Document pe9Xn1ZrQ4JXKqKY1B5Kx3aqX

IN THE. UNITED. STATES. DISTRICT COURT . FILED U. $. district court EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS FOR THE. EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS JUL 311970 BEAUMONT. DIVISION . DAME# R, COONEY. CLERK CLARENCE BORED VS.. FIBREB.OARD PAPER PRODUCTS. CORPORATION,. ET. AL I /: / / I: /: BY P&UTY CIVIL ACTION NO.. 644.9: ADDITIONAL ANSWERS OF THE: DEFENDANT.,. JOHNS-MAN VILIE PRODUCTS CORPORATION, TO PLAINTIFF'S FIRST SET. .OF INTERROGATORIES: TO: PLAINTIFF, CLARENCE BORED AND MR.. WARD STEPHENSON,. STEPHENSON, THOMPSON .& MORRIS, STEPHENSON BUILDING, ORANGE,. TEXAS, HIS. ATTORNEI OF RECORD. COMES. NOW the Defendant, Johns -Manvi.lle Produets Corporation and pursuant to the Court's Order, over-ruling certain objections to. Interrogatories submitted to: Defendant by Plaintiff, files these its: Additional Answers to such Interrogatories within the time permitted by. the. Court. Based on information obtained from Defendant's employees,. with the advice of its oounsel. Defendant has attempted to furnish the. information requested in the. Interrogatories, but it reserves the. right to amend or supplement its. answers if it finds that inad vertent omissions or errors have been made, or if additional or more accurate information becomes available.. Such answers to each In terrogatory bears the same number as the request: INTERROGATORT NO./ 5 Industrial insulation products, containing asbestos in the nature of those indicated in Exhibit "A" heretg and which were desig nated in response to Interrogatory No..' ly wtere sold by the Defendant during the years 195.9 through 1967. Many of these products were also sold during the period 1940. through' 19-59. The products were sold to the trade by a sister corporation, Johns-Manvi.lle Sales Corporation, d Delaware corporation. Johns-Manville Sales Corporation sold such products primarily to distributors, but occasionally directly to. PLAINTIFFS pip owners of installations, all tiers of contractors, subcontractors and equipment manufacturers, etc. Such products were sold in boxes and/or cartons and/or packages and/or skids and/or bales. The prod ucts were generally universally used throughout the United States, INTERROGATORY NO. 6- The. products were not used primarily in any specific loca tion or area. INTERROGATORY. NO:, 8, Defendant understands this Interrogatory to. relate to persons working with, and/or installing and/or applying industrial insulation products after they leave Defendant's place of manufacture. Accordingly, Defendant answers that it is participating, directly or indirectly in the. studies described in Defendant's response to. Interrogatory No.. 3. INTERROGATORY NO..' 9,. Deferidant states that no one is "exposed" to the use made of its products once they have been applied and/or installed. Assuming this question relates to persons working with and/or installing, and/or applying industrial insulation products after they leave' Defendant's place of manufacture, then Defendant says it has participated in, and contributed to, the. informational and educational program of the National Insulation Manufacturers Association. This program is de signed to educate the. insulation contractors ' industry with respect to the. health aspects, of fibrous materials through regional meetings of insulation contractors' associations (I.D.CNA meetings). The. pur pose of these meetings is to aid the. contractors in minimizing or eliminating the. inhalation of - among other matters - asbestos dust and fibers by those working with and/or installing and/or applying the. products of Defendant and other, manufacturers, i. e. industrial insulation applicators. In. 196?, and again in 1968, programs have been presented at the. regional meetings of industrial insulation con tractors. Approximately 400 industrial insulation contractors have attended each year. These programs include a verbal review. .(of approximately three hours duration) of the biological effects of -2- no reports have been published to. date. Additionally, an epidemiological study on the biological effects of asbestos dust among the Port of Genoa and LaSpezia Arsenal insulation workers, among others, is being conducted by the. Clinica Del Lavoro, Milano, Italy, under the sponsorship of the Institute of Occupational and Environmental Health,, which Institute in turn is funded by. the Quebec Asbestos Mining Association. An affiliate corporation of Defendant is the. principal contributor to the. funding of the. Quebec Asbestos Mining Association. This study was initiated early in 196-8, and is scheduled to be- completed within three to four years from its. inception. avai lab l.e. There are no written repoi'ts of such study yet It. was not until about 196-8 when Dr. Irving J. Selikoff el al, made public the contents of a paper entitled "Asbestosis Among Insula tion Workers" that anybody in the asbestos industry or in the scientific or medical world apprehended the possibility that there might be any danger to the. health of those working with and/or installing and/or applying industrial insulation products such as those of Defendant. Since In.terrogatory Wo. 9 is limited to whether Defendant or any of its employees', conducted studies Defendant is not answering here with respect to studies other than those in which Defendant or an affiliate of Defendant has participated directly or indirectly. There is presently in existence a proposed program to take dust' counts at" certain construction sites where employees of Defendant or of its. affiliates are employed. It is contemplated that this will be. done in' conjunction with the. study now being conducted by the In sulation Industry Hygiene Research Program. INTERROGATORY WO. 11. Defendant recognizes that in 1907 -Dr. H. Montague Murray stated that seven years earlier he had found spicules of asbestos in the lung tissue of a single patient. Defendant states that it cannot answer the question posed in the. second sentence of this Interrogatory as it aonstitites. a non sequi'tor because it relates to the. year 190.0 and not 190? and because Dr. Murray's findings did not deal with ."the. 4- -. dangers to those using... asbestos products". Hr. Murray's findings did not recognize, or discuss any such problems. ' 'INTERROGATORY NO.' 12. With respect to the questions posed in the first sentence of this Interrogatory Defendant asnwers that it recognizes that Dr. W. E. Cook found evidence of asbestosis and that such discovery was pub lished in the. British Medical Journal of July 26, 1924,. and re published in 1987. Defendant states that it cannot answer the question posed in the second sentence of the Interrogatory because it is a non sequit or since Dr. Cook's study did not relate to or make any mention of a possible problem of asbestosis with respect to persons using finished products. ' INTERROGATORI NO. 13: Yes. Defendant states that it cannot answer the. question posed in the second sentence of this Interrogatory because it is a non sequitor in that the legislation did not in any way relate to or appreciate or suggest the possible effects of asbestos on those using asbestos products. The. legislation was confined to "in factory" asbestos exposure as stated in the first sentence of the Interrogatory. INTERROGATORY NO. 17. No. INTERROGATORY NO. 19. No. INTERROGATORY NO. 23. Defendant is, and since its. creation has been, a wholly owned subsidiary of Johns-Manville Corporation, Defendant and/or JohnsManville Corporation contributed funds to sponsor animal research on the. effects of asbestosis at the Saranac laboratory of the Trudeau Foundation in upstate New York commencing in 19-29-. The funds were contributed, by. Defendant and/or Johns-Manville Corporation in the form of premium payments, and assessments to the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, which was the immediate sponsor. The amount of such contributions is not known to, nor determinable by. Defendant. -5- In. early' 19-31. a report on these animal experiments' was published by. Dr. Leroy V. Gardner (the original director of this project) in Vol. 13 Do. 3 (March, 1931, issue), of the Journal of Industrial Hygiene. This report was entitled "Studies on Experimental Pneumonokoniosis Inhalation of Asbestos Dust. Its Effect upon Primary Tuberculous Infection." A copy of such report is available at the principal offices of Defendant at 22 East 40th Street, Hew York, H. Y.., for inspection and., copying by Plaintiff's attorney. In'. 1929,. shortly after the launching of the Saranac Studies, the parent of Defendant and/or Defendant and other companies in the asbestos industry asked the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company to determine whether asbestos dust was an occupational hazard and, if so, the. nature of the hazard and what could be done to control it. The. amounts of Defendant's and/or its' parent's contributions in the. form of increased premiums and assessments' is not known to, nor de-. terminable by. Defendant. The Industrial Hygiene Division of the. Department of Public Health, of the McGill University Medical School in Montreal assisted Metropolitan Life in this research. The results were published in 1935. in the Public Health Reports, Vol. 50 Ho.. 1, issued by the U. S. Public Health Service in an article entitled "Effects of the. Inhalation of Asbestos Dust on the. Lungs of Asbestos Workers." The cost of publication was paid for by general tax funds. Copies', of the. report are presumably available to the Plaintiff's attorney at the Office of the United States Public Health Service. As a result of the aforesaid Metropolitan Life study, additional health research on the effects of prolonged and excessive inhalation of asbestos fiber, on human beings was undertaken at the Saranac Laboratory. The Quebec Asbestos Mining Association ("QAMA"), of which a sister corporation of Defendant was and is a principal member, contributed to this new research. The amounts of such contributions are not known to, nor. determinable by. Defendant but Defendant's sister corporation, as a principal member of QAMA, furnished a significant portion of the total amount. A report on this research Was delivered at the Seventh Saranac Lakes Symposium in 195-2,. and was entitled "Pulmonary Function Studies in Men Exposed for Ten. or More.Years to Inhalation of Asbestos Fibers." It was oo-authored by. dr. Fernand Gregoire, presently Director of the Clinique Lavoisier, Montreal, and dr. George W. Wright, presently director of Medical Research, St.' Luke's Hospital, Cleveland. A copy of such report is available for inspection and copying by Plaintiff's attorney at Defendant's principal offices in Hew York City. Another report arising out of the industry-sponsored studies at Saranac Laboratory was entitled "Experimental Studies of Asbestosis." It. was written by' Dr.' Vorwald, Thomas M. Durkin and Dr. Philip C. Pratt,, and appeared in the A.M.A. Archives of Industrial Hygiene and Occupational Medicine in January,' 19'51, at Vol 3 Page 1.- This paper is presumably available to the Plaintiff's attorney through . the American Medical Association. In. the early 1950s- an animal research project to- investigate the. reported association between, asbestos exposure and lung cancer was begun at Saranac Lake and funded by QAMA. The amount of the. funding is not known to, nor determinable by. Defendant but a sister corporation of Defendant furnished a significant portion of such funding. A re port entitled "Asbestosis and Pulmonary Cancer" was released in 1952 and is available for inspection and copying by Plaintiff's attorney at Defendant's principal offices in New York City. A second such project was an epidemiological study of lung cancer among asbestos miners in the Province of Quebe.a in Canada. This study was also sponsored by QAMA and, again, a significant portion of the. funding was furnished by. a sister corporation of Defendant. The. amount of the funding is not known to, nor determinable by. De fendant. The study Was. conducted, by Dr. Daniel C. Braun and Dr. T. David Truan for the Industrial Hygiene Foundation of America, Pittsburgh, Pa. The study was completed in 195? and published in the June,' 1958, Vol 17 issue of the A.M.A. Archives of Industrial Health at Page 6 3-4..and was entitled "An Epidemiological Study of Lung Cancer in Asbestos Workers." This study is presumably available -7- to the. plaintiff's attorney through the American Medical Association. Inter-tracheal injection experiments on test animals were conducted by. the. Industrial Hygiene Foundation (and completed in July, 19-68) using asbestos fiber taken from a mine of a sister corporation of Defendant. Johns-Manville Corporation contributed' $1,250 to this study. This study is entitled "The Pulmonary Response to Coalinga Asbestos Dust." A copy of this study is available for inspection and copying by Plaintiff's attorney, at the principal offices of Defendant. In. 196-7 and 19-68 Johns-Manville Corporation sponsored a study of the. effect of automobile brake drum dust on the lives of laboratory animals. Johns-Manville Corporation contributed $1,250 to this study. A study entitled "The. Pulmonary Response to Brake Drum Dust" was re ported in 196-8 and is available for inspection and copying by Plaintiff's attorney at the. principal offices of Defendant. Johns-Manville Corporation is presently contributing to the "Insulation Industry Hygiene Research Program (IIHRP): Mount Sinai School of Medicine, City University of New York", which program is undertaking a health research program for industrial workers. Its purpose is to: 1.. . develop improved methods for minimizing exposure of insulation workers to dusts and fumes encountered in their work; 2. disseminate knowledge of these improved methods of dust control wherever they may be applied advantageously; and 5. .offer coopsration, advice and assistance toward their universal adoption. Johns-Manville Corporation is- contributing $262,-500. to this program. There are presently no final reports but progress reports are pre sumably available to Plaintiff's attorney through the Director of the Program, Dr. Irving J. Selikoff,, at Mt. Sinai Hospital. Defendant has contributed, the time of its personnel and data to a seven to ten year environmental clinical and epidemiological study of workers exposed to asbestos which is now being conducted by. the Division of Occupational Health of the United States Public Health -8- P4- Service and is entitled "Asbestos Industry Study: . U. S. Public Health Service." The. following reports are based on such study: "Techniques for the Detection, Identification and Analysis of Fibers" by. Robert G. Keenan and Jeremiah R. Lynch; "The Role of Trace Metals in Chemical Carcinogenesis Asbestos Cancers" by J. R. Dixon, et al.j ".Identification and Control of Asbestos Exposures" by Lewis J. Cralley. Each of these studies is presumably available to Plaintiff's counsel through the Consumer Protection and Environmental Health Service of the Public Health- Service of the U. S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare. Another such study entitled "Fibrous and Mineral Content of Cosmetic Talcum Products", by L. J. Cralley, et al., was printed at Page' 3S0- of the. July-August,. 196-8, issue of the American Industrial Hygiene Association Journal. A. copy of such study is presumably available to Plaintiff's attorney through the Occupational Health Program, Rational Center for Urban and Industrial Health. Epidemiological studies of the Canadian general population de signed to. examine the relationship, if any, between asbestos exposure and disease among various population groups in Canada, including the Quebec asbestos miners, is presently being conducted. Again, this study is being funded by. QAMA and a sister corporation of Defendant is furnishing a significant portion (over half) of such funding. The. total amount of such funding is $704, 700 for 196-6 - 1974.. Johns-Manville Corporation is funding a study being conducted bi the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, City University of New Fork, en titled. "Biological Effects of Modified Inorganic Fibrous Micro particles." The amount of such funding is $142,000. There are no reports available as yet. The purpose of the study is to explore the. development of new biological test systems for fibrous materials and to determine the. effect on biological activity of asbestos fiber which has been coated with a variety of physical and/or chemical substances. -9- Johns-Manville Corporation has contributed $70, 000 to. the. Industrial Hygiene Foundation of America's "Fibrous Duet Study." The. purpose of this program is to investigate factors involved in the pathogenicity of mayor varieties of asbestos fiber to determine the true nature of ferruginous bodies. Although some reports have, been written based on this research no reports of the research per se have yet. been, published. Among such reports are the. following: "Pulmonary Ferruginous Bodies" by Dr. Paul Gross, et al. printed at Vol.' 85, Page 559 of Arch Path, in May, 196.8. "Pulmonary Ferruginous Bodies in City Dwellers" by Dr. Paul Gross, et al., printed at Vol 19, Page' 186- of Arch Environ Health', in August, 196-9. "Ferruginous Bodies in Human Lungs" by Dr. Michael D. Uti'dgian, et al., printed at Vol. 17, Page 527 of Arch Environ Health, in September, 196-8. Each of these reports is presumably available to Plaintiff's attor ney through the. Industrial Hygiene Program of America, I'n.c. QAMA is sponsoring a study of the health effects of asbestos, if any, on workers in the. asbestos cement manufacturing industry in the. Hew Orleans area.. The total funding of this study is' $20-0.,0.00 . and Defendant's sister corporation is furnishing approximately $142, 0.00. of this sum through QAMA. In. addition, Johns-Manville Corporation is', contributing time of its. personnel at a total cost to it of $14, 500-. This study began in 19-69 and is concentrating on the. health status of present and past employees in the. plants of Defendant and National Gypsum Company in and around New Orleans. No reports have. been, published yet. QAMA is sponsoring a study of the. biological effects of asbestos. This study was. commenced in 196-8 and is being conducted by. Prof. Enrico C. Vigliana, Clinica Del' Lavoro 'Luigi Devoto', Milan, Italy, and by. Prof. Benvenuto. Pernis, Instituto Di Medicina Del'. Lavora, Della Universita Di Genoa, Genoa, Italy. The total funding of this study is $150,-0.00- and Defendant's sister corporation is'furnishing a significant portion (over, half) of such funding through its membership in QAMA. It. is a three year study and no reports have yet been published. -10- QAMA is sponsoring a research program on the effects of induced asbestos granulomas in hamsters under the direction of Dr. Andre Dumond of the. University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada. The total funding of this study is $11,26-6 and Defendant's sister cor poration is furnishing a significant amount (over half) of such fund ing- through its membership in QAMA. This is a two year study commenced in' 198.8 but no reports have yet been published. QAMA is funding a study on the occupational and environmental exposure to anthophyllite asbestos by the Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki3 Finland, under the. direction of Dr. Leo Horo. The total funding of this study is' $4.2.,OOO- and Defendant's sister corpora tion is furnishing a significant amount of such funding (over half) through its membership in QAMA. This is a four year study commenced in 198.8, and no reports have yet been published. ' INTERROGATORY NO. 24. Defendant has no such labor inspectors but Defendant does provide the services of an industrial hygienist to Dr. Selikoff and the Mt. Sinai Hospital, Hew York, New York, for the purpose of making environmental evaluations including dust, counts at the. construction sites, where thermal insulation products are being installed. This service is being provided in conjunction with the joint scientific research program being conducted by the Mt. Sinai Environmental Sciences. Laboratory, Johns-Manvilie Corporation' and the Heat and Frost Insulators and Asbestos Workers Union. ' INTERROGATORY NO'. 25.Defendant is aware that the hearing described was conducted. ' INTERROGATORY NO. 28. No. INTERROGATORY NO. 27-. Defendant is aware of the statement of the surgeon-general. INTERROGATORY NO. 29.. Defendant understands this question to relate to industrial insulation products' containing asbestos. Defendant states that all commercial insulating products look alike. Trained Technicians -ll- could possibly identify by their appearance alone the different - asbestos, papers, cements and molded insulation made by different manufacturers. The Defendant doubts that a worker or layman could do so. The visual variations are those of color and the degree of color variations is usually very slight. Each manufacturer has his own carton or container marking which is distinctive, but the pro duct, once outside of the container, is not in Defendant's opinion distinguishable by the. worker or layman as aforesaid. The sole exception to the foregoing rule is that some THERMO- BESTOS block produced by Defendant during the period 1940. - 19-67 had the initials "JM" or some Johns-Manville Trade-mark imprinted thereon. INTERROGATORY NO..' SO.. No. INTERROGATORY NO. 43, YEAR 1960 1961 19-62 1963 1964 1965 1966 19-67 19-68 19-6.9 ' NET SALES $' 77, 720,000 '169;189,000 178, 148, 00-0' 190, 0.46,000217, 70 7,00-0224, 30.8, 00-0232, 993, 000 2 2 ?', 19 9,0 00 246, 207, 00-0262,900,000- Defendant does not have available the total amounts of sales' of its products' containing asbestos. INTERROGATORIES NO, 47: 84.. Answers to Interrogatories' No. 47 - 84 inclusive. Defendant agrees that the. states mentioned had Workmen's Compensation Laws, covering occupational diseases, beginning in the years mentioned, but disagrees that all of these Workmen's Compen sation Laws specifically covered asbestosis by name. Respectfully submitted. JOHN G. TUCKER. Orgain, Bell & Tucker Beaumont Savings Building Beaumont,- Texas GORDON R. PATE 4 1119 Beaumont Savings Building Beaumont, Texas ' 77 701 ' Attorney for Johns-Manville Products Corporation THE. STATE. .OF TEXAS '/ : COUNTX OF JEFFERSON /. GORDON R. PATE,, being duly sworn, upon oath states that he. is the attorney of record for the Defendant, Johns-Manville Products Corporation, and authorised in the course of his employ ment to make, and present the. foregoing Additional Answers to Plain tiff's Interrogatories, which he. does under said authority, and being cognizant of the matters therein set. forth and based upon the infor mation furnished him and the investigation conducted as to the sub-. geat matter of the Interrogatories, says that the said Answers are true and correct. SWORN TO AND SUBSCRIBED, before me, the undersigned authority. on this the NOTARY PUBLIC In and For Jefferson County, Texas CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE A true and correct copy of the. foregoing Additional Answers 197.0, for- -13-.