1976: Former W.R. Grave Employee Warned of Asbestos Danger
On, March 23, 2009, a past W.R. Grace & Co. employee testified that he warned supervisors of asbestos hazards in 1976, when studies illustrated consumer products were emitting high concentrations of the dangerous fibers. “I felt there was a train wreck occurring and I wanted to tell my boss,” said Robert Locke, a longtime Grace employee who was fired from the company in 1998.
Locke has been named an “unindicted co-conspirator” in the environmental crimes case against W.R. Grace, and federal charges could still be forthcoming based on his trial testimony. He has been involved in civil litigation against the construction products giant for more than a decade, although details of his civil case did not emerge at trial.
Locke was initially contacted by investigators from the Department of Justice in November 2004, and grew concerned that he would face criminal charges.“I was concerned about my own criminal liability from my involvement with the company,” Locke said. “I was on a list of criminal conspirators.”
However, he has since turned down immunity offers from federal prosecutors, and has decided to testify at trial regardless.
Locke began working for Grace in 1974, and stayed on with the company through several promotions, finishing his career in the construction division as global vice president and chief technical officer. He worked with defendant Robert Bettacchi to oversee the company’s health, safety and environmental issues.
Locke said he was assigned to various “fiber-reduction” programs as government agencies like the Occupational Safety and Health Administration began tightening asbestos regulations.
“Things were getting hot with OSHA. It would have put us out of business. There was no way we could comply,” Locke said of the high fiber counts.
Grace executives were growing increasingly concerned about liability, Locke said, and air sampling of the company’s asbestos-containing products, like fireproofing and attic insulation, did little to allay those fears.
The company tried taking measures to cut down on asbestos exposure at expanding plants throughout the country, but Locke said the measures, which included dust pickup kits and clean sweepers were not effective.
“I did not think that these things would solve the fiber problem,” Locke said. “It just kept coming out. The asbestos just kept coming out.”
Opening arguments for this case started on February 23, 2009.
