UM Grace Case

Former W.R. Grace employee Bruce Williams, who appeared in court today under a writ of immunity with the U.S. attorney’s office preventing him from being charged with any crimes, said that during his time at Grace they complied with government regulations and updated their products to remain that way. When he started as a manager for the company’s building products line in 1970, Williams said that he was unaware of the danger posed by asbestos, as were many at the chemical company.

“Somewhere in that period. I would say more like ’75 was the start of the understanding of tremolite in vermiculite,” he said. “It wasn’t viewed by anyone as a serious problem.”

When government attorney Kris Mclean questioned Williams about the use of asbestos warnings for products such as Monokote, Williams said that any such labels would have exaggerated the danger detected by internal tests.

“The amounts that we were dealing with here were so very small,” he said. “Describing this to a customer would accomplish nothing…you’re warning of a danger that didn’t exist.”

W.R. Grace attorney David Bernick expanded on this point during his cross examination of Williams, establishing that Grace contacted the EPA about the levels of asbestos in Monokote 3 to insure that they were in compliance. Williams said that upon learning Monokote 3 contained too much asbestos, Grace developed Monokote 4, another fireproofing plaster without the added asbestos of its predecessor. Bernick said that the EPA was well aware of the levels in the new form and adapted their regulations accordingly.

“The EPA itself revised its own proposed standard to permit Grace to sell these products knowing it had the trace [asbestos],” he said.

The next witness called by the government, former Grace engineer David Walczyk, developed equipment to reduce asbestos fiber counts and also performed tests on various building products. One such test occurred at his own home, where insulation was added to his attic while monitors recorded fiber amounts throughout the house.

McLean ended his direct examination when Walczyk could not recall the fiber levels detected in his living room. Under cross examination, Bernick established that the results of this test and others were sent to the Consumer Products Safety Commission, and then rested for the court’s afternoon break.

–Kyle Lehman (posted 4:30)