Document oeG9BG7zxLN8OO6g3M9YgG9jD

PLAINTIFF'S EXHIBIT EPA's Decision To Ban Asbestos Criticized By Cement Pipe Makers BrFvnMI Spatial To fmatar'iDaSy cat extrapoiahoa rather thna empirical stady. WASHINGTON -- The Environ "In 13 yean they mtuaste thneaad mental Protection Agency's recently one-thiid people wig die from ioatai- announced asbestos ben threatens to fitig sad producing A-C pipe." Pemil devastate producers of asbnrtoxn- said. "No one ever baa. I think it's meat pipe, a product the industry . abaofcudy ridiculous." claims oilers great benefits at "miai- And Robert Kennedy, genecil mal" health risks. msnsgrr of Twentynine Palms Water The nation's taro remaining A-C - pipe'prodpeers, the CAPCO Pipe Ca m Binumgham. Ale^ and the Ccrtaia- Teed Cosp. in Valley Forge, Pa., said The-EPA ban means die possible loss of a MO mitlkin market. Currently, 300,000 miles of rods pipe censes District, a buyer of A-C pips in Twentynine Palma. Calif., argues that an individoaf standingon a New York City or Los Angeles street comer would receive greater etposure to esheetee than a worker in one of today's A-C pipe plants. water to U.S. conrniuniriee. "It'S pot us out of businm," said W.R. PentU, vies president of saies for CAPCO. The company employs 300 workers end derives much of its business from A-C pipe production. CcrtatnTeed, e larger and more divereiflsd company, also will suffer from the ben, but probably not as much as CAPCO, an indnsoy expert said. And these two companies won't be Kennedy said the only tiare ashes' tos can escape into the sir daring production' is when it in first intro duced into the cement mixture. This pouring, he mid, can he done by mdrifcemo -- mtfmtWtmg KlCTMIt aw*. Onoe embedded in cement the asbestos no longer poses say health risk to workers. The EPA and the industry both agree that A-C pipe presents no danger to the drinking water transported through it because tbs only ones affected by the EPA'e asbestos is safe to ingest. decision- The natron's consumers could also feel the impact if water utilitsss'coats rise. "DoOarwise, it (the ban) still cost a pent deal of money,* Kennedy said, "tsee liesdetrimental at hefl.*' Oe July 6, the EPA ordered e hen on almost ah uses of asbestos. Mannleesnre of most sabeatos pmdnrta will he phatad ont over a seven year period. Aabeetes-csnwat pipe, according to Uoyd Ambler, senior vice pmrident ofsaiaa for CsrtsraTeotTi pipe group, is 20% cheaper than either of the available substitutes, polyvinylchlo Many asbestos applications already ride orductile iron. have been eliminated Besidsacnueet "That's whet the consumer ia eoiat water pipes, the material elso contin to pay." he mad ofthe 20% figure. He ues to be uaed in auto brake pads, predicted the coats of more expensive roofing shingles, pipe wrapping and oonsnuclion materials will be paired oa to consumers, who win pay mere The EPA fstwnetn the corn to the forbwjcupofwater. nation of banning the manufacture, -larie lower costs, A-C pine import sad tales of A-C pips at S12g provides other advantages sack ss its nriffien over a 13-year transition lightweight construction and resis period. The agency ttys the ousts to society will be outweighed by the benefits. It Cttkahnm that the asbestos pnMntsooa, which will take effect in Pro stages beginnmy Aug. 26, 1994, will save three indhridualt from contxacs- fewdt |W<re>ifettifehlpaiwi `This is pollution preveptroo," EPA ArtministTntor WyHaa Rally mid. in a July 6 statemsat "Wa're rihtiinaling a known casuropgaing tance to camwon, mid BJ. Pin president of the A-C Pipe Producer! For all these reasons, the industry is looking at ways of areamrenting tbs EPA ban. The EPA ruling allows for a "tech nical review" efridts and oasts hefiun the A-C pipe ban takes place. It also permits poreiMc enmptioas to the rule that can be filed after Feb. 26, I99A- "Thatmeaaa,ofcourse, therecould industry sources dispute this dames! -least ia the care of A-C pipe, signing that tba EPA's survey relied oa outdated taco and was a marhwnafi ha scats modWhalion of the baa due to this review," Nggsaid. And that means tba A-C pipe issue liferImre over. Thursday, Jufy 20.I9 Inventor's Dafy E.P.A. Ban May Raise Some Costs Asbestos Is Cheaper Than Alternatives, Manufacturers Say By JONATHAN P. HICKS Manufacturer* of product* that contain aabeatoa aaid yesterday that they h*ancSi3pnted tht Governmast's ban on virtually all products usingThe mineral and had begun to substituteother materiate Biu the computes and some at*- tomeraaaid lbs protects with wbstiutteswould become moreexpenshm "Voder cite ban, the costa of pipes said T. David Chtan, aariatam direc tor o( the Americas Waterworks As sociation, which represents 3J50V local water compnoies. "The differ* ence in alternate material costa, de pending an the location. can rants from 9 percent mors to It*percent." And Toni SlmcntCtt, s tpokea wemaa for tba General Motors Cor* paratjon, mid: "The mharttite ma terials are more expenstv*. The onJy aabeatoa we use in our brake systems are in the rear dram brake tang and we're phasing that out over the nest few years." ^ &\ -c x e: r~ < ant mtoerel used ia contraction, am* jumer products and industrial eppti* cations. However, B breaks Ms smal flbera that caa tune hi the Ians and other parts of the body. These wen have bom foamd to cause lung and various other forma of cancer. The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday said <l was (mpoamg, over seven years, a ban cn the the maktaf tad use of moot asbestos products. Roofing products ocean* for n percent of sshrems use hi North America, accartteg to the VaAtngtoo-twsed Adastn lafermattan As* toriatioo ei North America, which Brahe lining a of the eebeatiae i product,, another 14 lint While the bun dote am affect aabaatoa materials In exhtatg baftftbiga, it dll greatly affect hew camgaalea make there pwductatatba tenwa. Manutaaurere said day had long and had begun is atfeatualaaiiiarmateriala. As a result, they said, the im pact will not be particularly severe far them stare they tana an addlMeaal renhyaare In abanriaalha uaa nun ban waa tnUMW prepared It WX" retd Rim dtfehnm, vfcn continued on next pace to a> uo ST 0706318 continued president oi the Nucum Corporation. * Saahvilie brake lining maker. "I don't think it was necessary for the E.P.A. to take this action. But with a seven-year time (rams to accomplish this, we won't have any problem con forming to what they want" Asbestos, which Is used in water pipes to prevent corrosion, is used in a third of the pipes installed by water utility companies. Water utilities said they would have to depend more on pipes made of cast iron and polyvinyl chloride, a plastic. Automobile makers, which use as bestos In rear-brake systems said they would move to the use oi steel fibers end Iron powder ee friction ma terials Makers of brake products say that because of the ban. they will be forced to make wider use of fibers made of other mineral!, fjass end ceramics. Instead of asbestoa. "And they tend to be much more expensive," said Ms. Grisham of G.M. She added that the additional casts were the result of spending heavily for research and devetopmen! of new processes -We had to redefine the process completely," Mr. Grisham said. "And to add to that, the materi als wa now use are often five or six times the cost of asbestos." Some manufacturers compishind that the tubstltuta materials were less reliable than asbestos and that the use of onothor material would cauee (he quality of their products to weaken. "The alternate malerials don't work as well, In addition to being more expensive." said Joseph T. Moonsy Jr., president of the Monsey Products Company, n maker of roof costlags based In Klmbertan. Pa. Mr. Mooney said asbestos products accaint for about 90 percent of Ms company's produo ibis and he ex pects "that then win be o certain amount of buainess lota." He elan ex pressed a concern voiced by other manufacturers of asbestos product! who suggested that the ban might crests a rush to develop new substi tute materials that might M Urns prove 10 carry health risks. "A lot of work end research will go into alternate materials." Mr. Moo ney said. "And the ma)or question bocomas whether the new material is safer than the old We don't want to " Jump from the frying pan Mn the fire." He end other manufsccurere in sisted that they had perfected medt'ods for workers In work with asbestos without risk lo their health. "We feel that the public record hat's been collected over the last lb yean clearly shows that asbestos ~does nor pose an unreasonable risk," said Bob J. Plgg, the president of the asbestos Industry association. "It can be used safely end the E-P-A-'s action is out of step with most other ctamiries." Mr. Plgg said HoreamSlSrtowrH* * mto requiring companies to notify woriwn whocome in contactwith asbestos. Tro Service Employees International Union fssu) went to federal district court after the epa turned down die union's petition to write a rule. However, the spa turned around and held a meeting in Washington on May 3rd that may have been the first stap toward a rulemaking proceeding. Although die Ent has an entire program devoted to esbeetoe abatement in schools, there is no corresponding program for commercial buildings, which is what the SIEU would like to see. The b>a countered that an "unreasonable risk" determination cannot be made in the nonschool area, and there is al ready a shortage of technicians tor the clean-up mandated by the school asbestos program. The Health Effects Institute will be doing a congresslo- nally-mandated study looking at asbestos levels in commercial buildings. The results of that study will ba used by Congress to determine H legislation is needed. The study witt not be compieted tor Mtoastthree years. J]MeanwhBe, Rep. James Florin, &N0. >**-" -- force a factory that undertoc ward.w..i.t.h.a..m..u..ch more oomf <r 6 r.b.b I cbhflCt lECHHOt bbY AONfHl.'r Putting the boot OR every $1 awarded in a*be F cases it is estimated that 30 goes to the dying litigant and 70 cet lawyers and intermediaries squab over who should pay. In a brave attempt to cut out the para sites, an American underwriter suggested dm all insurers who laced asbestos-related claims should contribute to a pod which would be administered mainly by non-insurance professionals and used to meet out-of-coun settlements. Insurers were asked to contribute to the so-called Wellington fund ac cording to their means rather chan their strict liability--ie, part of their contributions was effectively a do nation to the fund. Most did so, including syndicates ac Lloyd's of London who bought run-off pdicies from Outhwaite. They rhoughr they could claim the whole con tribution to the Wellington fund from Outhwaite. They may be in for a shock. na--wnoenofS ruled (among other things) that Outhwaite was noc liable for any monies paid in excess of Cockell s stria liability--ie, that part of Cockell's con tribution which amounted to a donation could noc be V> clawed back. If a similar rul ing were made in all out standing cases which O Outhwaite is fighting, tea li -J abilities would be cut by, o maybe, 25-50%. Privately o Lloyd's is apoplectic about CO the decision. The reason: the market as a whole has bought much cun-off reinsurance KO similar to the Outhwaite kind from companies such as the Swiss Re. If Outhwaite has found a legal way to duck claims, how long before the Swiss Re and others catch on? THE ECONOMIST WEEKLY JUNE IB. 19B9