What was Monsanto's or Solutia's 4 position with respect to this tort 5 reform legislation which is Exhibit 6 Thirty-three? 7 A. Well, our general position on tort 8 reform was that there should be caps on 9 punitive damages in relationship to the 10 actual damages that have occurred. SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038780 11 Q. So Monsanto or Solutia supports tort 12 reform legislation? 13 A. Yes. 14 Q. Have you actually seen the Alabama tort 15 reform bill? 16 A. No. 17 (Plaintiffs'Exhibit Number 18 Thirty-four was marked for 19 identification.) 20 Q. Can you identify Exhibit Thirty-four, 21 please? 22 A. Legislative report, 1997 regular 23 session, April 11th, 1997, from Alabama REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 285 1 Chemical Association, Inc. 2 Q. And if you will flip to the second page, 3 the second paragraph, and take a moment 4 to read that. 5 A. Yes, I've read it. 6 Q. Why were you interested in this 7 information regarding Donald Stewart? 8 A. Probably because it mentioned our 9 company. That would be the only reason SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038781 10 it was pointed out. I don't know that I 11 did that. It was probably faxed to me. 12 Q. What is Rita Hartman's job? 13 A. She worked with our group in state 14 government affairs. 15 Q. Is she still with Monsanto? 16 A. No. She retired. 17 Q. Is she living in St. Louis? 18 A. I don't know where she is living. 19 Q. Do you know Max McCombs? 20 A. I do. 21 Q. Have you done any work with him 22 regarding the Sauget site? 23 A. No. REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 286 1 Q.Are you familiar with a publication 2 called Bama Briefs? 3 A. I've heard of that, yes. 4 Q. Did you have any role in that 5 publication? 6 A. No. 7 Q. Do you know the distribution of that 8 publication? SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038782 9 A. No. 10 Q. I think I may have already asked you 11 this. If I did I apologize. But have 12 you had any role with respect to Sauget 13 orKrummrich? 14 A. No. 15 Q. Are you aware that Krummrich was the 16 first plant to have a CAP? 17 A. No. 18 Q. And you didn't have any involvement at 19 all with the property purchase program, 20 correct? 21 A. No involvement. 22 Q. Are you familiar with the article Scott 23 McMurray wrote in the Wall Street REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 287 1 Journal on Monsanto case shows how hard 2 it is to tie pollution to a source? 3 A. No. 4 Q. Do you know anything about a 5 contribution that Solutia made to a bass 6 tournament? 7 A. No. SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038783 8 (Plaintiffs' Exhibit Number 9 Thirty-five was marked for 10 identification.) 11 Q. Can you identify Plaintiffs' Exhibit 12 Thirty-five? 13 A. It says it is Anniston safety issues or 14 has Anniston written on the top and says 15 safety issues. 16 Q. Have you seen Exhibit Thirty-five 17 before? 18 A. I don't recall seeing this. 19 Q. Are you familiar with the Anniston PCB 20 history, which is the last page of 21 Exhibit Thirty-five? 22 A. Generally. I'm generally familiar with 23 it, yes. REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 288 1 Q. But you didn't have anything to do with 2 this document? 3 A. No. 4 Q. And you weren't present when these 5 issues were discussed at any meeting? 6 A. No, no. SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038784 7 (Plaintiffs' Exhibit Number 8 Thirty-six was marked for 9 identification.) 10 Q. Can you identify Exhibit Thirty-six? 11 A. It says it is Monsanto Anniston plant 12 recent accomplishments. 13 Q. Have you seen this document before, 14 Exhibit Thirty-six? 15 A. I don't think so. 16 Q. Well, it had to have been prior to the 17 spin. Would that have been the time you 18 had responsibility for Anniston? 19 A. Yeah. I had a brief stint prior to -- 20 when it was still Monsanto. 21 Q. Do you recall being at any meetings 22 where this presentation was given? 23 A. No. REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 289 1 Q. Okay. Has Solutia ever used a focus 2 group for Anniston? 3 A. I don't think so. 4 Q. How about for any of its sites? 5 A. Yes. SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038785 6 Q. Which sites? 7 A. I don't know all of them. I know we did 8 one in Pensacola. 9 Q. What is the difference between a focus 10 group and a CAP? 11 A. Well, a CAP is ongoing, and a focus -- 12 it doesn't really have dialogue. A 13 focus group is just gathering 14 information based upon the opinions of 15 the people participating in the focus 16 group. It is a survey. But a CAP is by 17 no means of a survey. You are there and 18 interacting with them and having 19 feedback and giving information back to 20 them. 21 Q. Okay. In the cases where you've used 22 focus groups, what have been the reasons 23 that focus groups have been used? REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 290 1 A. Well, if we want to get a clear 2 understanding of people's concerns or 3 just attitudes in the community or it 4 could be just a better understanding of SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038786 5 the community in general, which might 6 use a focus group. 7 Q. Are you familiar withan article that 8 was written inSierra magazine entitled 9 Pandora's Poison? 10 A. I've heard of it. 11 Q. Did you have any part in responding to 12 that article? 13 A. No. 14 Q. Have you read the article? 15 A. Probably. 16 (Plaintiffs'Exhibit Number 17 Thirty-seven was marked for 18 identification.) 19 Q. Can you identify Exhibit Thirty-seven? 20 A. It says Solutia Anniston. 21 Q. It looks like a copy of a brochure; is 22 that right? 23 A. Yes. REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 291 1 Q. Have you seen Exhibit Thirty-seven 2 before? 3 A. Yes. SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038787 4 Q. Were you involved in its preparation? 5 A. Yes. 6 Q. Tell me about your involvement in that. 7 A. I oversaw the preparation of the 8 brochure for all of our plants, for 9 Solutia, for the new company. And then 10 I would have worked closely like with 11 Kevin who actually had responsibility 12 for this plant to make sure we had the 13 information correct and stuff. 14 Q. Where was the information obtained from 15 that went into this brochure, which is 16 Exhibit Thirty-seven? 17 A. The plant. 18 Q. Who were the specific people at the 19 plant that provided that information? 20 A. Primarily Blake Hamilton, and I wouldn't 21 know who he worked with, but we worked 22 directly with Blake. 23 Q. Do you recall when this was prepared? REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 292 1 A. Last year. 2 Q. And why was it prepared? SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038788 3 A. Because we were a new company, and we 4 felt we needed some plant brochures with 5 our Solutia logo and updated information 6 on our plants. 7 Q. Who was the brochure given to? 8 A. It is whomever they want to give it to. 9 They use it for different purposes, 10 different community members. People 11 calling and requesting information about 12 the plants from a job hunting 13 perspective, they will provide it for 14 that. 15 Q. Was there any sort of distribution of 16 the brochure after it wasprepared? 17 A. No. It just went straight to the plants 18 for them to distribute as they like. 19 Q. In the brochure it talks about certain 20 programs such as the Adopt a School 21 program and science education. Are you 22 familiar with those programs? 23 A. No. That is where Kevin and Blake would REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 293 1 have come in to help. SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038789 2 Q. Do you know if the Anniston plant 3 maintained funding for fire department 4 training? 5 A. I don't know. 6 Q. Do you know if a relationship was 7 developed by the Anniston plant with 8 Calhoun County Emergency Response 9 Agency? 10 A. I don't know about that either. 11 Q. Are you familiar with any luncheons that 12 have been held for Anniston area math 13 and science teachers? 14 A. No. 15 Q. Do you know what was done to educate the 16 community on commitments to responsible 17 care? 18 A. No. 19 Q. We talked earlier about Prudential 20 Community Consulting and the letter you 21 had from John Mitchell. There was some 22 previous correspondence from 23 Mr. Mitchell to Thomas Bistline. Are REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 294 SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038790 1 you familiar with any of that contact? 2 A. No. 3 Q. Are you familiar with any of the 4 arrangements that were made for Kevin 5 Cahill to attend Governor Siegleman's 6 inaugural ball? 7 A. No. 8 Q. Did this brochure, which is Exhibit 9 Thirty-seven, replace on older brochure? 10 A. There was one done for the plants years 11 ago. I don't know if the Anniston plant 12 had one or not. I would assume it did. 13 Q. But it would have had Monsanto logo? 14 A. Right. And it was a long time ago, like 15 in the '80s, I think is when they were 16 done. 17 Q. Are you familiar with any involvement 18 that the Anniston site has had with the 19 Alabama Business Council? 20 A. No. 21 Q. Have you had any involvement with the 22 Alabama Business Council? 23 A. No. REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 295 SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038791 1 Q. Are you familiar with the Coalition for 2 Environmentally Responsible 3 Concerns, CERCS? 4 A. I've heard of it. 5 Q. Did you have any involvement in 6 answering a questionnaire from CERCS? 7 A. I don't think so. 8 Q. Do you know if Monsanto ever tried to 9 become a member of CERCS? 10 A. I don't know. 11 Q. Is Larry O'Neill still with the company? 12 A. No. He is retired. 13 Q. Are you familiar with a document 14 entitled Poisons in Our Neighborhoods, 15 Toxic Pollution in Alabama? 16 A. Doesn't sound familiar. 17 Q. Let me just show you this page and see 18 if that looks familiar to you. 19 A. No, it doesn't. 20 Q. Have you seen data on toxic waste in the 21 State of Alabama? 22 A. Not that I recall. 23 Q. Are you familiar with the EPA's grant, REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 296 SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038792 1 environmental justice grant to Sweet 2 Valley, Cobb Town? 3 A. No. 4 Q. Are you familiar with the Indian Orchard 5 plant? 6 A. You mean the fact that it exists? Yes. 7 Q. Do you know anything about a group 8 called the Toxins Action Center? 9 A. No. 10 Q. I think this might be Diane's 11 handwriting. But can you tell me if 12 that is your handwriting? 13 A. No. It is mine. 14 (Plaintiffs'Exhibit Number 15 Thirty-eight was marked for 16 identification.) 17 Q. Gosh. That is another document. Just 18 for the record, can you identify what 19 Exhibit Thirty-eight is? 20 A. It is some sort of handwritten document 21 with the name Anniston on top. 22 Q. And you have confirmed that is your 23 handwriting? REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038793 297 1 A. It is my handwriting. 2 Q. Can you read any of that? 3 A. Sort of. 4 Q. Why don't you just go through the 5 document and tell me what it says to the 6 best of your ability from the top to the 7 bottom? 8 A. Okay. It looks like we were looking at 9 the possibility, in trying to figure out 10 a way to establish a CAP, of using a 11 core group of people, those names that 12 are listed there, to begin, get a 13 preliminary list of names that we could 14 use to start from in establishing 15 potential folks for a community advisory 16 panel. And it would be started off as a 17 six-month commitment and perhaps, if it 18 was successful, it would continue from 19 that point. This is when we were trying 20 to figure out a way to do it in spite of 21 the litigation. 22 Q. At the very top there is a phone number, 23 1-800-980-988 something. Do you know SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038794 REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 298 1 what number that is? 2 A. I don't have any idea. 3 Q. Okay. And it says core group is 4 identified by, and then you have listed 5 Blake Hamilton, Alan Faust, Robert 6 Jones, Brian Thrasher, Charlie 7 McCartney, and Jerry Brown? 8 A. Yeah. They were all plant folks. 9 Q. I think I'm familiar with all the names 10 except Brian Thrasher. Who is Brian 11 Thrasher? 12 A. I don't know. Those names were probably 13 selected by Blake and maybe Alan. 14 Q. Do you know who Charlie McCartney is? 15 A. I don't recall. 16 Q. Do you recall either Brian or Charlie's 17 position? 18 A. No. 19 Q. Off to the side, it says group to select 20 a group of twelve? 21 A. Or so. 22 Q. And then it says names and maybe why? 23 A. Why, yeah. I'm not sure what I meant by SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038795 REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 299 1 that. 2 Q. Does that mean your core group of 3 Monsanto folks or Solutia folks was 4 going to select a group of twelve people 5 for the CAP? 6 A. No. The idea was to see if we could 7 come up with some people that were not 8 involved in the litigation to help give 9 us some community dialogue and feedback. 10 These are sort of brain-storming 11 sessions as we are trying to come up 12 with ideas and ways we could work around 13 the litigation. 14 Q. Who were you meeting with at the time 15 you made these notes? 16 A. I don't remember. 17 Q. Do you recall the names of the plant 18 representatives? 19 A. I would guess it was probably on phone, 20 by my notes. 21 Q. Do you recall who you were talking to? 22 A. No, I don't. SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038796 23 Q. There is a handwritten note that says REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 300 1 legal review. What does that refer to? 2 A. Very likely meaning we would have to 3 work with legal because of the 4 litigation. 5 Q. Would that be in-house counsel or 6 outside counsel or both? 7 A. Probably both. 8 Q. Do you know what it says right above 9 that legal review note? 10 A. No. 11 MR. PECK: Where is the legal 12 review note? 13 MS. MALOW: Under the list of 14 names. 15 A. Presentation of names and backgrounds 16 No. I think it says something about 17 presentation of names and background 18 would be my guess, but I can't tell what 19 the first part is, and I don't have a 20 clue what that means. 21 MS. MALOW: Can we get a better SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038797 22 copy of this, the original? 23 I think this is one we had REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 301 1 asked for at Beth's original 2 deposition, and I'm not sure 3 I got it. 4 MR. PECK: I think at Beth's 5 deposition something came up 6 about something that was 7 marked. And I could read my 8 copy, so I read it into the 9 record. 10 MS. MALOW: If we could get or 11 have an opportunity to 12 inspect the original and get 13 a better copy. 14 Q. It also says minimum six, maximum t( 15 I guess that is just back to the size. 16 A. Back to the size of the group, yeah. 17 Q. What does it mean by personal visit 18 followed by formal letter of invitation? 19 A. I don't know exactly what we were 20 referring to there. SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038798 21 Q. And then you go into the part about 22 six-month commitment, two things. The 23 first thing is understand legal action REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 302 1 taken at the site that can't be 2 discussed. 3 A. It means that you can't discuss the 4 litigation. 5 Q. The pending litigation? 6 A. Right, and anything that involved that 7 can't be talked about. 8 Q. Can you read what it say from there? 9 A. Not very well. Something like issues in 10 community -- I don't have any idea what 11 that says. I can't really read the rest 12 of it. 13 Q. Does it say anything about remediation 14 on the second line? 15 A. It might. I can't read it. Oh, oh, I 16 know the third thing. It is coming back 17 tome. It says helping decide should 18 establish a CAP and a plan for -- and 19 the rest of it is illegible. SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038799 20 Q. And then the last -- 21 A. The last says giving constraint to the 22 plants, would a CAP work and help 23 establish. This group -- The idea was REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 303 1 for this group to help us figure out 2 whether and how we could establish a CAP 3 and whether it would be successful given 4 the constraints of the litigation. 5 Q. When you say constraints of the plant, 6 you are referring to the litigation? 7 A. Referring to -- right. 8 MS. MALOW: Well, let me just say 9 for the record that, you 10 know, we would reserve the 11 right to ask Ms. Rusert 12 additional questions after we 13 can see a legible copy of 14 Exhibit Thirty-eight. Maybe 15 we can do that by phone. 16 Q. You mentioned earlier that you would 17 have worked with the plant on 18 establishing a community relations plan SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038800 19 when you had responsibilities for 20 Anniston. Is that right? 21 A. Right. 22 Q. How did it work in practice -- 23 MR. PECK: Let me take a timeout. REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 304 1 The last time when I looked 2 at my copy of that stuff I 3 was able to get a better 4 copy. Let me just go. I'll 5 get Mike to look at that 6 while you continue asking 7 questions. 8 Q. In practice how did it work in terms of 9 updating a community relations plan for 10 a site from one year to the next? 11 A. Every year in the fall, like October or 12 November time frame, we asked the sites 13 to go and update their plans as to what 14 they plan to do for the next year, 15 typically looking into the future. 16 Q. Would you have had responsibility for 17 Anniston for the 1996 year? SWIFT 09-01 1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038801 18 A. No, I did not. 19 Q. It indicates in the Anniston'96 20 community relations plan that one of the 21 goals was to enhance two-way 22 communication with the community, and it 23 mentions forming a CAP. Is that one of REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 305 1 the goals that was in place before '96, 2 when you had responsibility? 3 A. I don't recall if we had that in place 4 before then or not. 5 Q. Do you recall making any changes to the 6 proposed community relations plan in 7 dealing with the plant manager? 8 A. I don't recall. 9 Q. In general what would be the reason for 10 wanting to staff Chamber of Commerce 11 committees with key plant personnel? 12 A. I don't know. It would have to be a 13 specific scenario for me to be able to 14 address that. I don't know what the 15 circumstances might be. 16 Q. Are you familiar with any self-audits SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038802 17 that Solutia does for CMA? 18 A. No. 19 Q. Who handles that? 20 A. I don't know specifically who. 21 MS. MALOW: I think I'm finished, 22 if you will give me a minute 23 to just look. REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 306 1 (A break was taken.) 2 3 4 (The deposition concluded at 5 12:35 p.m.) 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038803 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. 307 1 I do hereby certify that the witness 2 whose attached deposition was taken before me 3 was by me first duly cautioned and sworn to 4 tell nothing but the truth in the cause 5 aforesaid; that the testimony contained herein 6 was by me reduced to writing in the presence 7 of said witnesses by means of stenography and 8 afterwards transcribed by means of computer 9 aided transcription. The foregoing is a true 10 and accurate transcript of the whole of the 11 testimony given by said witness, as aforesaid. 12 I do further certify that I am not 13 connected by blood or marriage with any of the 14 parties or their attorneys or agents and that SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038804 15 I am not an employee of any of them, nor 16 interested in the matter of controversy. 17 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set 18 my hand and affixed my notarial seal at 19 Gadsden, Alabama, County of Etowah, this 20th 20 day of September 1999. 21 ________________________________________ Deborah Salers Garrett 22 Certified Shorthand Reporter Registered Professional Reporter 23 Notary Public, Alabama-at-Large My Commission expires: 3-7-2001 REGIONAL REPORTING SERVICE, INC. SWIFT 09-01-1999 Rusert, Beth.txt[8/22/2017 4:36:51 PM] HARTOLDMON0038805