Document rBjrzzrB0zzn9Qvzbyn5geYa7

FILE NAME: Kaiser Gypsum (KG) DATE: 1997 DOC#: KG048 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Legal - Responses to Standard Interrogatories 1 PATRICK J. HAGAN, ESQ. (State Bar #68264) 2 E. JANE WELLS, ESQ. (State Bar #112178) DILLINGHAM & MURPHY 3 225 Bush Street, Sixth Floor 4 San Francisco, CA 94104-4207 (415) 397-2700 5 I Attorneys for Defendant 6 KAISER GYPSUM COMPANY, INC. 7 SUPERIOR COURT FOR THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FOR THE COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO 10 IN RE: SAN FRANCISCO COUNTY COMPLEX ASBESTOS LITIGATION t 13 14 CASE NO. 828684 KAISER GYPSUM COMPANY, INC.'S RESPONSES TO PLAINTIFFS' STANDARD INTERROGATORIES TO ALL DEFENDANTS 15 15 17 PROPOUNDING PARTY : Plaintiffs 18 RESPONDING PARTY : 19 SET : Defendant Kaiser Gypsum Company, Inc. . i., Standard 20 DATE : 21 COMES NOW defendant Kaiser Gypsum Company, Inc. (hereinafter "Kaiser 22 Gypsum"), and provides the following responses to Plaintiffs' Standard Interrogatories 23 To All Defendants propounded pursuant to San Francisco County Complex Asbestos 24 Litigation General Order No. 129: 25 KAISER GYPSUM'S PRELIMINARY STATEMENT 26 Kaiser Gypsum submits this preliminary statement to memorialize certain steps 27 taken to implement the standard discovery regime adopted pursuant to the revised 28 General Orders filed November 15, 1996 governing asbestos-related personal injury I and wrongful death cases filed in San Francisco County Superior Court. Under the 2 terms of General Order No. 129, all defendants must respond to the Plaintiffs' Standard 3-j Interrogatories To All Defendants without objection, even where those interrogatories 4 appear objectionable under the rules defined by California statutes and appellate 5 precedent. The General Orders do contemplate that plaintiffs' counsel must meet and 6 confer with defendants and consider a specific defendant's concerns with the standard 7 interrogatories as applied to that defendant's factual and litigation circumstances. In 8 Kaiser Gypsum's case, that process proved sufficiently successful that Kaiser Gypsum 9 did not believe it necessary to file a motion seeking judicial relief from the 10 burdensomeness that would arise in Kaiser Gypsum's circumstances from responding 11 to the literal terms of the discovery. 12 The meet and confer process was structured pursuant to an April 24, 1997 letter 13 circulated by plaintiffs' counsel. In accordance with that procedure, Kaiser Gypsum 14 held a meet and confer session with certain plaintiffs' counsel on May 15, 1997, as 15 contemplated by their April 24 letter. During that session agreements were reached on 16 interpretations of numerous specific provisions of the subject standard interrogatories 17 which have since been concurred in by plaintiffs' counsel that did not attend the May 15 18 meeting. Kaiser Gypsum's non-pursuit of its burdensomeness objections remains 19 contingent on continued realization of the agreements reached at the May 15 meeting. 20 Kaiser Gypsum also stated other objections to the subject Plaintiffs' Standard 21 Interrogatories during the course of the proceedings leading to their adoption. Those 22 objections concerned both the concept of using standard interrogatories for discovery 23 unrelated to the resolution of cases or controversies before the Court, objections to the 24 procedures underlying the development and adoption of the Standard Interrogatories, 25 and objections to specific aspects of the Standard Interrogatories on grounds other than 26 burdensomeness, all of which objections were either accepted or implicitly rejected 27 through adoption of the final Standard Interrogatories. Kaiser Gypsum hereby makes 28 express on the record that by serving its Responses to Plaintiffs' Standard terrogatories To All Defendants, Kaiser Cement neither Intends to nor does it waive its Ights to press those objections at an f specific cases before the Superior appropriate future opportunity, Court and on appellate review. both in the context Kaiser Gypsum objects to these Interrogatories to the extent that they call for -3- iformation protected by the attomey/client privilege or work product doctnne. 1 C. Kaiser Gypsum was organized in 1952 through a somewhat complicated 2 process. Specifically, on June 19, 1952, Permanente Cement Company (later known 3 as Kaiser Cement Corporation) formed a wholly owned subsidiary named Kaiser 4 Gypsum Company, a California Corporation. On August 1,1952 Kaiser Gypsum 5 Company purchased from the Henry J. Kaiser Company two gypsum wallboard plants 6 located at Long Beach and Redwood City, California. 7 On December 1, 1952, Kaiser Gypsum Company was merged into Pacific Coast 8 Cement Company, another subsidiary of Permanente Cement Company, with Pacific 9 Coast Cement Company, a Washington Corporation, which at the time of the merger 10 had no assets or operations and which was incorporated on November 28, 1927, being 11 the survivor. The name of the combined company was then changed to Kaiser 12 Gypsum Company, Inc. 13 D. Kaiser Gypsum's principal place of business is located at 3000 Busch Road, 14 Pleasanton, California 94566. 15 E. Kaiser Gypsum has held a certificate of authority to do business in California 16 from 1952 to the present. 17 F. Kaiser Gypsum is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kaiser Cement Corporation, 18 whose principal place of business is located at 3000. Busch Road, Pleasanton, 19 California 94566. 20 G. 3000 Busch Road, Pleasanton, California 94566 21 RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 4: 22 No. 23 RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 5: 24 Not applicable. 25 RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 6: 26 Not applicable. 27 RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 7: 28 Not applicable. l RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 8: 2 Not applicable. 3 RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 9: 4 Joseph R. Hobby, Vice President, 2680 Bishop Drive, San Ramon, California. 5 RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 10: 6 A - C: Joseph R. Hobby, Vice President, 2680 Bishop Drive, San Ramon, 7 California. 8 RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 11- 9 Kaiser Gypsum has no knowledge that it ever employed a company "physician" 10 or "medical director." During the early 1970's, Mr. A. J. Trommershausen, an industrial 11 hygienist, who was not an employee of Kaiser Gypsum, was retained by Kaiser 12 Gypsum as a consultant to conduct manufacturing on and air sampling tests to evaluate 13 and ensure compliance with new U.S. -Occupational Safety and Health Administration 14 requirements. 15 RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 12: 16 William L. McKinnon, former Senior Research Engineer, was deposed on August 17 2, 1984 in the following case: Robert Butts v. Kaiser Gvpsum Company. Inc., et al.. 18 Contra Costa County Superior Court Case No. 251401. 19 Harlan C. Dupuis, former Manager of Research and Development, was deposed 20 on April 16, 1985, in the following case: Katherine Maksim v. U.S. Gvpsum. et al.. San 21 Francisco County Superior Court Case No. 768674. 22 Melissa A. Youngman, former Secretary/Treasurer, was deposed on March 4 23 and 5, 1993, in the following cases: Donald Breslin v. ABEX. et al.. San Francisco 24 County Superior Court, Case No. 943928; Cov Cossev v. ABEX. et al.. San Francisco 25 County Superior Court, Case No. 920148; Norma E. Olsen v. ABEX. et al.. San 26 Francisco County Superior Court, Case No. 914076; Lvnn Weimer v. ABEX. et al.. San 27 Francisco County Superior Court, Case No. 914594; and Rav Person v. ABEX. et al.. 28 San Francisco County Superior Court, Case No. 944872. Thomas V. Smith, former Technical Supervisor for Accessory Products, was deposed on March 11,1992, in the following case: Michael F. Richie, et al. v. Ravbestos-Manhattan. et aL San Francisco County Superior Court, Case No. 933324. Joseph R. Hobby, Vice President, was deposed on April 25,1997 in the following case: Harrv and Gladys Dato v. Abex Corp.. et al.. San Francisco County 6 Superior Court, Case No. 948558. 7 RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 13: 8 A - U : No. 9 V: Kaiser Gypsum was a member of the Gypsum Association which in 10 the past included among its members manufacturers, suppliers, and/or sellers of 11 asbestos-containing products. 12 W: Kaiser Gypsum is not aware that any one individual served as its 13 representative to the Gypsum Association. 14 RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 14: 15 A. The precise dates of Kaiser Gypsum's membership in the Gypsum 16 Association are unknown. It is believed that such membership extended from 17 the 1950's to approximately 1977. 18 . B. Kaiser Gypsum occasionally received minutes of meetings and other 19 informational literature from the Gypsum Association 20 C. Kaiser Gypsum will make Gypsum Association minutes and any asbestos- 21 related informational literature received from the Gypsum Association in its possession 22 which may contain the information requested in this interrogatory subpart available for 23 inspection upon reasonable notice at the offices of Dillingham & Murphy, 225 Bush 24 Street, 6th Floor, San Francisco, California. 25 RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 15: 26 A. Kaiser Gypsum has no knowledge that it ever received documents 27 containing results or conclusions of any such studies and/or tests prior to 1973. 28 /// 1 RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 16: 2 A. Kaiser Gypsum has no knowledge that it ever received copies or portions of 3 any such studies and/or tests prior to 1973. Kaiser Gypsum has never been insured by 4 Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. 5 RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 17: 6 A. Kaiser Gypsum has no knowledge that it ever received documents 7 containing results or conclusions of the Saranac Laboratory studies or any such studies 8 conducted by any other laboratory prior to 1973. 9 RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 18: 10 A. Kaiser Gypsum has no knowledge that it ever maintained a library or other 11 company-authorized collection of printed material on occupational disease or asbestos 12 hazards prior to 1973. 13 RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 19: 14 A and B: During the early 1970's, Mr. A. J. Trommershausen, an industrial 15 hygienist, was retained by Kaiser Gypsum as a consultant to conduct plant inspection 16 and air sampling tests to evaluate and ensure compliance with U.S. Occupational 17 Safety and Health Administration requirements. 18 On December 27, 1971, Kaiser Gypsum's Commodity Purchasing Manager, 19 R.W. Grigg (deceased), wrote to each of Kaiser Gypsum's raw asbestos suppliers. 20 These inquiries included a request for information concerning precautions 21 recommended for handling raw asbestos in Kaiser Gypsum's manufacturing facilities as 22 well as for contractors using and applying asbestos-containing products. 23 In July 1973, Kaiser Gypsum personnel participated in an ad hoc committee 24 formed by the Gypsum Association to consider the implications of 1972 Occupational 25 Safety and Health Administration regulations with respect to the release of asbestos 26 fibers during sanding and mixing of dry joint compounds. Tests were conducted on 27 behalf of the committee to measure amounts of asbestos and siliceous dusts generated 23 during mixing and sanding of joint compounds on typical jobs. C. Joseph R. Hobby, Vice President, 2680 Bishop Drive, San Ramon, California. RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 20: No. RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 21: A - C: During the early 1970's, Mr. A. J. Trommershausen, an industrial 8 hygienist, was retained by Kaiser Gypsum as a consultant to conduct plant inspection 9 and air sampling tests to evaluate and ensure compliance with U.S. Occupational 10: Safety and Health Administration requirements. Plant inspection and air sampling tests 11 were conducted at the following California plants: Antioch: 8/71; 4/72 and 7/72; Santa 12 Ana: 9/71. The addresses of these plants were: Antioch Plant, Wilbur Avenue, 13 Antioch, California; Santa Ana Plant, 1302 Ritchey Street, Santa Ana, California. 14 D. Yes. 15 E. Joseph R. Hobby, Vice President, 2680 Bishop Drive, San Ramon, 16 California. 17 RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 22: 18 A - E: Other than the plant inspections described in its response to 4 ',. 19 Interrogatory No. 21, Kaiser Gypsum has conducted no such tests. 20 RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 23: 21 No. 22 RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 24: 23 Beginning in the early 1970's, Kaiser Gypsum began providing medical 24 examinations for those employees involved in the manufacture of asbestos-containing 25 products. 26 A. The examinations included chest x-rays and pulmonary function tests. 27 B. The examinations were mandatory for those employees involved in the 28 manufacture of asbestos-containing products. 1 C. Yes. 2 D. Joseph R. Hobby, Vice President, 2680 Bishop Drive, San Ramon, 3 California. 4 RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 25: 5 No. 6 RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 26: 7 A -D: Kaiser Gypsum is insured under a number of general corporate liability 8 insurance policies that were issued by primary insurance carriers, including Truck 9 Insurance Exchange, Fireman's Fund, The Home Insurance Company and National 10 Union Insurance Company, which Kaiser Gypsum maintains provide coverage for 11 personal injury claims. Certain policy terms and conditions are subject to disputes 12 between Kaiser Gypsum and its carriers. Kaiser Gypsum also believes that it is insured 13 under a number of excess liability insurance policies that were issued by a number of 14 different insurance carriers, including some that may no longer be capable of 15 responding to their obligations. The terms and conditions of these excess policies may 16 be subject to dispute. Kaiser Gypsum is preparing a summary of insurance information 17 in chart form which will be available for inspection upon reasonable notice at the offices 18 of Dillingham & Murphy, 225 Bush Street, 6th Floor, San Francisco, California. 19 Kaiser Gypsum will supplement this response in the event the circumstances in a 20 particular case may make more detailed information on insurance policies of relevance, 21 taking into account the carrier and dispute resolution status pertaining at that time. 22 RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 27: 23 No. 24 RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 28: 25 No. 26 RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 29: 27 Not applicable. 28 III 3 RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 30: A. See response to 30(E) and 30(G). 3 B. No. 4 C. See response to 30(E) and 30(G). 5 D. See response to 30(E) and 30(G). 6 E. Yes. 1952 to 1976. 7 F. See response to 30(E) and 30(G). 8 G. Yes. 1952 to 1976. 9 H. No. 10 RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 31: 11 I. 12 Kaiser Gypsum's Business: Gypsum Plaster, Gypsum Lath, and Gypsum Wallboard - No Asbestos Used 13 Kaiser Gypsum was organized by Henry J. Kaiser (1882-1967), the famous 14 industrialist and World War II hero, in 1952 and terminated its United States sales and 15 manufacturing in 1978. Between 1952 and 1978, Kaiser Gypsum's principal business 16 consisted of manufacturing and marketing gypsum plaster, gypsum lath and gypsum 17 wallboard. The word "gypsum" is derived from the Greek word "gypso," meaning chalk. 18 "Gypsum" is hydrous calcium sulfate. Gypsum piaster is sometimes called Plaster of 19 Paris, because gypsum plaster was widely used in the capital of France during the 19th 20 century. Gypsum occurs in nature in rock form, and is found in abundance in Baja 21 California, Mexico. 22 A. Gypsum Plaster Products 23 During Kaiser Gypsum's first years in business, most houses and many other 24 buildings had interior walls that were made with plaster. The plaster products sold by 25 Kaiser Gypsum were essentially finely-ground gypsum rock packaged in bags. Such 26 gypsum plaster products were mixed with water and an aggregate (most commonly 27 sand) at the construction site to form a paste. The paste was applied by hand and 28 smoothed with a trowel to form a wall or ceiling surface. Sometimes several layers of plaster were used, with the underneath layers being brown in color and the surface layer being white. When dried, the plaster became quite hard. A plaster wall or ceiling typically was finished by painting the plaster surface or covering it with wallpaper. Kaiser Gypsum's plaster products designed for the above construction uses \ included Hardwall Plaster, Fibered Hardwall Plaster, Dual Purpose Fibered Hardwall Plaster, Dual Purpose Unfibered Hardwall Plaster, Wood Fibered Hardwall Plaster, Slow Set Gauging Plaster, and Quick Set Gauging Plaster. They also included plaster products for casting ( e ^ , making ornaments or statues including Casting Plaster and Slow Set Casting Plaster). Kaiser Gypsum also manufactured Plaster Retarder and Structural Gypsum (Pre-Mixed Gypsum Concrete). Kaiser Gypsum plaster products also included Red-E-Mix plaster, a pre-mixed product which combined plaster and aggregate, that was introduced in 1956. Gun Plaster, introduced in 1957, was applied by mixing the sacked product on the job site in special portable mixing machines, and it was then pumped through a large diameter hose to the inside of a building where it was sprayed by plasterers onto walls, with comparative speed and economy. Kaiser Gypsum never used asbestos as a component in any of those products. B. Gypsum Lath Products The surface to which gypsum plaster was applied was called "lath." Lath was S'. sometimes made of wire, but lath also could be made of hard, paper covered sheets of gypsum piaster (called gypsum stucco). Pieces of gypsum lath sometimes were made with holes in them. The lath sheets would be affixed to the interior wall framing, and plaster would then be applied to the lath. The holes in the lath would help keep the plaster in place while it dried. Kaiser Gypsum made gypsum lath of this type. Kaiser Gypsum lath products included Plain Lath and Perforated Lath, Foil-Back Insulating Lath, Duralath, Gypsum Veneer Base, and Kaiserwall. Kaiser Gypsum never used asbestos as a component in any of those products. Ill 1 C. Gvpsum Wallboard Products 2 In years following the Korean War, there were numerous innovations in housing 3 construction, including many changes intended to lower housing construction costs. 4 One such change was the substitution of gypsum wallboard, or drywall, for plaster. 5 Gypsum wallboard, like gypsum lath, is basically a hard sheet of gypsum plaster that is 6 affixed to the wall framing. Typically gypsum wallboard would be made in pieces that 7 were 4 feet wide and 8 feet long. They typically were 1/2 inch or 5/8 inch thick. During 8 the manufacturing process, the wallboard's core of gypsum plaster was covered by a 9 special paper that could be painted or covered with wallpaper. 10 Because more walls, partitions or ceilings could be made using gypsum 11 wallboard in a given period of time than could be made by plastering over lath, 12 constructing houses, apartments and other buildings with wallboard was less 13 expensive. Over time, as building codes were amended to permit use of gypsum 14 wallboard, more construction of interior walls, partitions and ceilings was done using 15 wallboard and less using plaster. Reflecting this trend, Kaiser Gypsum's business 16 focused more on gypsum wallboard as time passed. By 1960 about half of the 17 construction in California used wallboard and half still used plaster. Plaster use 18 continued to decline, and by the early 1970's substantially all of the market demand 19 was for gypsum wallboard. Kaiser Gypsum never used asbestos as a component in any 20 of its gypsum wallboard products. 21 D. Non-Asbestos Products Exceeded 90% Of Total Sales 22 The bulk of Kaiser Gypsum's sales has always consisted of products that did noi 23 use asbestos as a component. To illustrate, the following chart shows sales totals in 24 dollars for the years 1969-1975, the last full year prior to the complete cessation of the 25 use of asbestos as a component in Kaiser Gypsum products: 26 III 27 28 III 1 Year Non-Asbestos Non-Asbestos Product 2 Products Total Sales Percentage Of Total 3 1969 $41,360,000 41 1970 $37,258,000 5 1971 $48,403,000 6 1972 $58,468,000 $43,299,000 $39,457,000 $51,671,000 $63,056,000 96% 94% 94% 93% 7 1973 $65,803,000 31 1974 $64,996,000 9 1975 $41,318,000 $71,382,000 $70,139,000 $43,935,000 92% 93% 94% 10 As these figures illustrate, Kaiser Gypsum's sales of non-asbestos-containing 11 products always were substantially more than 90% of its business. 12 II. Accessories For Use With Gvpsum Wallboard 13 A. Nails, Wall And Door Frames, Comerbead, 14 Paper Products - No Asbestos Used 15 With the expansion of its gypsum wallboard business, Kaiser Gypsum also 16 began selling other products needed to construct interior walls, partitions or ceilings 17 using gypsum wallboard. These included special nails and other devices used to attach 18 wallboard to the supporting frame. They also included metal wall or partition frames 19 especially made for installing wallboard, metal "comerbead" used to make partition 20 comers hard, and metal doorframes for use in walls made using gypsum wallboard. 21 Partly to ensure that it could get access to adequate amounts of the special paper used 22 to make wallboard (its gypsum plaster core was permanently covered with paper), 23 Kaiser Gypsum acquired paper plants, where it also manufactured commercial paper 2 4 products such as cardboard boxes. Kaiser Gypsum never used asbestos as a 25 component in any of those products. 26 Ill 27 III 28 I B. Wailboard Joint Compounds - 1 Asbestos Used As A Component 2 When the walls or ceilings of a room are made from gypsum wailboard, large 3 pieces of wailboard are installed side by side, leaving small spaces where two pieces 4 of wailboard meet. These spaces need to be filled so that they cannot be seen after 5 the wall is painted or covered with wallpaper. The products used to perform that task 6 are called joint compounds or joint finishing compounds. At the time of use, these joint 7 compounds are thick putty or mud-like substances, which permits them to be pushed 8 into the spaces and smoothed with a putty knife or spatula. Paper or cloth reinforcing 9 tape is pushed into the joint compound to help prevent cracking as the joint compound 10 dries. The joint compound dries to form a hard rock-like substance. 11 Kaiser Gypsum manufactured and marketed such wailboard joint compounds, 12 and prior to the mid-1970's, these joint compounds contained a small percentage of 13 chrysotile asbestos as a component. The purpose of the chrysotile asbestos 14 component was to prevent cracks from forming as the joint compound dried. 15 "Asbestos" is the Greek word for "incombustible," which refers to things that will not 16 burn. Chrysotile is the most common type of asbestos used in products in the United 17 States. Chrysotile is a fibrous rock material derived from the rock "serpentine" which is 18 very common in California, where it is the "state rock." 19 These Kaiser Gypsum products were: 20 t. Joint Cement/Joint Compound - 21 2. Finishing (Topping) Compound 22 3. 3-Purpose Wailboard Compound 23 4. One-Day Joint Compound 24 5. Pre-mix Joint Compound 25 6. Pre-mix Finishing Compound 26 7. Pre-mix Dual Purpose Joint Compound 27 8. Pre-mix Topping Compound 28 9. Laminating Compound Kaiser Gypsum's separate responses to interrogatory subparts (a)-(f) for each of these products are as follows: 1. Joint Cement/Joint Compound A. The trade name of this product originally was Kaiser Joint Cement; about 1957 it was changed to Kaiser Joint Compound. B. Kaiser Gypsum marketed Kaiser Joint Cement in 1952, but did not itself manufacture all of the product sold. Kaiser Gypsum does not know whether the nonmanufactured product marketed in 1952 contained asbestos as a component. Kaiser Gypsum began manufacturing Kaiser Joint Cement in 1952 or 1953, at which time chrysotile asbestos was used as a component. C. Kaiser Gypsum last manufactured Kaiser Joint Compound with chrysotile asbestos as a component in 1975. D. The Kaiser Gypsum California plants that made this product were located at Redwood City and Antioch. These plants were in operation at different times. The product was manufactured at Redwood City from 1952 or 1953 to 1957 and at Antioch from 1957 to 1975. Because of the heavy weight of the product, low profit margin and high transportation costs, distribution tended to center around the location of the manufacturing plant. The product consisted primarily of minerals including casein or polyvinyl, clay, talc, limestone and mica. The product manufactured in Kaiser Gypsum's California plants included between 8% by weight and 16% by weight chrysotile asbestos as a component depending on the formula in effect at a given date. E. This product was a white to off-white powder. It was packaged and sold in sacks of 10 to 25 lbs. and in boxes of 5 and 18 lbs. Each container was labeled with the name of the manufacturer, Kaiser Gypsum Company, Inc., the name of the product and directions for its use. F. This product was a dry powder which, when mixed with water, formed a thick paste. Upon application it dried to a hard, durable surface. It was used to fill gypsum .1 wallboard joints, embed joint reinforcing tape, finish joints and to cover and finish nail heads and metal cornerbead. 2. Finishing (Topping) Compound A. The trade name of this product was Kaiser Gypsum Finishing (topping) Compound. B. Kaiser Gypsum began manufacturing finishing (topping) compound in 1955, and chrysotile asbestos was used as a component at that time. 8 C. Kaiser Gypsum last manufactured finishing (topping) compound with 9 chrysotile asbestos as a component in 1975. 10 D. The Kaiser Gypsum California plants that made this product were located at 11 Redwood City and Antioch. These plants were in operation at different times. The 12 product was manufactured at Redwood City from 1955 to 1957 and at Antioch from 13 1957 to 1975. Because of the heavy weight of the product, low profit margin and high 14 transportation costs, distribution tended to center around the location of the 15 manufacturing plant. This product consisted primarily of minerals including casein or 16 polyvinyl, clay, talc, limestone and mica. The product included between 5.3% by weight 17 and 16% by weight chrysotile asbestos as a component depending on the formula in 18 effect at a given time. A - 19 E. This product was a white to off-white powder. It was packaged and sold in 20 sacks of 25 lbs. Each container was labeled with the name of the manufacturer, Kaiser 21 Gypsum Company, Inc., the name of the product and instructions for Its use. 22 F. This product was a dry powder which, when mixed with water, formed a thick 23 paste. Upon application it dried to a hard, durable surface. It was used to top and 24 finish gypsum wallboard joints. 25 3. 3-Purpose Wallboard Compound 26 A. The trade name of this product was Kaiser Gypsum 3-Purpose Wallboard 27 Compound. 28 1 B. Kaiser Gypsum began manufacturing 3-Purpose Wallboard Compound in 2 1968, and chrysotile asbestos was used as a component at that time. 3 C. Kaiser Gypsum last manufactured 3-Purpose Wallboard Compound with 4 chrysotile asbestos as a component in 1976. 5 D. The Kaiser Gypsum California plant that made this product was located at 6 Antioch. Because of the heavy weight of the product, low profit margin and high 7 transportation costs, distribution tended to center around the location of the 8 manufacturing plant. This product consisted primarily of minerals including casein or 9 polyvinyl, clay, talc, limestone and mica. The product included between 5.1% by weight 10 and 14.2% by weight chrysotile asbestos as a component. 11 E. The product was a white to off-white powder. It was packaged and sold in 12 sacks of 25 lbs. Each sack was labeled with the name of the manufacturer, Kaiser 13 Gypsum Company, Inc., the name of the product and directions for its use. 14 F. This product was a dry powder which, when mixed with water, formed a thick 15 paste. Upon application it dried to a hard, durable surface. It was used to tape, top and 16 finish gypsum wallboard joints, nailheads and metal comerbead. 17 4. One-Day J o in t Compound 18 A. The trade name of this product was Kaiser Gypsum One-Day Joint 19 Compound Powder. 20 B. Kaiser Gypsum began manufacturing One Day Joint Compound Powder in 21 1968, and chrysotile asbestos was used as a component at that time. 22 C. Kaiser Gypsum last manufactured One Day Joint Compound Powder with 23 chrysotile asbestos as a component in 1975. 24 D. The Kaiser Gypsum California plants that made this product were located at 25 Santa Ana and Antioch. Because of the heavy weight of the product, low profit margin 26 and high transportation costs, distribution tended to center around the location of the 27 manufacturing plant. The product consisted primarily of casein limestone and mica. 28 The product included 3.4% by weight chrysotile asbestos as a component. 1 E. This product was a white to off-white powder. It was packaged and sold in 2 sacks of 25 lbs. Each sack was labeled with the name of the manufacturer, Kaiser 3 Gypsum Company, Inc., the name of the product and directions for its use. 4 F. This product was a dry powder which, when mixed with water, formed a thick 5 paste. Upon application it dried to a hard, durable surface. It was used to fill gypsum 6 wallboard joints, embed joint reinforcing tape, finish joints and to cover and finish 7 nailhead and metal comerbead. 8 5. Pre-Mix Joint Compound 9 A. The trade name of this product was Kaiser Gypsum Pre-Mix Joint 10 Compound. 11 B. Kaiser Gypsum began manufacturing Pre-Mix Joint Compound in 1959, and 12 chrysotile asbestos was used as a component at that time. 13 C. Kaiser Gypsum last manufactured Pre-Mix Joint Compound with chrysotile 14 asbestos as a component in 1962. 15 D. The Kaiser Gypsum California plant that made this product was located at 16 Long Beach. Because of the heavy weight of the product, low profit margin and high 17 transportation cost, distribution tended to center around the location of the 18 manufacturing plant. This product consisted primarily of minerals including casein or 19 polyvinyl, clay, talc, limestone and mica. The product included chrysotile asbestos as a 20 component. The percentage presently is unknown. Investigation is continuing. 21 E. This product was a white to off-white colored paste. It was packaged and 22 sold in cans of 4 or 5 gallons and in cartons of 5 gallons. Each container was labeled 23 with the name of the manufacturer, Kaiser Gypsum Company, Inc., the name of the 24 product and directions for its use. 25 F. This product was a thick paste like material which upon application dried to a 26 hard, durable surface. It was used to fill gypsum wallboard joints, embed joint 27 reinforcing tape, finish joints and to cover and finish nailheads and cornerbead. 28 Ill 6. Pre-Mix Finishing Compound 2 A. The trade name of this product was Kaiser Gypsum Pre-Mix Finishing 3 Compound. 4 B. Kaiser Gypsum began manufacturing Pre-Mix Finishing Compound in 1959, 5 and chrysotile asbestos was used as a component at that time. 6 C. Kaiser Gypsum last manufactured Pre-Mix Finishing Compound with 7 chrysotile asbestos as a component in 1962. 8 D. The Kaiser Gypsum California plant that made this product was located at 9 Long Beach. Because of the heavy weight of the product, low profit margin and high 10 transportation cost, distribution tended to center around the location of the 11 manufacturing plant. This product consisted primarily of minerals including casein or 12 polyvinyl, clay, talc, limestone and mica. The product included chrysotile asbestos as a 13 component. The percentage presently is unknown. Investigation is continuing. 14 E. This product was a white to off-white colored paste. It was packaged and 15 sold in cans of 4 or 5 gallons and in cartons of 5 gallons. Each container was labeled 16 with the name of the manufacturer, Kaiser Gypsum Company, Inc., the name of the 17 product and directions for its use. 18 F. This product was a thick paste like material which upon application dried to a 19 hard, durable surface. It was used to finish gypsum wallboard joints and to cover and 20 finish nailheads and cornerbead. 21 7. Pre-Mix Dual Purpose Joint Compound 22 A. The trade name of this product was Kaiser Gypsum Pre-Mix Dual Purpose 23 Joint Compound. 24 B. Kaiser Gypsum began manufacturing Pre-Mix Dual Purpose Joint 25 Compound in 1960, and chrysotile asbestos was used as a component at that time. 26 C. Kaiser Gypsum last manufactured Pre-Mix Dual Purpose Joint Compound 27 with chrysotile asbestos as a component in 1975. 28 1 D. The Kaiser Gypsum California plants that made this product were located at I 2 Long Beach, Antioch and Santa Ana. Because of the heavy weight of the product, low 3 profit margin and high transportation costs, distribution tended to center around the 4 location of the manufacturing plant. This product consisted primarily of minerals 5 including polyvinyl, clay, talc, limestone and mica. The product included between 1.5% 6 by weight and 6% by weight chrysotile asbestos as a component depending on the 7 formula in effect at a given date. 8 E. This product was a white to off-white or light buff colored paste. It was 9 packaged and sold in 5 gallon metal cans or plastic pails, and 4 or 5 gallon cartons. 10 Beginning in 1966 small amounts were sold in 5 quart plastic buckets as an 11 accommodation product for lumber dealers under the name 3-purpose premix 12 compound. Each container was labeled with the name of the manufacturer, Kaiser 13 Gypsum Company, Inc., the name of the product and directions for its use. 14 F. This product was a thick paste like material which upon application dried to a 15 hard, durable surface. It was used to finish gypsum wallboard joints, embed joint 16 reinforcing tape, finish joints and to cover and finish nailheads and metal cornerbead. 17 8. Pre-Mix Topping Compound 18 A. The trade name of this product was Kaiser Gypsum Pre-Mix Topping 19 Compound. 20 B. Kaiser Gypsum began manufacturing Pre-Mix Topping Compound in 1968, 21 and chrysotile asbestos was used as a component at that time. 22 C. Kaiser Gypsum last manufactured Pre-Mix Topping Compound with 23 chrysotile asbestos as a component in 1976. 24 D. The Kaiser Gypsum California plants that made this product were located at 25 Santa Ana and Antioch. Because of the heavy weight of the product, low profit margin 26 and high transportation costs, distribution tended to center around the location of the 27 manufacturing plant. This product consisted primarily of minerals including casein or 28 polyvinyl, clay, talc, limestone and mica. The product included between 0.9% by weight 1 and 2% by weight chrysotile asbestos as a component depending on the formula in 2 effect at a given date. 3 E. This product was a white to off-white or light buff colored paste. It was 4 packaged and sold in metal and plastic buckets of 4 or 5 gallons and in cartons of 4 5 gallons. Each container was labeled with the name of the manufacturer, Kaiser 6 Gypsum Company, Inc., the name of the product and directions for its use. 7 F. This product was a thick paste like material which upon application dried to a 8 hard, durable surface. It was used to top and finish gypsum wallboard joints. 9 9. Laminating Compound 10 A. The trade name of this product was Kaiser Gypsum Laminating Compound. 11 B. Kaiser Gypsum began manufacturing Laminating Compound in 1961, at 12 which time chrysotile asbestos was used as a component. 13 C. Kaiser Gypsum last manufactured Kaiser Gypsum Laminating Compound 14 with chrysotile asbestos as a component in 1972, at which time the product was 15 discontinued. 16 D. The Kaiser Gypsum California plants that made this product were located at 17 Antioch and Santa Ana. These plants were in operation at different times. The product 18 was manufactured at Antioch from 1961 Jhrough 197Q and at Santa Ana in 1971 and 19 1972. Because of the heavy weight of the product, low profit margin and high 20 transportation costs, distribution tended to center around the location of the 21 manufacturing plant. The product consisted primarily of soya, flour and limestone. The 22 product included between 6.5% by weight and 10% by weight chrysotile asbestos as a 23 component depending upon the formula in effect at a given date. 24 E. This product was a white to off-white powder. It was packaged and sold in 25 sacks of 25 lbs. Each container was labeled with the name of the manufacturer, Kaiser 26 Gypsum Company, Inc., the name of the product and directions for its use. 27 F. This product was a dry powder, which when mixed with water formed a thick 23 paste. It was used as an adhesive to laminate one piece of gypsum wallboard to 1 another, which was occasionally done to create gypsum drywall partitions having 2 thicker wallboard than could be created by a single sheet. For example, gypsum 3 wallboard typically came in sheets 1/2 inch and 5/8 inch thick. If one wanted a gypsum 4 wallboard that was 1 inch thick, this would be created by laminating together two pieces 5 of gypsum wallboard that were each 1/2 inch thick. Laminating compound was used for 6 this purpose. Additionally, it was used to laminate gypsum wallboard to sound 7 deadening board, which would increase the wall's capacity to prevent transmission of 8 sound from one room to another. 9 * * * 10 Kaiser Gypsum's responses to interrogatory subparts G. - J. applicable to all of 11 the eight wallboard joint compound products discussed above are as follows: 12 G. Kaiser Gypsum is unsure as to the intended meaning of 'The U.S. 13 Government's 'Qualified Products List'," but has no knowledge that any of its wallboard 14 joint compound products ever appeared on such a list. 15 H. Kaiser Gypsum Is aware of the following suppliers of chrysotile asbestos: IS John K. Bice 17 Harrison & Crosfield 18 Carmonia Chemical Co. " 19 Western Chemical Co. 20 Philip Carey Corp. (Carey Canadian Asbestos) 21 Johns-Manville 22 Union Carbide Corp. 23 ' E. S. Browning 24 Loomis Chemical Co. 25 Benson Chemical 26 Paul W. Wood (Johns-Manville) 27 Current addresses, if any, are not known to Kaiser Gypsum. Most of the specific 28 time periods during which these firms supplied asbestos are unknown. 1. I. (1 through 3): Kaiser Gypsum is not aware of ever selling such products to 2 shipyards, power companies or refineries. Kaiser Gypsum sold such products to non 3 governmental customers in Northern California from approximately 1952 to 1976. These 4 customers consisted largely of building contractors or building materials dealers. 5 Kaiser Gypsum has some retained sales orders and sales invoices for some 6 years which identify the purchasers of Kaiser Gypsum products, the dates of sale, the 7 amount of each product sold and, in some cases, the sites to which the products were 8 to be delivered. Sales orders and invoices are not organized by type of product (and 9 often individual documents cover sales of mulitiple products). Kaiser Gypsum will 10 make its retained sales records covering sales to customers in the Geographic Area 11 available for inspection upon reasonable notice at the offices of Dillingham & Murphy, 12 225 Bush Street, 6th Floor, San Francisco, California. 13 J. Kaiser Gypsum will make responsive documents sufficient to substantiate the 14 above information available for inspection upon reasonable notice at the offices of 15 Dillingham & Murphy, 225 Bush Street, 6th Floor, San Francisco, California. Kaiser 16 Gypsum regards and maintains its product formulas as confidential business 17 information. Incident to the sale of production facilities in which asbestos-containing 18 products were previously manufactured, Kaiser Gypsum transferred its trade secrets, 19 intangible property rights, and other confidential and proprietary business information 20 and assumed obligations to maintain their confidentiality. Consistent with those 21 property rights and obligations, Kaiser Gypsum is prepared to produce the formulas for 22 asbestos-containing products marketed in the Geographic Area under a confidentiality 23 agreement. 24 C. Decorative Texture Finishes For Interior Walls 25 Or Ceilings - Asbestos Used As A Component 26 Drywall partitions or walls made from gypsum wallboard are sometimes 27 decorated with wall covering or wallpaper that is fixed to the wall by an adhesive or 28 glue. On other occasions such walls are finished by painting them. There are many 1 varieties of paint, including some that are intended to create a textured surface (rather 2 than a smooth surface). Kaiser Gypsum manufactured and marketed several texture 3 paint products that during certain years used chrysotile asbestos as one of numerous 4 components. Drywall ceilings are sometimes finished with decorative products, as are 5 the cement slab ceilings found in some high-rise buildings. Kaiser Gypsum also 6 manufactured and marketed decorative texture products for use on such interior 7 ceilings that, during certain years, used chrysotile asbestos as one of numerous 8 components. The Kaiser Gypsum decorative wall and ceiling texture products were: 9 1. Cover-Tex texture paint 10 2. Spray-Tex or Spray Cover-Tex texture paint 11 3. Kaiser-Tex texture paint 12 4. Cover-Tex (TSS) wall texture 13 5. K-Spray ceiling texture 14 Kaiser Gypsum's responses to interrogatory subparts (a)-(f) for each of these 15 products are as follows: IS 1. Cover-Tex Texture Paint 17 A. The trade name of this product was Cover-Tex texture paint. 18 B. Kaiser Gypsum marketed Cover-Tex texture paint in 1952, but it did not itself 19 manufacture all of the product sold. Kaiser Gypsum does not know whether the non- 20 manufactured product marketed in 1952 contained asbestos. Kaiser Gypsum began 21 manufacturing this product in 1953, at which time chrysotile asbestos was used as a 22 component. 23 C. Kaiser Gypsum last manufactured Cover-Tex texture paint with chrysotile 24 asbestos as a component in 1967, when the product was discontinued. 25 D. The Kaiser Gypsum California plants that made this product were located in 26 Redwood City and Antioch. These plants were in operation at different times. The 27 product was manufactured at Redwood City from 1953 through 1957 and at the Antioch 28 plant from 1957 through 1967. Because of the heavy weight of the product, low profit margin and high transportation costs, distribution tended to center around the location of the manufacturing plant. The product consisted primarily of casein, limestone and mica. The product included between 4.4% by weight and 8.6% by weight chrysotile asbestos as a component depending upon the formula in effect at a given date. 5 E. This product was a white to off-white powder. It was packaged and sold in 6 sacks of 25 lbs. and sacks of 50 lbs. Each container was labeled with the name of the 7 manufacturer, Kaiser Gypsum Company, Inc., the name of the product and directions 8 for its use. 9 F. This product was a dry powder which, when mixed with water formed a 10 texture paint. It was used to produce texture effects over gypsum wallboard surfaces. 11 2. Spray-Tex Or Sprav Cover-Tex Texture Paint 12 A. The trade name of this product was Spray-Tex. Later it was changed to 13 Spray Cover-Tex texture paint. 14 B. Kaiser Gypsum began manufacturing this product in 1956, at which time 15 chrysotile asbestos was used as a component. 16 C. Kaiser Gypsum last manufactured Spray Cover-Tex texture paint with 17 chrysotile asbestos as a component in 1967, when the product was discontinued. 18 D. The Kaiser Gypsum California plants that-made this product were located in 19 Redwood City and Antioch. These plants were in operation at different times. The 20 product was manufactured at Redwood City from 1956 through 1957 and at the Antioch 21 plant from 1957 through 1967. Because of the heavy weight of the product, low profit 22 margin and high transportation costs, distribution tended to center around the location 23 of the manufacturing plant. The product consisted primarily of casein, limestone and 24 mica. The product included between 6.6% by weight and 36.6% by weight chrysotile 25 asbestos as a component depending upon the formula in effect at a given date. 26 E. This product was a white to off-white powder. However, some colored 27 versions of the product were offered. It was packaged and sold in sacks of 25 lbs. and sacks of 50 lbs. Each container was labeled with the name of the manufacturer, Kaiser Gypsum Company, Inc. The name of the manufacturer, Kaiser Gypsum Company, Inc., the name of the product and directions for its use. F. This product was a dry powder which, when mixed with water formed a texture paint that was used to produce texture effects over gypsum wallboard surfaces. 3. Kaiser-Tex Texture Paint A. The trade name of this product was Kaiser-Tex texture paint. B. Kaiser Gypsum marketed Kaiser-Tex texture paint in 1952, but it did not itself manufacture ail of the product sold. Kaiser Gypsum does not know whether the non- manufactured product marketed in 1952 contained asbestos. Kaiser Gypsum began manufacturing this product in 1952 or 1953, at which time chrysotile asbestos was used as a component. C. Kaiser Gypsum last manufactured Kaiser-Tex texture paint with chrysotile asbestos as a component in 1967, when the product was discontinued. D. The Kaiser Gypsum California plants that made this product were located in Redwood City and Antioch. These plants were in operation at different times. The product was manufactured at Redwood City from 1952 or 1953 through 1957 and at the Antioch plant from 1957 through 1967. Because of the heavy weight of the product, low profit margin and high transportation costs, distribution tended to center around the location of the manufacturing plant. The product consisted primarily of casein, limestone and mica. The product included between 4.0% by weight and 8.0% by weight chrysotile asbestos as a component depending upon the formula in effect at a given date. E. This product was a white to off-white powder; however, some colored paints were sold. It was packaged and sold in sacks of 10 lbs. and sacks of 25 lbs. Each container was labeled with the name of the manufacturer, Kaiser Gypsum Company, Inc., the name of the product and directions for its use. F. This product was a dry powder which, when mixed with water formed a texture paint. It was used to produce texture effects over gypsum wallboard surfaces. 1 4. Cover-Tex (TSS) Wall Texture 2 A. The trade name of this product was Kaiser Gypsum Cover-Tex (TSS) wall 3 texture paint. 4 B. Kaiser Gypsum began manufacturing Cover-Tex Wall Texture in 1968, at 5 which time chrysotile asbestos was used as a component. 6 C. Kaiser Gypsum last manufactured Cover-Tex Wall Texture with chrysotile 7 asbestos as a component in 1975. 8 D. The Kaiser Gypsum California plants that manufactured this product were 9 Santa Ana and Antioch. These plants were in operation at different times. The product 10 was manufactured at Santa Ana from 1968 through 1975 and at the Antioch plant from 11 1968 through 1975. Because of the heavy weight of the product, low profit margin and 12 high transportation costs, distribution tended to center around the location of the 13 manufacturing plant. The product consisted primarily of casein, limestone and mica. 14 The product included between 4.2% by weight and 8.7% by weight chrysotile asbestos 15 as a component depending upon the formula in effect at a given date. 16 E. The product was a white to off-white powder. It was packaged and sold in 17 50 lb. sacks. Each container was labeled with the name of the manufacturer, Kaiser 18 Gypsum Company, Inc., the name of the,,product and directions for its use. 19 F. This was a dry powder which when mixed with water formed a paint-like 20 product designed for hand or spray application. When dry, it produced a hard, durable 21 surface. It was used to produce texture effects over gypsum wallboard surfaces. 22 5. K-Spray Ceiling Texture 23 A. The trade name of this product was Kaiser Gypsum K-Spray Ceiling Texture. 24 B. Kaiser Gypsum began manufacturing K-Spray Ceiling Texture in 1961, at 25 which time chrysotile asbestos was used a a component. 26 C. Kaiser Gypsum last manufactured K-Spray Ceiling Texture with chrysotile 27 asbestos as a component in 1975. 28 1 D. The Kaiser Gypsum California plants that manufactured this product were 2 Santa Ana and Antioch. These plants were in operation at different times. The product 3 was manufactured at Santa Ana from 1973 through 1975 and at the Antioch plant from 4 1961 through 1971. Because of the heavy weight of the product, low profit margin and 5 high transportation costs, distribution tended to center around the location of the 6 manufacturing plant. The product consisted primarily of casein, limestone and mica. 7 The product included between 1.3% by weight and 9.9% by weight chrysotile asbestos 8 as a component depending upon the formula in effect at a given date. 9 E. The product was a white powder with either a mineral or polystyrene 10 aggregate. It was packaged and sold in 32 lb. sacks. Each container was labeled with 11 the name of the manufacturer, Kaiser Gypsum Company, Inc., the name of the product 12 and directions for its use. 13 F. This was a dry powder which when mixed with water formed a paint-like 14 product designed for spray application. When dry, it produced a hard, durable surface. 15 It was used to produce texture effects over gypsum wallboard or interior concrete 16 ceilings. 17 * * * 18 Kaiser Gypsum's responses to interrogatory subparts G.- J. applicable to all of 19 the five decorative texture products discussed above are as follows: 20 G. Kaiser Gypsum is unsure as to the intended meaning of "The U.S. 21 Government's 'Qualified Products List1," but has no knowledge that any of its decorative 22 texture products ever appeared on such a list. 23 H. Kaiser Gypsum is aware of the following suppliers of chrysotile asbestos: 24 ` John K. Bice 25 Harrison & Crosfield 26 Carmonia Chemical Co. 27 Western Chemical Co. 28 Philip Carey Corp. (Carey Canadian Asbestos) Johns-Manville Union Carbide Corp. E. S. Browning Loomis Chemical Co. Benson Chemical Paul W. Wood (Johns-Manville) Current addresses, if any, are not known to Kaiser Gypsum. Most of the specific 8 time periods during which these firms supplied asbestos are unknown. 9 I. (1 through 3): Kaiser Gypsum is not aware of ever selling such products to 10 shipyards, power companies or refineries. Kaiser Gypsum sold such products to non 11 governmental customers in Northern California from approximately 1952 to 1975. 12 These customers consisted largely of building contractors or building materials dealers. 13 Kaiser Gypsum has some retained sales orders and sales invoices for some 14 years which identify the purchasers of Kaiser Gypsum products, the dates of sale, the 15 amount of each product sold, and, in some cases, the sites to which the products were 16 to be delivered. Sales orders and invoices are not organized by type of product (and 17 often individual documents cover sales of multiple products). Kaiser Gypsum will make 18 its retained sales records covering sales to customers in the Geographic Area available 19 for inspection upon reasonable notice at the offices of Dillingham & Murphy, 225 Bush 20 Street, 6th Floor, San Francisco, California. 21 J. Kaiser Gypsum will make responsive documents sufficient to substantiate the 22 above information available for inspection upon reasonable notice at the offices of 23 Dillingham & Murphy, 225 Bush Street, 6th Floor, San Francisco, California. Kaiser 24 Gypsum regards and maintains its product formulas as confidential business 25 information. Incident to the sale of production facilities in which asbestos-containing 26 products were previously manufactured, Kaiser Gypsum transferred its trade secrets, 27 intangible property rights, and other confidential and proprietary business information 28 and assumed obligations to maintain their confidentiality. Consistent with those property rights and obligations, Kaiser Gypsum is prepared to produce the formulas for asbestos-containing products marketed in the Geographic Area under a confidentiality agreement. D. Electric Radiant Heat System Finishing Products - Asbestos Used As A Component In areas where electricity was expected to be particularly inexpensive, some houses and apartments were constructed with electric radiant heating systems. In some such radiant heating systems, grooves were cut in gypsum wallboard ceilings and electrical heating cables secured in the grooves. The groove-cracks were then filled and the ceiling covered with a decorative finish. In other systems, electric heating wires were stapled to the surface of wallboard. Then the ceiling was covered with a thick decorative finish that would conceal the heating wires. Kaiser Gypsum made several products for finishing such systems, and these products used chrysotile asbestos as one of numerous components. These Kaiser Gypsum products were: 1. Filler Compound 2. Radiant Heat Compound 3. Radiant Heat Scrimless Surfacing Compound Kaiser Gypsum's responses to interrogatory subparts (a)-(f) for each of these products are as follows: 1. Filler Compound A. The trade name of this product was Kaiser Gypsum Filler Compound. B. Kaiser Gypsum began manufacturing Filler Compound in 1961, at which time chrysotile asbestos was used as a component. C. Kaiser Gypsum last manufactured Filler Compound with chrysotile asbestos as a component in 1972, when the product was discontinued. D. The Kaiser Gypsum California plant that made this product was located at Antioch. It manufactured Filler Compound from 1961 to `1970. Because of the heavy weight of the product, the low profit margin and high transportation costs, distribution 1 tended to center around the location of the manufacturing plant. The product consisted 2 primarily of minerals including limestone and mica. The product used chrysotiie 3 asbestos as a component in its formula but the amount of asbestos called for in the 4 formula used to manufacture the product at the Antioch plant is uncertain. Investigation 5 is continuing. 6 E. This product was a white to off-white powder. It was packaged and sold in 7 sacks of 50 lbs. Each container was labeled with contained the name of the 8 manufacturer, Kaiser Gypsum Company, Inc., the name of the product and directions 9 for its use. 10 F. This product was a dry powder, which when mixed with water formed a thick 11 paste. Upon application it dried to a hard, durable surface. It was used to cover radiant 12 heating system ceiling surfaces. 13 2. Radiant Heat Compound 14 A. The trade name of this product was Kaiser Gypsum Radiant Heat 15 Compound. 16 B. Kaiser Gypsum began manufacturing this product in 1968, at which time 17 chrysotiie asbestos was used as a component. 18 C. Kaiser Gypsum last manufactured Radiant Heat Compound with chrysotiie 19 asbestos as a component in 1974, when the product was discontinued. 20 D. The Kaiser Gypsum California plant that made this product was located In Santa Ana, where it was manufactured from 1968 through 1974. Because of the heavy weight of the product, the low profit margin and high transportation costs, distribution tended to center around the location of the manufacturing plant. The product consisted primarily of sand and white portland cement. The product included between 3.3% by weight and 3.6% by weight chrysotiie asbestos as a component. 1 E. This product was a white to off-white powder. It was packaged and sold in 2 sacks of 60 lbs. Each container was labeled with the name of the manufacturer, Kaiser 3 Gypsum Company, Inc., the name of the product and directions for its use. 4 F. This product was a dry powder, which when mixed with water formed a thick 5 paste that was used to cover radiant heating cables stapled to ceiling surfaces. 6 3. Radiant Heat Scrimless Surfacing Compound 7 A. The trade name of this product was Kaiser Gypsum Radiant Heat Scrimless 8 Surfacing Compound. 9 B. Kaiser Gypsum began manufacturing this product in California in 1972, at 10 which time chrysotile asbestos was used as a component. 11 C. Kaiser Gypsum last manufactured Radiant Heat Scrimless Surfacing 12 Compound with chrysotile asbestos as a component in 1974, when the product was 13 discontinued. 14 D. The Kaiser Gypsum California plant that made this product was located in 15 Santa Ana, where it was manufactured from 1972. Because of the heavy weight of the 16 product, the low profit margin and high transportation costs, distribution tended to 17 center around the location of the manufacturing plant. The product consisted primarily 18 of sand, silica flour and mica. The product included 5% by weight chrysotile asbestos 19 as a component. 20 E. This product was a greenish powder. It-was packaged and sold in sacks of 21 25 lbs. and in sacks of 50 lbs. Each container was labeled with the name of the 22 manufacturer, Kaiser Gypsum Company, Inc., the name of the product and directions 23 for its use. 24 F. This product was a dry powder, which when mixed with water formed a thick 25 paste that was used to cover radiant heating cables embedded in ceiling surfaces. 26 27 Kaiser Gypsum's responses to interrogatory subparts G.- J. applicable to all of 28 the three radiant heating system surfacing products discussed above are as follows: 1 G. Kaiser Gypsum is unsure as to the intended meaning of 'The U.S. 2 Government's 'Qualified Products List'," but has no knowledge that any of its radiant 3 heating system surfacing products ever appeared on such a list. 4 H. Kaiser Gypsum is aware of the following suppliers of asbestos: 5 John K. Bice 6 Harrison & Crosfield 7 Carmonia Chemical Co. 8 Western Chemical Co. 9 Philip Carey Corp. (Carey Canadian Asbestos) 10 Johns-Manville 11 Union Carbide Corp. 12 E. S. Browning 13 Loomis Chemical Co. 14 Benson Chemical 15 Paul W. Wood (Johns-Manville) 16 Current addresses, if any, are not known to Kaiser Gypsum. Most of the specific 17 time periods during which these firms supplied asbestos are unknown. 18 I. (1 through 3): Kaiser Gypsum, is not aware of ever selling such products to 19 shipyards, power companies or refineries. Kaiser Gypsum sold such products to non 20 governmental customers in Northern California from.approximately 1952 to 1976. 21 These customers consisted largely of building contractors or building materials dealers. 22 Kaiser Gypsum has some retained sales orders and sales invoices for some 23 years which identify the purchasers of Kaiser Gypsum products, the dates of sale, the 24 amount of each product sold, and, in some cases, the sites to which the products were 25 to be delivered. Sales orders and invoices are not organized by type of product (and 26 often individual documents cover sales of multiple products). Kaiser Gypsum will make 27 its retained sales records covering sales to customers in the Geographic Area available 28 1 for inspection upon reasonable notice at the offices of Dillingham & Murphy, 225 Bush 2 Street, 6th Floor, San Francisco, California. 3 J. Kaiser Gypsum will make responsive documents sufficient to substantiate the 4 above information available for inspection upon reasonable notice at the offices of 5 Dillingham & Murphy, 225 Bush Street, 6th Floor, San Francisco, California. Kaiser 6 Gypsum regards and maintains its product formulas as confidential business 7 information. Incident to the sale of production facilities in which asbestos-containing 8 products were previously manufactured, Kaiser Gypsum transferred its trade secrets, 9 intangible property rights, and other confidential and proprietary business information 10 and assumed obligations to maintain their confidentiality. Consistent with those 11 property rights and obligations, Kaiser Gypsum is prepared to produce the formulas for 12 asbestos-containing products marketed in the Geographic Area under a confidentiality 13 agreement. 14 E. Gypsum Wallboard Accessories For 15 Exterior Use - Asbestos Used As A Component 16 Kaiser Gypsum experimented with gypsum wallboard products for use on the 17 exterior surfaces of buildings, but those products proved unsuccessful. Kaiser Gypsum 18 never discovered a way for them to be manufactured that would allow them to 19 effectively withstand the wide variety of weather and temperature conditions that 20 exterior products confront. Those exterior gypsum products were marketed in several 21 test areas and, as in the case of interior gypsum drywall products, required the use of 22 materials to fill the spaces between pieces of gypsum wallboard and to provide a 23 decorative finish. Kaiser Gypsum offered products for those purposes whose 24 components included small percentages of chrysotiie asbestos. These products were: 25 1. X-Terior Premix Prefill Compound 26 2. X-Terior Premix Wall Texture Compound 27 Kaiser Gypsum's responses to interrogatory subparts (a)-(f) for each of these 28 products are as follows: 1 1. X-Terior Premix Prefill Compound 2 A. The trade name of this product was Kaiser Gypsum X-Terior Premix Prefill 3 Compound. 4 B. & C. Kaiser Gypsum began and ceased marketing this product during 1975. 5 Chrysotile asbestos was used as a component for the brief period during which this 6 product was manufactured. 7 D. The Kaiser Gypsum California plant that made this product was located at 8 Antioch. The product was marketed in a limited market area where exterior gypsum 9 1 wallboard was being sold on a test basis. Kaiser Gypsum X-Terior Premix Prefill 10 Compound was made primarily of raw gypsum, PVA emulsion and mica. The product 11 included 1.5% by weight chrysotile asbestos as a component. 12 E. This product was a white to off-white paste. It was packaged and sold in 13 metal cans and plastic buckets of 60 lbs., and in cartons of 48 and 60 lbs. Each 14 container was labeled with the name of the manufacturer, Kaiser Gypsum Company, 15 Inc., the name of the product and directions for its use. 16 F. This product was a paste that was used to pre-fill joints in gypsum wallboard 17 installed on building exteriors. 18 2. X-Terior Premix Wall Texture Compound 19 A. The trade name of this product was Kaiser Gypsum X-Terior Premix Wall 20 Texture Compound. . 21 B. & C. Kaiser Gypsum began and ceased marketing this product during 1975. 22 Chrysotile asbestos was used as a component for the brief period during which this 23 product was manufactured. 24 D. The Kaiser Gypsum California plant that made this product was located at 25 Antioch. The product consisted primarily of limestone, acrylic emulsion and mica. The 26 product included 1.5% by weight chrysotile asbestos as a component. 27 E. The product was a white to off-white paste. It was packaged and sold in 58- 28 lb. metal cans, plastic buckets and cartons. Each container was labeled with the name 1 of the manufacturer, Kaiser Gypsum Company, Inc., the name of the product and 2 directions for its use. 3 F. This product was a white to off-white paste that was used to provide surface 4 texture to gypsum wallboard installed on building exteriors. 5 * 6 Kaiser Gypsum's responses to interrogatory subparts G.-J. applicable to the two 7 exterior finishing products discussed above are as follows: 8 G. Kaiser Gypsum is unsure as to the intended meaning of 'The U.S. 9 Government's 'Qualified Products List1," but has no knowledge that any of its exterior 10 finishing products ever appeared on such a list. 11 H. Kaiser Gypsum is aware of the following suppliers of chrysotile asbestos: 12 John K. Bice 13 Harrison & Crosfield 14 Carmonia Chemical Co. 15 Western Chemical Co. 16 Philip Carey Corp. (Carey Canadian Asbestos) 17 Johns-Manville 18 Union Carbide Corp. ^ 19 E. S. Browning 20 Loomis Chemical Co. 21 Benson Chemical 22 Paul W. Wood (Johns-Manville) 23 Current addresses, if any, are not known to Kaiser Gypsum. Most of the specific 24 time periods during which these firms supplied asbestos are unknown. 25 I. (1 through 3): Kaiser Gypsum is not aware of ever selling these products to 26 shipyards, power companies or refineries. Kaiser Gypsum sold these products to non 27 governmental customers in Northern California in 1975. These customers consisted 28 largely of building contractors or building materials dealers. 1 Kaiser Gypsum has some retained sales orders and sales invoices for some 2 years which identify the purchasers of Kaiser Gypsum products, the dates of sale, the 3 amount of each product sold, and, in some cases, the sites to which the products were 4 to be delivered. Sales orders and invoices are not organized by type of product (and 5 often individual documents cover sales of multiple products). Kaiser Gypsum will make 6 its retained sales records covering sales to customers in the Geographic Area available 7 for inspection upon reasonable notice at the offices of Dillingham & Murphy, 225 Bush 8 Street, 6th Floor, San Francisco, California. 9 J. Kaiser Gypsum will make responsive documents sufficient to substantiate the 10 above information available for inspection upon reasonable notice at the offices of 11 Dillingham & Murphy, 225 Bush Street, 6th Floor, San Francisco, California. Kaiser 12 Gypsum regards and maintains its product formulas as confidential business 13 information. Incident to the sale of production facilities in which asbestos-containing 14 products were previously manufactured, Kaiser Gypsum transferred its trade secrets, 15 intangible property rights, and other confidential and proprietary business information 16 and assumed obligations to maintain their confidentiality. Consistent with those 17 property rights and obligations, Kaiser Gypsum is prepared to produce the formulas for 18 asbestos-containing products marketed in the Geographic Area under a confidentiality 19 agreement. 20 III. Products Made At Kaiser Gypsum's Oregon Plant 21 From 1956 to 1978 Kaiser Gypsum owned and operated a plant located at St. 22 Helens, Oregon whose basic capability was to make building construction products by 23 compressing wood fibers extracted from wood chips to make various types of sheets 24 and boards used in constructing buildings. 25 A. Firtex Products - No Asbestos Used 26 The overwhelming majority of the products Kaiser Gypsum made at its Oregon 27 plant were sold with the trademark "Firtex." No product sold under this trade name ever 28 used asbestos as a component. Firtex products included various types of materials 1 intended to provide insulation against outside temperatures or to dampen noise. Such 2 products included sheathing that was nailed to walls before outer layers of bricks or 3 siding were installed. They also included sheet products for insulating roofs. They also 4 included sound deadening board that was used in partitions to reduce the noise that 5 could be heard from adjacent rooms. 6 Firtex products also included materials intended for use on ceilings. One type 7 was tiles that could be glued or tacked to ceilings to reduce noise. Another group of 8 such products was used in suspended ceilings. Suspended ceilings are made by 9 hanging a wood or metal frame from the structural members of a ceiling and then laying 10 square or rectangular decorative and insulating pieces into the frame. Those pieces 11 were termed "lay-in boards." Such suspended ceilings used a significant amount of the 12 room's vertical space and because that vertical space cost money to build, suspended 13 ceilings were most commonly found in commercial buildings or office buildings, which 14 typically had higher ceilings than houses during the 1956-1978 period when Kaiser 15 Gypsum made the products. The Firtex line of products was quite successful, and 16 Kaiser Gypsum sold them in great volume. 17 B. Mineral Fiber Products 18 1. Kaiser Gypsum Ordinary And 1-Hour Fire Rated 19 Mineral Fiberboard Products - No Asbestos Used 20 As high-rise buildings became more common in California during the 1960's, 21 building code authorities became increasingly concerned about the risks of fires in 22 those buildings and encouraged the development and use of products that were less 23 likely to burn. Since its Firtex wood-chip products would burn, Kaiser Gypsum sought 24 to develop other ceiling tile and lay-in board products that would be more resistant to 25 fire. Kaiser Gypsum found that the manufacturing machinery at its St. Helens, Oregon 26 plant could be used to make ceiling tiles and lay-in boards for suspended ceilings with 27 various types of mineral wool as the principal component (instead of wood chips). 28 Mineral wool is the name given to products made by heating various types of rock to 1 extremely high temperature (where they melt), spinning them into threads, and then 2 letting them cool. Mineral wool looks something like steel wool that is used for rubbing 3 rust off of metal or used in certain kitchen scouring pads. Mineral wool does resist fire 4 and Kaiser Gypsum was successful in developing ceiling tiles and lay-in boards that 5 fire-resistance testing organizations certified as meeting the 1-hour fire resistance 6 classification. Kaiser Gypsum marketed such "Kaiser Gypsum mineral fiberboard" 7 products for many years. Kaiser Gypsum never used asbestos as a component in any 8 of its 1-hour fire rated products. 9 2. Two-Hour Fire-Rated Mineral Fiberboard, Underwriters' 10 1ahoratories. Inc. Design - Asbestos Used As A Component 11 Fire code officials came to insist that in some types of buildings ceiling tiles or 12 suspended ceiling lay-in boards must be able to resist fire for at least 2 hours. Kaiser 13 Gypsum attempted to qualify mineral fiberboard products manufactured at its St. 14 Helens, Oregon plant under this standard, but initial efforts proved unsuccessful, 15 because, under the fire heat of test conditions, the square or rectangular mineral 16 fiberboard products would lose their shape in less than 2 hours, creating cracks 17 between the pieces that would let the fire through, causing the products to fail the test. 18 Eventually, Kaiser Gypsum discovered that if small amounts of asbestos were added, 19 the mineral fiber ceiling tiles and lay-in boards could be made to hold their shape for 2 20 hours under the conditions of fire tests conducted by Underwriters Laboratories, and 21 those versions of the products received the desired 2-hour fire resistance classification.. 22 Kaiser Gypsum marketed the 2-hour fire rated products, called "Underwriters' 23 Laboratories Design" for about a decade, but the product was not very successful due 24 in part to its high cost. 25 Kaiser Gypsum's responses to interrogatory subparts A.- J. for this minor product 26 are as follows: 27 A. The trade name of this product, a mineral fiber product, was Kaiser Mineral 28 Fiberboard - U.L. Fire Rated (Underwriters' Laboratories, Inc. Design). The same 1 product was cut into ceiling tiles and lay-in boards for use in suspended ceilings. It was 2 used for acoustical ceiling tile and suspended lay-in board in circumstances where a 23 hour fire resistance classification was specified. Both the ceiling tiles and the lay-in 4 boards were sold under the trade name "Kaiser Mineral Fiberboard-UL Fire Rated 5 (Underwriters' Laboratories, Inc. Design)." 6 B. Kaiser Gypsum began manufacturing Mineral Fiberboard-U.L. Fire Rated 7 with chrysotile asbestos as a component in 1963. 8 C. Kaiser Gypsum last manufactured Mineral Fiberboard-U.L. Fire Rated with 9 chrysotile asbestos as a component in 1974, when the 2-hour fire-rated product was 10 discontinued. 11 D. The plant that made this product was located at St. Helens, Oregon. This 12 product included 1.6% by weight chrysotile asbestos as a component. 13 E. This product consisted of ceiling tiles and lay-in boards with face side white 14 or colored and with a perforated or fissured design for acoustical treatment. The tiles 15 were 5/8" by 12" by 12" and the lay-in boards came in various sizes, the most common 16 being 1/2" or 5/8" by 24" by 24" and 1/2" or 5/8" by 24" by 48." They were packaged 17 and sold in boxes of various quantities. The boxes contained the name of the 18 manufacturer, Kaiser Gypsum Company, Inc., the name of the product and other 19 printed material. Kaiser Gypsum's 2-hour fire-rated ceiling tiles and suspended ceiling 20 lay-in board products (in which chrysotile asbestos was used as a component) were 21 required to be specially marked because they looked similar to other Kaiser Gypsum 22 mineral fiberboard ceiling tiles and lay-in boards (that did not contain asbestos as a 23 component) and building inspectors wanted to be able to check to make sure that 24 products with a 2-hour fire resistance classification actually were being used by the 25 building contractor when those had been specified. It is believed that 2-hour fire-rated 26 ceiling tile and suspended ceiling lay-in board was stamped on the back with either the 27 initial "KG" or the word "Kaiser Gypsum." It is believed that this marking was employed 28 during the entire period that the 2-hour fire-rated products were manufactured by Kaiser Gypsum. F. This product was used for acoustical ceiling tile and suspended lay-in board in circumstances where a 2-hour fire resistance classification was specified. G. Kaiser Gypsum is unsure as to the intended meaning of "The U.S. Government's 'Qualified Products List1 but has no knowledge that any of its 2-hour fire-rated mineral fiberboard products ever appeared on such a list. H. Kaiser Gypsum is aware of the following suppliers of asbestos: John K. Bice Harrison & Crosfield Carmonia Chemical Co. Western Chemical Co. Philip Carey Corp. (Carey Canadian Asbestos) Johns-Manville Union Carbide Corp. E. S. Browning Loomis Chemical Co. Benson Chemical ,, Paul W. Wood (Johns-Manville) Current addresses, if any, are not known to Kaiser Gypsum. Most of the specific time periods during which these firms supplied asbestos are unknown. I. (1 through 3): Kaiser Gypsum is not aware of ever selling such products to shipyards, power companies or refineries. Kaiser Gypsum sold such products to non governmental customers in California from approximately 1963 to 1974. These customers consisted largely of building contractors or building materials dealers. Kaiser Gypsum has some retained sales orders and sales invoices for some years which identify the purchasers of Kaiser Gypsum products, the dates of sale, the amount of each product sold, and, in some cases, the sites to which the products were 1 to be delivered. Sales orders and invoices are not organized by type of product (and 2 often individual documents cover sales of multiple products). Kaiser Gypsum will make 3 its retained sales records covering sales to customers in the Geographic Area available 4 for inspection upon reasonable notice at the offices of Dillingham & Murphy, 225 Bush 5 Street, 6th Floor, San Francisco, California. 6 J. Kaiser Gypsum will make responsive documents sufficient to substantiate the 7 above information available for inspection upon reasonable notice at the offices of 8 Dillingham & Murphy, 225 Bush Street, 6th Floor, San Francisco, California. Kaiser 9 Gypsum regards and maintains its product formulas as confidential business 10 information. Incident to the sale of production facilities in which asbestos-containing 11 products were previously manufactured, Kaiser Gypsum transferred its trade secrets, 12 intangible property rights, and other confidential and proprietary business information 13 and assumed obligations to maintain their confidentiality. Consistent with those 14 property rights and obligations, Kaiser Gypsum is prepared to produce the formulas for 15 asbestos-containing products marketed in the Geographic Area under a confidentiality 16 agreement. 17 IV. 18 Types Of Products Kaiser Gypsum Never Made And Never Marketed 19 Kaiser Gypsum has never mined, milled or marketed asbestos. Kaiser Gypsum 20 never designed, manufactured, or marketed any product in which amosite, crocidolite or 21 other amphibole forms of asbestos were used as a component. Kaiser Gypsum never 22 designed, manufactured, or marketed floor tile, pipe insulation or pipe covering, 23 refractory products, boiler insulation, acoustical plaster, or sprayed fireproofing or 24 sprayed thermal insulation products. Kaiser Gypsum never designed, manufactured or 25 marketed any sort of brake products. It never designed, manufactured or marketed 26 paper products, textile products, or roofing products in which asbestos was used as a 27 component. Kaiser Gypsum never designed, manufactured or marketed any products 28 intended for use in ships or shipyards, or any products intended for use in trains or other railroad equipment or railroad facilities. V. Null-A-Fire Type-X Gypsum Wallboard Allegedly Contaminated Vermiculite Ore This part of Kaiser Gypsum's response, though not directly called for by the subject interrogatories, is being made in light of earlier versions of Kaiser Gypsum's responses to standard interrogatories and evolving knowledge, in the context of historical regulatory uncertainties and disputes about whether vermiculite ore used as a component in some Kaiser Gypsum Null-A-Fire Type-X Gypsum Wallboard products may have been contaminated in a way that caused certain workers to be exposed to airborne "asbestos." Kaiser Gypsum's position is that no Kaiser Gypsum Null-A-Fire Type-X Gypsum Wallboard using vermiculite ore as a component could have been a substantial contributing factor to any disease caused by exposure to airborne asbestos fibers. As background, in 1954 Kaiser Gypsum introduced Null-A-Fire brand wallboard, a 5/8" thick gypsum wallboard that was approved by the Research Committee of the Pacific Coast Building Officials Conference and certified by the National Board of Fire Underwriters for a one-hour fire rating. This product was developed in response to the appearance of California building code requirements that walls in several types of public buildings must have such one-hour fire resistance. The term one-hour fire rating meant that, when used as a wall surface, the gypsum wallboard would resist the passage of flame and heat for at least one hour. The certified product had to be made in accordance with Underwriters Laboratories Code No. 3543. Wallboard products that were fire rated were labeled as "Type X" to distinguish them from ordinary gypsum wallboard products that had not passed fire-rating tests. When introduced in 1954, the primary component of Kaiser Gypsum's Null-A-Fire wallboard was gypsum stucco, which is the gypsum plaster that forms the greatest percentage by weight of all gypsum wallboard. Gypsum plaster, including wallboard 1 stucco, does not bum, and consequently, ail gypsum plaster and gypsum drywail 2 construction poses less risk of fire than does wall construction featuring wood or plastic 3 paneling. However, the ordinary 5/8" gypsum wallboard did not pass the one-hour fire 4 test, because the heat of the test caused the gypsum plaster to shrink and crack, letting 5 the fire through in less than an hour. Kaiser Gypsum found that, by adding small 6 proportions of glass fiber and perlite, a board could be constructed that would resist 7 shrinking and cracking under the heat of the fire test for the required one-hour period. 3 Perlite is a very light substance, white in color, that looks like puffed breakfast cereal. It 9 is often used in soil for potted plants to help keep the soil from caking. Perlite is made 10 by heating little pieces of volcanic glass to very high temperatures, which causes them 11 to pop like popcorn. 12 Kaiser Gypsum continued to market its Null-A-Fire Type X gypsum wallboard 13 products that contained perlite for more than a decade following their introduction in 14 1954. However, other manufacturers introduced fire-rated wallboard products that used 15 vermiculite instead of perlite to provide added fire protection. Vermiculite is a mica-like 16 mineral found in the ground in a number of places. In the 1890's it was known by gold 17 prospectors as "fool's gold," because it sparkled in the sun like precious metal. 18 Vermiculite does not weigh much, w hichjnakes it useful as a component of 19 construction materials, and the melting point of vermiculite is about 2500 degrees, 20 which makes it valuable as fireproofing. . 21 Vermiculite consists of many layers of thin plates that have small amounts of 22 water trapped in them. When heated, the water turns to steam causing these plates to 23 expand. Such expanded vermiculite is used by nurseries everywhere to help hold air 24 and moisture in plant soil so that young plants will grow faster and stronger. 25 Until 1965, Kaiser Gypsum could not use vermiculite to provide fire protection in 26 gypsum wallboard, because other companies had secured patents from the United 27 States government which gave them exclusive rights to use vermiculite in their gypsum 28 wallboard products. In 1965, Kaiser Gypsum secured patent licenses from other 1 companies which authorized Kaiser Gypsum to begin using vermiculite in its wallboard 2 products to provide increased protection against fire. Kaiser Gypsum then began to 3 develop such wallboard products and to present them for fire-testing. Since vermiculite 4 expands when it is heated, vermiculite used in a wallboard tends to offset the shrinkage 5 that occurs in gypsum when it is heated, and thus, vermiculite could serve to help a 6 wallboard to hold its shape and provide the desired fire protection. Because the 7 capacity to expand was desired, the Kaiser Gypsum products used as the ingredient 8 vermiculite that had not previously been heat-expanded. This unexpanded vermiculite 9 was referred to sometimes as vermiculite ore. When testing and fire code authorities 10 recognized and certified these Kaiser Gypsum products as fire-rated, or qualified to be 11 marketed as 'Type X," Kaiser Gypsum began marketing vermiculite-containing gypsum 12 wallboard under its Null-A-fire brand. Kaiser Gypsum manufactured limited quantities of 13 1/2" Null-A-Fire Type X wallboard beginning in 1967, and began manufacturing 5/8" 14 Null-A-Fire Type X wallboard in 1969. It continued to market such products until it 15 disposed of the last of its gypsum business in April 1978. Like other wallboard 16 products, those Null-A-Fire wallboards consisted primarily of gypsum plaster. The 17 formulas varied over the years but the vermiculite ore percentage did not exceed 4% by 18 weight of the products. - ` 19 Controversy concerning vermiculite reflects the regulatory proposals published 20 and regulations adopted by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration 21 ("OSHA") and the responses of vermiculite companies to those government actions. 22 OSHA is a U.S. government agency, created by federal legislation In 1970, that adopts 23 and enforces workplace safety and health regulations. OSHA has been politically 24 controversial from the beginning. California originally established a parallel state 25 program administered by its Division of Occupational Safety and Health, but that 26 agency and program were terminated several years ago. 27 The federal OSHA undertook to regulate exposure to "asbestos" in the 28 workplace as one of its first regulatory undertakings, and OSHA adopted regulations on asbestos in 1972: (See Kaiser Gypsum's response to Interrogatory No. 37, below.) 2 Thereafter, it undertook to enforce those regulations. In due course, it began to 3 threaten manufacturers who used various substances other than asbestos with charges 4 of violating the OSHA asbestos exposure regulations. This triggered a long-lasting 5 legal and scientific dispute concerning what minerals are "asbestos" for purposes of the 6 OSHA regulations and what minerals should be regulated like asbestos even if they are 7 not asbestos. 8 In that context, vermiculite supplier W.R. Grace & Co. (hereinafter "Grace") 9 issued an "Important Notice to Vermiculite Ore Processors," dated March 17, 1976 10 warning that "employers of workers handling vermiculite ore" should be "aware of the 11 OSHA regulations," because OSHA was applying them to Grace vermiculite plants and 12 proposed to make the regulation of dust more strict under the regulations. Grace stated 13 that the issues related to vermiculite reflected a "tramp" mineral "found in vermiculite 14 deposits" named "tremolite, defined by OSHA as one of the asbestos family." Disputes 15 over these OSHA proposals persisted for years. Then, on June 20, 1986, OSHA 16 published in the Federal Register (at 51 Fed. Reg. 22612) a "Final Rule" that defined 17 "asbestos" to include "tremolite" and applied asbestos exposure limits and warnings to 18 tremolite. However, shortly thereafter thjpse regulations were "stayed," that is, not 19 made effective, by OSHA as to tremolite and several other minerals to prevent the 20 federal courts from deciding whether the regulations.were "arbitrary and capricious." 21 (See 51 Fed. Reg. 37002; Oct. 17, 1986.) The scientific and regulatory debate 22 continued for more years until OSHA published regulations in 1992 (57 Fed. Reg. 23 24310; June 8, 1992) declaring that some tremolite is "platy" or non-fibrous, and "platy 24 tremolite" would not be deemed to be asbestos. 25 However, OSHA found other tremolite was fibrous or "asbestiform" and that such 26 "asbestifomn tremolite" would be regulated as asbestos. OSHA further limited these 27 regulations by providing that even products with asbestiform tremolite would not be 28 \ 1 subject to asbestos regulation if asbestiform tremolite "is present in a product in 2 concentrations less than 1.0 percent by weight." 3 Kaiser Gypsum admits that for a limited number of years some of its Null-A-Fire 4 products contained vermiculite, but Kaiser Gypsum denies that these products 5 contained asbestiform tremolite. Kaiser Gypsum further contends that any attempt 6 under state law to deem any products that have less than the amount that would 7 subject them to federal regulation to be asbestos-containing products would be 8 preempted by federal law and the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution. 9 RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 32: 10 Not applicable. 11 RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 33: 12 Not applicable. 13 RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 34: 14 Not applicable. 15 RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 35: 16 Kaiser Gypsum is unaware of entering into any such rebranding agreements. 17 RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 36: 18 During 1952 Kaiser Gypsum purchased Joint Cement, Cover-Tex texture paint 19 and Kaiser-Tex texture paint from W esco Waterpaints, Inc., then located in Berkeley, 20 California, that was packaged in Kaiser Gypsum's name. It is unknown to Kaiser 21 Gypsum whether asbestos was used as a component of those products. During 22 December 1953, Kaiser Gypsum entered into an agreement with Wesco Waterpaints, 23 Inc., then located in Berkeley, California, to purchase joint cement, topping compound 24 and texture paint packaged in Kaiser Gypsum's name for a period of 90 days. It is 25 unknown to Kaiser Gypsum whether any purchases were made pursuant to this 26 agreement or whether any products purchased had asbestos as a component. In an 27 abundance of caution, Kaiser Gypsum is providing the information it has obtained from 28 its records. Kaiser Gypsum has no information demonstrating that any product 1 obtained from Wesco Waterpaints, Inc. was an asbestos-containing product. Kaiser 2 Gypsum knows of no other agreement entered by it that provided for rebranding any 3 product of another company's which may have been an asbestos-containing product in I 4 Kaiser Gypsum's 5 name for sale in California. 6 RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 37: 7 Yes, as to products marketed in 1972 or thereafter. 8 A. Beginning in 1972, in response to regulations adopted by the U.S. 9 Occupational Safety and Health Administration (see 37 Fed. Reg. 11318, June 7, 10 1972), Kaiser Gypsum affixed caution labels to the packages and containers of its 11 asbestos-containing products. The OSHA regulations requiring this label were made 12 subject to the limitation that "no label is required where asbestos fibers have been 13 modified by a bonding agent, coating, binder, or other material so that during any 14 reasonably foreseeable use, handling, storage, disposal, processing, or transportation, 15 no airborne concentrations of asbestos in excess of the exposure limits prescribed in 16 paragraph B. of this section will be released." In light of then-existing ambiguities as to 17 what tests OSHA would recognize as adequate to demonstrate a product's falling within 18 this exception, Kaiser Gypsum applied the caution label to all its then-manufactured 19 products in which chrysotile asbestos was used as a component. 20 Initially, the labels were four inches by eight inches in size and had yellow 21 backgrounds with red letters. They were affixed to the bag or container of the product 22 by adhesive in a prominent place. Later, as new bags and containers were purchased, 23 the labels were printed onto the side of the bag or container and are believed to have 24 been the same color or colors as the bag/container or the printing thereon. The warning 25 label as prescribed by OSHA read: 26 CAUTION: contains asbestos fibers; avoid creating dust; 27 breathing asbestos dust may cause serious bodily harm. 28 ) 1 Additionally, Kaiser Gypsum Technical Bulletins 5703-A, dated October 1973, 2 and 5707, dated October 1973 and November 1976, prescribed the use of respirators 3 during spray application. 4 B. Yes. 5 C. Beginning in 1972; exact date unknown. 6 D. This caution label remained the same during the remaining time the products 7 uponw hich it was used continued to use asbestos as a component. 8 E. Joseph R. Hobby, Vice President, 2680 Bishop Drive, San Ramon, 9 California. 10 RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 38: 11 Most of Kaiser Gypsum's products were sold in the form of a powder or paste; 12 therefore, the name of the company was on the packaging of the product. However, 13 Kaiser Gypsum's 2-hour fire-rated ceiling tiies and suspended ceiling lay-in board products (in which asbestos was used as a component were specially marked because they looked similar to other Kaiser Gypsum mineral fiberboard ceiling tiles and lay-in boards (that did not contain asbestos as a component) and building inspectors wanted to be able to check to make sure that 2-hour fire-rated products actually were being used by the building contractor when tho$,e had been.specified. It is believed that each piece of 2-hour fire-rated ceiling tile and suspended ceiling lay-in board was stamped on the back with either the initial "KG" or the word "Kaiser Gypsum." Such marking was employed during the entire period that the 2-hour fire-rated products were manufactured by Kaiser Gypsum. RFSPQNSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 39: Kaiser Gypsum has no knowledge that it ever purchased or otherwise acquired an asbestos-containing product line from another person or entity. RFSPQNSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 40: Kaiser Gypsum has no knowledge that it ever sold an asbestos-containing product line to another person or entity. V. 1 RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO, 41: 2 A - C: Kaiser Gypsum has retained a number of brochures, pamphlets, catalogs 3 and other product information documents. Many of these documents discuss both 4 asbestos-containing products and other products, and many of the documents are 5 similar. For these reasons, rather than attempting to identify each individual document, 6 Kaiser Gypsum will make representative documents available for inspection upon 7 reasonable notice at the offices of Dillingham & Murphy, 225 Bush Street, 6th floor, San 8 Francisco, California. 9 D. To provide potential users of such products with information about the 10 products. 11 E. Some of these documents still exist. 12 F. See response to A - C. 13 G. Joseph R. Hobby, Vice President, 2680 Bishop Drive, San Ramon, 14 California. 15 RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 42: 16 The interrogatories define "contract unit" to "mean a branch or division of a 17 defendant which has been or is now engaged in installation and/or removal of 'raw 18 asbestos fibers' and/or 'asbestos-containing products'." Kaiser Gypsum never has had 19 such a unit. 20 RFSPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 43: 21 Not applicable. 22 RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 44: 23 In the mid to late 1960's Kaiser Gypsum became generally aware from media, 24 industry and governmental publications of allegations that inhalation of asbestos fibers 25 could have potential health consequences. 26 RFSPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 45: 27 See response to Interrogatory No. 44. 28 RFSPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 46: 1 Kaiser Gypsum will make documents containing the information requested 2 available for inspection upon reasonable notice at the offices of Dillingham & Murphy, 3 225 Bush Street, 6th Floor, San Francisco, California. 4 RFSPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 47: 5 Beginning in the mid 1960's, Kaiser Gypsum warned its employees concerning 6 the hazards of inhaling asbestos dust or fiber and its employees were given additional 1 instructions regarding the wearing of protective clothing, use of respirators and other 8 methods of avoiding or limiting inhalation of asbestos. 9, A. Memoranda distributed to safety supervisors advised the use of approved 10 respirators during exposure to asbestos dust. 11 B. Yes. 12 C. Joseph R. Hobby, Vice President, 2680 Bishop Drive, San Ramon, 13 California. 14 D. See response to subpart A. 15 RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 48: 16 Kaiser Gypsum has no knowledge that it ever issued such a policy. 17 RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 49: 18 Yes. See responses to Interrogatory Nos. 37 and 47. 19 RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 50: 20 Yes. 21 A. 29 CFR 1910.93(e). 22 B. November 2, 1973 23 C. OSHA. 24 D. Unknown. 25 E. Kaiser Gypsum believes the conditions alleged to be violations were 26 changed in a manner satisfactory to OSHA. 27 RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 51: 28 Not applicable. 1 RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 52; 2 Not applicable. 3 RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO,.53: 4 Yes. 5 A. Kaiser Gypsum shipped asbestos-containing products through ports located 6 in the Geographic Area. 7 B - D: Kaiser Gypsum sales orders and sales invoices show that asbestos- 8 containing products were shipped through the following berths located in the 9 Geographic Area during the years 1968 through 1975: Matson Contract Yard; Matson 10 Lines Dock; Matson Lines, Berth 208; Peters/Matson; Peters/NML; Delta Terminal, 11 Richmond; Berth 154; Terminal 1, Berth 3; Encinal Terminal; San Francisco; 9th 12 Avenue Pier, Oakland; and Berth 0, 7th Street, Oakland. 13 14 DILLINGHAM & MURPHY 15 16 17 By: pat^ ic k j ^ g a n TESQ. " 18 E. JANE WELLS, ESQ. Attorneys for Defendant 19 Kaiser Gypsum Company, Inc. 20 21 i:\ejw\mis\kginterg.ca3 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 4 ? .<* VERIFICATION 1 2 I, the undersigned say: 3 I have read the foregoing document; to the extent that the information set 4 forth in the foregoing document is personally known to me, the information is true and 5 correct to the best of my knowledge; to the extent that the information set forth in the 6 7 foregoing document is not known to me but is required by law to be provided in said 8 responses, I believe the responses to be correct; to the extent that the responses state 9 legal objections, the responses have been prepared by my attorneys based on their 10 work product and other information known to them, and are not within my personal 11 knowledge. 12 13 I declare under penalty of pegury under the laws of the State of California, 14 that the foregoing is true and correct. 15 16 California. 17 Executed this day of 1 / _______ , 1997, at San Ramon, Tt 18 19 20 ------- 7 21 JOSEPH R. HOBBY 22 23 24 25 26 IN RE: SAN FRANCISCO COUNTY COMPLEX ASBESTOS LITIGATION 27 Superior Court Action No.: 828684 for DEFENDANT KAISER GYPSUM COMPANY, INC.'S RESPONSES 28 TO PLAINTIFFS' STANDARD INTERROGATORIES TO ALL DEFENDANTS 1 PROOF OF SERVICE BY MAIL [C.C.P. 1013a. 2015.51 2 I, the undersigned, declare: 3 That I am employed in the City of San Francisco, County of San 4 Francisco, State of California; that I am over the age o f eighteen years and not a party 5 to the within cause; that my business address is 225 Bush Street, 6th Floor, San 6 Francisco, California 94104-4207. 7 That on today's date I served the attached: 8 KAISER GYPSUM COMPANY, INC.'S RESPONSES TO PLAINTIFFS' 9 STANDARD INTERROGATORIES TO DEFENDANTS 10 on the parties in said cause, by placing a true copy of each document enclosed in a 11 sealed envelope with postage thereon fully prepaid, in the United States mail at San 12 Francisco, California, addressed as follows: 13 See Attached List 14 15 I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California 16 that the foregoing is true and correct. 17 18 Dated: July 22, 1997 19 20 21 22