New Jersey Mesothelioma Plaintiff Details Asbestos Exposure in New Jersey Powerhouses

SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY LAW DIVISION: MIDDLESEX COUNTY
DOCKET NO. L-4814095
ALFRED JANKOLA, et al.,
Plaintiffs DEPOSITION UNDER
ORAL EXAMINATION vs OF
ALFRED JANKOLAACandS, INC., et al., (VOLUME I)
Defendants
______________________________
TRANSCRIPT of the deposition of the witness,
called for Oral Examination in the above-captioned
matter, said deposition being taken pursuant to
Superior Court Rules of Practice and Procedure by and
before SANDRA A. PRASNAL, a Notary Public and Certified
Shorthand Reporter of the State of New Jersey, at the
Offices of HOAGLAND, LONGO, MORAN, DUNST & DOUKAS,
ESQS., 40 Paterson Street, New Brunswick, New Jersey,
on Wednesday, September 13, 1995, commencing at
approximately 11:10 in the forenoon.

BRODY & GEISER
CERTIFIED SHORTHAND REPORTERS 77 Hamilton Avenue
Fords, New Jersey 08863 (908) 738-8555
JOB #509132
A P P E A R A N C E S:
WYSOKER, GLASSNER & WEINGARTNER, ESQS.BY: ROBERT KRIEGER, ESQ.
Attorneys for Plaintiffs
EVANS, OSBORNE, KREIZMAN & BONNEY, ESQS.BY: SUSAN FRIEDEL, ESQ.
Attorneys for Defendant, Rutland
MATTSON, MADDEN & POLITO, ESQS.BY: JOHN R. LEITH, ESQ.
Attorneys for Defendant, Miller & Chitty
HOAGLAND, LONGO, MORAN, DUNST & DOUKAS, ESQS.BY: JOAN WEISBLATT, ESQ.
-and- TOBEY PALAN, ESQ.
Attorneys for Defendants, Superior Welding, Kadex, HeatExchanger, Westside Plumbing and Ridgewood Plumbing,
FLEMMING, ZUBACK, ESQS.
BY: CATHI A. HESSION, ESQ.Attorneys for Defendant, W.R. Grace
TUCKER, BIEGEL & GOLDSTEIN, ESQS.
BY: PERRY GANDELMAN, ESQ.Attorneys for Defendant, Owens-Corning
RUBIN, BAUM, LEVIN, CONSTANT & FRIEDMAN, ESQS.
BY: JOSHUA LICHTENSTEIN, ESQ.Attorneys for Defendant, Rapid-American
GOLDSTEIN & JOSEPH, ESQS.
BY: MICHAEL A. BILLOTTIt, ESQ.Attorneys for Defendants, Atlas, Anchor and Garlock
NOWELL, AMOROSO & MATTIA, ESQS.
BY: ROBERT T. BONSIGNORE, ESQ.Attorneys for Defendants, Madsen & Howell, E&B Mill and
Ingersall Rand
LEARY, BRIDE, TINKER & MORAN, ESQS.BY: BRIAN PEOPLES, ESQ.
Attorneys for Defendant, Nicholas Schwalje
McCARTER & ENGLISH, ESQS.BY: KENETH S. RIVLIN, ESQ.
Attorneys for Defendant, AC&S
A P P E A R A N C E S: (Contd)
PICILLO CARUSO, ESQS.BY: SHERI HECHT, ESQ.
Attorneys for Defendants, Combustion Engineering
BUMGARDNER, HARDIN & ELLIS, ESQS.BY: DEBORAH MULVEY, ESQ.
Attorneys for Defendant, Calon
CHASAN, LEYNER, TARRANT & LAMPARELLO, ESQS.BY: JOSEPH DeMARCO, ESQ.
Attorneys for Defendant, Robert A. Keasbey
TOMPKINS, McGUIRE, & WACHENFELD, ESQS.BY: JOHN R. WATKINS, II, ESQ.
Attorneys for Defendant, General Electric
R. PATRICK WHITE, ESQ.BY: AN McHALE, ESQ.
Attorneys for Defendants, Woolsulate and Guyon
RONCA, McDONALD & HANLEY, ESQS.BY: KENNETH ZAREMBA, ESQ.
Attorneys for Defendants, York Insulation and Standard
BOWERS, ORR & ROBERTSON, L.L.P.BY: WILLIAM DIXON ROBERTSON, III, ESQ.
Attorneys for Defendants, Bondex and Proko
SAIBER, SAIBER, SATZ & GOLDSTEIN, ESQS.BY: PAUL S. DeGIULIO, ESQ.
Attorneys for Defendant, Georgia-Pacific
SLIMM & GOLDBERG, ESQS.BY: DAWN DEZII, ESQ.
Attorneys for Defendant, Central Jersey
MICHAEL DeMICHELE, ESQ.BY: ANGELA FEMINO, ESQ.
Attorneys for Defendant, Babcock & Wilcox
AMY ALKOFF CHASIN, ESQ.BY: PETER F. CARPENTER, ESQ.
Attorneys for Defendant, Somerville Lumber
BENJAMIN S. BUCCA, JR., ESQ.Attorney for Defendant, IMO Industries

A P P E A R A N C E S: (Contd)
MAURO, SAVO, CAMERINO & GRANT, ESQS.BY: ALAN BART GRANT, ESQ.
Attorneys for Defendant, Porter Hayden
ENRIGHT, LENNY & McGRATH, ESQS.BY: MICHAEL P. McGRATH, ESQ.
Attorneys for Defendant, State Insulation Corporation
CARTON, WITT, ARVANITIS & BARISCILLO, ESQS.BY: H. FRANK CARPENTIER, ESQ.
Attorneys for Defendant, Flintkote
DANAHER, TEDFORD, ESQS.BY: MARISSA BANEZ, ESQ.
Attorneys for Defendants, Pittsburgh Corning Corp andU.S. Mineral

I N D E X
WITNESS NAME PAGE NO.
ALFRED J. JANKOLA
Direct by Ms. Friedel 5 Cross by Mr. Peoples 91
Cross by Mr. DeGiulio 97 Cross by Mr. DeMarco 102

E X H I B I T S
EXHIBIT NO. DESCRIPTION PAGE NO.
D-1 Interrogatories 5
P-1 & 2 Photographs 69

(Set of Interrogatories are marked
as D-1 for Identification.)
A L F R E D J. J A N K O L A,
221 Potter Street, South Amboy, New Jersey
called as a witness, having been first
duly sworn according to law, testifies as
follows:
DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MS. FRIEDEL:
Q Good morning, Mr. Jankola.
A Good morning.
Q Im sorry for the delay in starting,
theres a mix up today.
A Thats perfectly okay.
Q My name is Susan Friedel and I represent
two of the defendants in this matter and my other
colleagues in this room represent the other defendants
that you have named in your lawsuit through your
attorney.
The purpose of todays deposition is to
make a number of inquiries which is to cover the
subject of your lawsuit.
Have you ever had your deposition taken
before?
A No, maam.
Q Let me give you some general instructions.
Everything you say is under oath. As you know, you
were sworn.
To my right here is a court reporter.
Shes going to take down everything you say. For that
reason, we would ask that you verbalize all your
answers. If you can keep your voice up, because
theres people in the far corner over there — she will
then prepare it in a booklet form.
I imagine that were going to have to be
together more than one day, but well see what we can
accomplish today.
You are not my prisoner. If you need a
glass of water, if youd like to speak with your
attorney or you would like to take a break, we wont go
any longer than you can undertake. We can always
schedule and come back another day.
If you dont understand my questions,
please tell me. I dont want you to guess. Sometimes
I may ask you to estimate, but if you really dont
know — if theres any documents that can help you,
please let me know.
Do you have any questions before we start?
A Not really.
Q Have you had an opportunity to talk to
your attorney this morning?
A Yes.
MS. FRIEDEL: Did you get his
address?
THE REPORTER: Yes.
THE WITNESS: 221 Potter Street,
South Amboy.
Q And your Social Security number is?
A 145-14-4765.
Q And your date of birth?
A November the 1st, 1924.
Q Would you tell me your educational
background?
A Well, I went to one year of high school,
vocational school, I went to a few night classes and
then fortunately I went into the Marine Corps in 1941
or — no. 43 to 46.
Q You were in the Marines from 1943?
A June the 20th, 1943 to March the 5th, 1946.
Q Could you just slow down for a second?
You said you did go to one year of high
school?
A Yeah.
Q And that was where?
A Vocational school. Perth Amboy High School.
Q Did that result in a degree or did you not
complete the requirements?
A No. I didnt like high school. I transferred
to vocational school.
Middlesex County Vocational School was the
name of it at that particular time.
Q And what did you study at vocational
school?
A Electrical course.
Q Did you complete that?
A No.
Q And after that is when you went into the
Marine Corps?
A (Motioned.)
Q What did you do during the time of
service?
A Well, I was a seagull marine. I was in what
they call a guard company, Norfolk Navy yard I went to
sea school. Theyre also at the Norfolk Navy yard.
Then I went aboard an aircraft carrier, U.S.S. Ranger
CV4.
MR. GANDELMAN: Im sorry. What was
the name of the ship that you were on?
THE WITNESS: U.S.S. Ranger CV4.
That was the old one.
Q What was your rank?
A Corporal, discharge.
Q Were you stationed on the Ranger the
entire time?
A 22 months.
Q What did you do?
A Well –
MR. KRIEGER: You mean aboard the
Ranger?
MS. FRIEDEL: Yes.
A I was a bridge sentry and also — let me see if
I get this right — a flight sentry.
Q What did your job duties consist of?
A My job was also manned a 20 millmeter
anti-aircraft gun and a 55 cannon and 40 millimeter
anti-aircraft guns.
Q And your other time in the Marine Corps,
where was that spent?
A Well, most of the time on the aircraft carrier.
Other than that, I was in different guard companies.
Q Do you remember which forts you would have
been at?
A St. Julians Creek was one of them in Virginia.
That was an ammunition depot.
Q Do you remember any others?
A Let me see. I was in brige sentry also in the
Norfolk Navy yard.
Q Do you remember what kind of job duties
you had when you were state-side?
A Well, these were mostly state-side jobs.
Q But I mean, when you werent on the
Ranger, what exactly were you doing? Do you remember?
A I was doing that bridge sentry and I worked in
the Navy yard as working on the main gate.
Q What exactly would a brick sentry (sic)
do?
A We guard prisoners.
MR. KRIEGER: Bridge.
Q Oh, bridge.
A B-r-i-d-g-e.
Q Okay. Would you tell me the name of your
father and mother?
A Yes. My fathers name was Martin Jankola, and
my mothers name was Sophy.
Q Is your father still alive?
A No. My father died at age 58. But my mom is
still alive at 98 at the Roosevelt Hospital.
Q Do you know what was the cause of your
fathers death was?
A Yes. He had lung cancer.
Q Do you know how he contracted lung cancer?
A Yes, maam. He worked in what they call the
tank house in Coppers Work and he was exposed to all
this acid and the acid ate the steel columns. So after
35 years, it done a number on his lungs.
All my uncles and relatives died of lung
cancer from working in that place.
Q Where exactly did he work?
A It was called — they had two names, Anaconda
Copper and then they called it Raritan Copper Works.
Q Where is that located?
A Perth Amboy.
Q You said you had other relatives that
suffered the same way?
A Oh, yes. My uncles and my Godfather.
Q Could you tell me their names?
A Well, George Gandi, Frank Gandi.
Q They were uncles?
A Yes. And Frank Siebold. He was my dads
superintendent.
S-i-e-b-o-l-d, I believe his name was
spelled.
Q S-i-e-b-e-l?
A B-o-l-d.
Q Any others?
A There was a number of others, but I cant –
MR. KRIEGER: Are you just talking
about relatives?
MS. FRIEDEL: Well, I was. He
volunteered Mr. Siebold but I am talking
about relatives.
A Oh. They had my Godfather, Frank Benya
(phonetic.)
Q And so to the best of your knowledge, you
know these men worked at Anaconda and they all died of
lung cancer?
A They did. Yes.
Q Have you ever been married?
A Yes. I am married.
Q Youre currently married.
Whats your wifes name?
A Lillian. Its Mary but actually Lillian
Jankola.
Q Lillian but you call her Mary?
A No. I call her Lillian.
Q And when were you married?
A January the 22nd, 1983.
Q Is she your second wife or is she your
first wife?
A My first wife.
Q Do you have any children?
A I have a stepdaughter.
Q Whats the name of your stepdaughter?
A Hollie. Hollie Holton, H-o-l-t-o-n.
Q And how old is Hollie?
A 31.
Q Is she financially dependent on you?
A No.
Q Do you have any brothers or sisters?
A I had one brother that was also a Marine. He
was caught in the battle of Saipan and I have one
sister that lives in Carteret.
Q What was your brothers name?
A Joseph. He was killed in June the 16th, 1944.
Q Your sisters name?
A Ethel. Ethel Medwick, M-e-d-w-i-c-k.
Q And how old is she?
A Shes two years older than me. 72, 73.
Q And how is her health?
A I have no idea.
Q You see her though, right?
A No.
Q Mr. Jankola, Id like to turn your
attention to your employment history.
Were you honorably discharged in 1946?
A Yes, maam.
Q And what did you do after that?
A Let me see.
MR. KRIEGER: He worked before that,
too.
MS. FRIEDEL: Before the Marine
Corps?
MR. KRIEGER: Yeah, before the
Marine Corps.
A I worked from 41 to 43, I worked in
Chesebrough Ponds.
Q What did do you bean 1941 and 1943?
A I worked in Chesebrough Ponds.
Q What did you do there?
A I worked in shipping and receiving and when
things were slow in shipping and receiving, they put us
in –
THE WITNESS: Am I talking lound
enough?
(All replied affirmatively.)
A And when things got a little slow in shipping
and receiving, they either put us in the maintenance
gang or in their labor gang, you know, to fill in our
time.
Q What exactly did your job duties consist
of when you were in shipping and receiving?
A Well, we would load trucks and unload trucks or
any materials that were coming in from, you know,
different companies.
Q And when you were on the maintenance
gang –
A When I was in the maintenance, they had us do
everything. You know, a lot of times we worked in the
boiler room, we worked with the pipefitters in mixing
some of this asbestosis — asbestos and helping the
pipefitter. He was the one that put it on when wind up
mixing that.
Q This was a non-union job?
A It was. Yes. The company was non-union.
Q This was from 1941 to 1943?
A 43.
Q Now, do you believe you used asbestos
products when you worked at Chesebrough Ponds?
A Did I what?
Q Use any asbestos-containing products?
A Well, when I worked in the maintenance gang, I
probably have used it.
You know, at that time I didnt know too
much about it. You know, I didnt know what it was.
Q What leads you to believe you may have
used it?
A Well, when they covered this pipe with
insulation, it was asbestos.
Q Now, did you cover pipes?
A No. No. That wasnt my job. The pipefitters
done that, or the pipe coverers. They have special men
for that.
Q Did you work on any of the boilers when
you were in the maintenance gang?
A I didnt work on the boilers but I worked around
the boilers.
Q Let me just go back to where we left off.
After the Marine Corps, where did you work then after
your discharge?
A I worked in National Lead, I worked in Hercules,
Whalen-Davit. 1960 I went with the ironworkers.
Q I was just going to interrupt you.
A Thats all right.
Q Could you tell me generally what you did
between 1946 and before you joined the ironworkers;
what kind of work you were doing?
A Prior to 1946?
Q No. Between 1946 up until the time you
joined the ironworkers in 1960, right?
A Yes. I worked in Whalen-Davit. We made
lifeboats there.
And I worked in Hercules and I worked in
National Lead, the pigment plant in Sayreville.
Q Were these non-union jobs?
A No. They were union. Factories were.
Hercules.
Q Were you union at the time?
A I had to join the union after so many days.
Yes.
Q So when did you join the union?
A I dont recall.
MR. KRIEGER: Which union?
Q Were you in two different unions?
A Yes. Hercules had a different union and the
National Lead had a different union.
They all had different unions. Even the
ironworkers, you know, were different unions.
Q So the ironworkers you joined in 1960?
A Yes.
Q Now, before that, were you a member of any
union?
A Yes, I was a member. I dont know the name of
the union.
Its probably some kind of, like, a
chemical name or something. The chemical union or
something like that. I dont recall. Its been quite
awhile.
MS. FRIEDEL: Can we go off the
record for a second?
(Discussion off record.)
Q What Im going to do is show you a
document that your attorney has supplied to us.
If you can look at that — and this was
represented to be a recount of your work history
between 1941 –
A Yeah.
Q — and 1960 before you joined the
ironworkers.
A Yeah.
Q Would that be accurate?
A Yes. Very accurate. Yeah. Its very accurate.
Its just that its a little hard to remember
everything.
Q Sure. I can appreciate that. Its a
while ago.
A Thank you.
Q Let me just ask you, what did you do at
National Lead?
A At National Lead I worked in what they called
the maintenance gang. We done everything. We were
helpers, you know, with the carpenters, we helped the
pipefitters and a lot of other trades, you know.
Q Were your duties similar to what you did
at Chesebrough Ponds?
A No. It was a different operation altogether,
you know, but like I say, I worked with the
pipefitters, I worked with the laborers.
Wherever they needed extra help for a day
or two.
Q Let me just ask about another brief job,
Hercules.
What did you do at Hercules?
A I worked in what they called the de-hy and it
looks similar to cotton and we used to load that into
this big machine and they used to press it and then
they would put it in 50-gallon drums with some sort of
a solution and ship it out that way.
Q Now, I want to direct your attention to
Whalen-Davit. What did you do during that time period?
A Well, I worked almost every phase of the job.
When things got slow and they laid off men, they would
put me in this gang because I had seniority. They done
a lot of riveting and I worked with sheetmetal men. I
worked on what they call an ellinger haul (phonetic.)
I used to cut all the metal out, punch it and form it
to put it inside the boat and that was like being a
sheetmetal worker.
Q When you say the boat, was that –
A A lifeboat. Lifeboats, we worked on lifeboats.
Q In other words, Whalen-Davit was operating
construction of lifeboats?
A Well, also made davits. They made the davits
that lower and raise the lifeboats. They made all
their machinery and everything that goes with it. The
winches and everything.
The last job I had with them was in the
machine shop. I was there –
Q If you could give me a general
recollection of that almost 14 years, do you believe
you used any asbestos-containing products when you were
at Whalen-Davit?
A There was a lot in the boiler room. If,
sometimes we might have had to go in the boiler room
and if they were, you know, putting coating on the
pipes, its probably I was exposed to it then also.
But its so hard to remember all these years back.
Q Now, in the boiler room, did you do
anything in the boiler room?
Did you work on the boilers?
A No. I didnt work on the boilers. No, because
thats a trade by itself.
Boilermakers, they do their own work.
They have their own union. We dont do that.
Q What leads you to believe there was
asbestos in the boiler room?
A Well, I saw boxes saying asbestos, when they
were using it. Thats all I know.
Q Who was they?
A Huh?
Q Who was they? You say they were using
it?
A The boilermakers. The men that coat the pipes.
Q What exactly were they coating the pipes
with? Do you remember?
A It was like a cement.
Q Anything else that you remember?
A Not to my knowledge.
And pipe covering. The pipe they put on
the pipes, the white pieces, about three-feet long.
Q And you believe that pipe covering
contained asbestos?
A I believe it did. I mean, thats what they used
for insulation.
Q What leads you to believe it was asbestos
containing?
A They have it in these big tall boxes and it says
it right on the box.
Q You remember seeing the boxes?
A Oh, yes. I remember seeing the boxes.
Q Do you remember the brand name of pipe
covering that would have been used at Whalen-Davit?
A Not really. Not to my knowledge. No.
Q How about the cement that you saw being
used?
A Not to my knowledge.
Q How often would you be in the boiler room
when the pipe coverers were there?
A Very, very seldom. Very seldom. Maybe all this
time I spent, maybe once or twice. Thats all.
Q Other than the boiler room and your time
at Whalen-Davit, do you believe you either used or were
exposed to any asbestos-containing products in any
other time?
A Not to my knowledge.
Q These have been marked as Exhibit D-1.
Would look at it and identify it for the record?
(The witness complies.)
A Yes. This is correct.
You want me to go through the whole thing?
Q No. I just wanted you to identify it.
A Yes. Thats it.
Q Do you remember preparing these with your
attorney?
A Yes.
Q Did your attorney provide you any product
books to assist you in preparing these answers?
A No.
Q Id like to direct you to pages three,
four and five. At this time would you just kind of
flip through them?
Do they accurately reflect places you
worked during your employment?
A You want me to start up here on the top?
Q No. Sort of the middle of the page there.
A Oh, I see.
Q And then the following two pages.
A I never realized how many jobs I worked on.
Q The pending question is: Do you recognize
all of those job sites –
A Yes.
Q — as places youve worked?
A Yes.
Q Its an accurate reflection of your work
history?
A Yes.
MS. FRIEDEL: Your attorney would
like to take a break now, and if you want
to, you can do so.
(Short recess.)
Q Mr. Jankola, could you generally describe
for me what your job duties were in the ironworkers
union?
A Yes. I done various types of jobs. I done
rigging, I done reinforce rods, I done finishing, I
done structural. And what else was there? Structural
work. theres one more phase, I just cant recollect
offhand.
Q Well, you will have to educate me what
exactly do you do when you rig?
A Rigging is moving machinery. Unloading of
gondolas, moving them into buildings and setting them.
We set them in a closed place and then the millwrights
take over to line them up.
Q The who?
A The millwrights.
Millwrights do the lining of the
machinery. We just get it in place for them.
Q And what exactly do you do when you
reinforce rods?
A Reinforced rods are steel and we put them down
in the ground and then they pour concrete over it.
Thats to make the concrete stronger.
Q And what exactly did you do when you
finish?
A When I finish that?
Q No. You say you do finishing. What is
finishing?
A Finishing work is like, do aluminum sash on the
building. Put aluminum windows in schools.
And I worked on a lot of these buildings.
The courthouse, I worked on the finishing work outside.
Q And what do you mean when you say you did
structural work?
A Structural work is the erecting of the steel.
Steel erection.
Q Could you give me a general description
then of what kind of products or equipment you would
use in any of these?
A Erecting of steel?
Q Yeah.
A When you have to have a crane, for instance, to
pick it all up, then you have to connect — you hook on
to the steel and get it in place and then after thats
done, the men come down and then bolt it up. Just put
it altogether. Tighten up the building, the plumbing
and aligning of the building. Then they put the roof
on and the sides and so on and so forth.
Q Any other types of things you would do
other than the four weve just described?
A Yeah. There was quite a few other jobs.
Q Not jobs, but I mean the general?
A Setting air conditioning units with helicopters
on the tops of buildings. Thats one of our jobs also.
That was what you call the composite crew.
Q What other types of things have you done
as an ironworker?
Weve talked about rigging, reinforcing
rods, finishing, structural, working with the composite
crew.
A I worked on quite a few radio towers, erecting
of radio towers.
Q Anything else?
A Not to my knowledge.
Q Did you receive any training from the
union?
A Well, some. Most of it I learned on the job
site.
Q Did you have an apprenticeship period?
A They do have it now. They do. But at that
time, they didnt.
Q By the way, how did you become a member of
the ironworkers union?
A Through a friend of mine.
Q Im going to direct your attention now to
each of the work sites youve mentioned in your
Interrogatories. And I have a series of questions that
Im going to ask and well probably just follow up
later with some more.
If you recall my instructions or, you
know, what you remember, I cant ask you anymore than
that.
Do you remember working at the A&P
warehouse in Edison?
A Yes, maam.
Q What did you do there?
A We put the steel erection. Thats the best way
I can put it to you.
Q How exactly did you do that?
A With a crane.
Q What other items did you need other than a
crane?
A Well, you needed a crane and you needed a
raising gang which consisted of two connectors, two
hooker-oners, a signal man and a foreman.
Q Do you remember your employer at this
time?
A Not really. No.
Q Do you believe that you used any
asbestos-containing products when you worked at the A&P
warehouse?
A No. Not at that time. No.
Q How about Agway in Woodstown, New Jersey?
Do you remember that job?
A Not really.
Q How about, you worked at American Cyanamid
in Bound Brook and in Princeton. Do you remember
either of those jobs?
A I sure do. Especially Bound Brook.
Q Lets talk about Bound Brook.
A Well, we were erecting steel there also and we
were in, you know, various buildings and in the
powerhouses. We had to put reinforced steel in there
and at that time there were also doing insulation of
pipes and et cetera, you know.
Q Whos they?
A The pipefitters, boilermakers and pipefitters.
Q Do you believe you used any
asbestos-containing products when you did your work
in –
A Did I know?
Q Do you believe you were exposed to any
asbestos-containing products?
A Oh, yeah.
Q What would they be?
A The dust from flying in the air from whatever
they were using.
Q And who is they?
A The companies that were using it. You know, the
pipefitters or carpenters or whoever was working with
this stuff.
Q In other words, there was dust on this job
site?
A Oh, yes.
Q Was there dust every day?
A Oh, almost every day.
Q Do you know what the dust was from?
A Well, if they were working with the asbestos, it
had to be from that, I guess.
Q What kind of asbestos products would have
been used at this job site?
A Well, it would be pipe covering and it would
also be the cement. And when you mixed that cement,
when you dump it out of the bag, you get the dust from
it, until you, like, fill it with water and the box a
paste.
Q How do you know the pipe covering was
asbestos?
A It says it on the box. You see the boxes laying
around, they empty them, they throw the boxes away, you
can see the boxes.
Q And how do you know the cement they used
was asbestos?
A The same thing. The bag had it, right on the
bag.
Q Do you remember any of the actual brand
names of the pipe covering that was used?
A Not offhand. No.
Q The cement?
A I think U.S. Gypsum, U.S. National Gypsum.
Those are the ones that made it.
Q You specifically remember seeing U.S.
Gypsum at American Cyanamid in Bound Brook?
A I dont recall exactly.
Q How about the cement, do you remember what
brand names would have been used?
A Probably the same kind, but like you have to
excuse me, you have to understand that Im an
ironworker and I wasnt really technically involved in
this thing. You know what I mean?
I looked at it, I might have glanced at
it, looked at it. Its hard for me to say when you ask
me a question as to what brand was it and this and so
on and so forth, its hard for me to say because that
wasnt my job you know.
MR. KRIEGER: Thats what shes
saying. If you dont know, dont guess.
If you have a specific recollection –
THE WITNESS: Okay. Then I dont
know.
Q I dont know is a perfectly acceptable
response.
A All right. Thank you.
Q Okay. How about American Cyanamid in
Princeton, what did you do there?
A I dont recall. Thats quite awhile ago too.
Q How about American Hoist in Newark, New
Jersey, do you remember that?
A That isnt correct that Hoechst. Its
H-o-i-s-t.
We erected the hoists on the side of the
building, which is like an elevator.
Q Was it in Newark?
A No. The company was from Newark.
We went to various places and where they
were putting up big buildings, we had to erect these
hoists, they can raise and lower equipment.
Q So is American Hoist actually an employer
that you worked for?
A Thats the name of the company. Yes.
Q Its not a place?
A No, no, no, no, no.
Q In other words, you worked for American
Hoist?
A Yes.
Q Do you remember where you would have
worked for American Hoist?
A I worked on quite a few places. Offhand, I
cant remember them.
Q How about American Can in Princeton, New
Jersey; do you remember that?
A We were building a warehouse there. Thats all
I can remember.
Q It was a new warehouse –
A Yes.
Q — from the ground up?
Do you remember exactly what you were
doing?
A Yes. I was in the raising gang, erecting the
steel.
Q Do you remember, did you use any
asbestos-containing products?
A No. Not there.
Q Do you believe you were exposed to any
asbestos when working at American Can?
A No. Not there. Because this is a new building.
We start from the ground up and then after awhile, you
know, they put the roof, the sides on and were out of
there.
MR. KRIEGER: Just answer the
question.
THE WITNESS: Im just trying to
explain.
Q American Construction in Iselin, do you
remember that?
A Not really.
Q Could that possibly be an employer as
opposed to a job site?
A Yes.
Q Are you certain of that?
A I cant really say.
Q How about American Standard in Piscataway,
do you remember working there?
A Yes, I do.
Q Do you remember what you did?
A Erection — erecting steel.
Q Is it new construction?
A Yes.
Q Do you believe you used any
asbestos-containing products?
A No. No, maam.
Q Do you think you may have been exposed to
asbestos at American Standard?
A No. I doubt it.
Q How about Anaconda Copper in Perth Amboy,
do you remember working there?
A Yes, I do. I worked there for Weber Engineering
and we were doing structural steel.
We were replacing a lot of steel in
various parts of the building.
Q So this was renovation?
A Yes.
Q Do you believe you used any
asbestos-containing products in this renovation work?
A I didnt use any.
Q Do you think you may have been exposed to
asbestos when you were at this?
A I might have when I was working in the
powerhouse. You know, theyre always doing work there.
Q What leads you to believe there was
asbestos in the powerhouse?
A Because they were covering the pipes.
Q How often were you at the powerhouse when
you were there?
A Well, I have to explain something to you. As an
ironworker, some days you work on the job one day, two
days, some days you work three months, maybe you might
work six months, maybe you might work a year; its very
hard to tell you exact length of time.
Q Do you have a memory for Anaconda Copper,
you might have been in the powerhouse?
A No. I very seldom went there. I mostly refused
that job.
Q What do you mean you refused the job?
A I refused to go on it. You send me on — they
said you are going to Anaconda, I say I dont want to
go on it.
I worked out of the union hall. That was
my prerogative, I take it.
Q Why didnt you want to go there?
A I didnt like it. My dad worked in there, he
died in there and it always brought back memories.
Q This was after your dad died?
A Yes.
Q Anheuser Busch in Newark, New Jersey; do
you remember being there?
A Yes.
Q Do you remember what you did?
A Yes. A structural — well, I did outer work or
structural steel or Ill say erecting structural steel.
Q Is this new construction?
A Yes, maam.
Q Do you believe you used any
asbestos-containing products?
A No, maam.
Q Do you think you may have been exposed to
asbestos?
A Not to my knowledge.
Q If you could just, I know the questions
are repetitive, if you could just wait until I finish
so she can get it and then answer.
A Im sorry.
Q I understand youre anticipating my
questions.
A Im sorry.
Q Do you recall working at Ashland Oil and
Chemical in Fords New Jersey?
A Yes.
Q Do you remember what you did there?
A Structural steel. Erection of structural steel.
Q Is it new construction?
A Yes, maam.
Q Do you believe you used any
asbestos-containing products?
A No, maam.
Q Do you believe you may have been exposed
to asbestos at Ashland?
A I might have.
Q What leads you to believe that?
A Thats why I said I might have. I dont know if
I was or I wasnt.
Q Is there anything that you remember about
Ashland that leads you to believe at Ashland you might
have been exposed to asbestos?
A I dont know how to answer that truthfully, to
be honest very honest with you.
I no one thing, it had a lot of chemical
fumes in there. Thats all I can tell you.
But as far asbestos, I dont know.
Q Do you recall working at the AT&T in
Bedminster?
A Yeah. For a short while. I reinforced rods.
So that was the beginning of the building.
So no exposure to asbestos.
MR. KRIEGER: Wait for the question.
A I guess you can see that Ive never done this
before.
Q Its okay.
How about Bakelite in Bound Brook, New
Jersey; do you remember working there?
A Yes, maam.
Q What did you do there?
A We worked there in the powerhouse and replacing
some of the structural steel and putting an addition on
to a building.
Q Now, what exactly were you doing?
A We were erecting the steel.
Excuse me, now most of my work was steel
erection.
Q Okay. Now, when you worked at Bakelite,
you said you were there for a short while?
A Yeah.
Q What would you mean by that?
A I would say maybe five days.
Q Do you think you used any
asbestos-containing products?
A I never used any.
Q Do you believe you may have been exposed
to asbestos when working at Bakelite?
A I dont know, to be honest with you.
Q Okay. Do you recall working at the
Ballantine brewery in Newark?
A Not really.
Q Do you recall working at Bambergers in
East Brunswick?
A Yes, maam.
Q Do you remember what you did there?
A Yes. Precast. That was concrete erection –
erection of concrete slabs.
Q So this was not steel, it was a concrete
job?
A Its reinforced concrete. Its made into big
slabs and we recollect it and put it in place.
Q Do you think you may have used
asbestos-containing products at Bambergers?
A No.
Q Do you believe you might have been exposed
to asbestos when you worked there?
A No.
Q Do you recall working at BASF in Cranbury?
A Yes, maam.
Q What did you do there?
A New steel erection.
Q When you say new steel, you mean new
construction?
A Brand new steel. Its a new building opened up.
Q Do you believe you used any
asbestos-containing products?
A No, maam.
Q Do you believe you might have been exposed
to asbestos –
A No.
Q — at BASF?
Bayshore Hospital, do you recall being
there?
A Yes. I recall being there. And it was the same
thing, steel erection.
Q Was this new construction?
A Yes, maam.
Q Do you think you used any asbestos
products?
A No, maam.
Q Do you think you might have been exposed
to asbestos when you worked at Bayshore?
A Not to my knowledge.
Q How about the Bayway Refinery?
A Thats another one with the new steel erection.
Q Was this an addition or was it actual new
construction?
A Well, it was sort of an addition and new
construction.
Q Do you think you used any asbestos
products at this site?
A No, maam.
Q Do you believe that you were exposed to
asbestos?
A Not to my knowledge.
Q How about Beecham Pharmaceuticals; do you
remember being there?
A Yes, I do.
Q What you did there?
A Same thing, new steel erection.
Q It was new construction?
A Yes, maam.
Q Do you think you used asbestos products?
A No, maam.
Q Do you believe you were exposed to
asbestos at Beecham?
A No.
Q Do you recall being at Bell Labs in
Holmdel?
A Yes, maam.
Q What you did do there?
A I worked on reinforced rods.
Q So tell me again, is that renovation work?
A No. Reinforce rods is the rods that you put
down and then they pour it with concrete to strengthen
the concrete.
Q This was new construction?
A Yes, maam.
Q Do you think you used any
asbestos-containing products?
A No, maam.
Q Do you think you were exposed to
asbestos –
A No.
Q — when working there?
How about Bell Telephone in Freehold, do
you remember that?
A Yes. That was new construction of steel also.
Q Do you think you used any
asbestos-containing products?
A No.
Q Do you believe you may have been exposed
to asbestos?
A No, maam.
Q How about Bell Telephone in Metuchen?
A No. That was new steel erection there also and
an addition.
Q Do you think you used asbestos there?
A No, maam.
Q Do you think you may have been exposed to
asbestos?
A No, maam.
Q How about Brennan Brothers in Avenel, New
Jersey; do you remember that job?
A Yes, I do.
Q What did you do there?
A Brennan Brothers I — excuse me, Brennan
Brothers was the name of the company. We done rigging.
Q So thats not a place?
A No, it isnt.
Q Theyre an employer?
A Yes, an employer.
Q Why dont we skip that.
Do you remember what job sites you were at
for Brennan Brothers?
A Quite a few of them. Offhand, no, I dont.
Q Im going to turn to the next page, I have
Bridgewater High School.
A Yes.
Q Do you remember that job?
A Yes.
Q What did you do there?
A Erection of new steel.
Q Do you think you used any asbestos
products?
A No, maam.
Q Do you think you may have been exposed to
asbestos when you worked there?
A No.
Q How about Bridgewater Raritan Municipal
Building?
A That was also new construction, erection of
steel.
Q Do you think you used any asbestos
products there?
A No.
Q Do you think you may have been exposed to
asbestos when you worked there?
A Not to my knowledge. No.
Q How about Brockway Glass in Freehold, do
you remember being there?
A Yes. We worked in various sections of the
building. We worked inside and we also erected new
steel on the outside.
Q So this was renovation?
A Yes.
Q Do you think you used any asbestos
products in your work at Brockway?
A No.
Q Do you believe you may have been exposed
to asbestos when working –
A Not to my knowledge.
Q How about Budweiser, Newark; do you
remember being there?
MR. KRIEGER: Thats Anheuser Busch
actually.
A Yeah. New steel erection. Same thing.
Q How about Carborundum in Keasbey; do you
remember being there?
A Yes. We worked inside the building erecting new
steel.
Q So it was renovation?
A Renovation.
Q Do you think you used any asbestos
products in your work there?
A No. I never used any.
Q Do you think you may have been exposed to
asbestos?
A Thats hard to say. I really dont know, to be
honest with you.
Q How about Chevron in Perth Amboy?
A That was new steel erection.
Q It was new construction?
A Yes.
Q Do you think you used any
asbestos-containing products?
A No.
Q Do you recall being at CIBA-GEIGY in Toms
River?
A Yes.
Q What did you do there?
A The same thing, steel. Erection of steel.
Q Was it new construction?
A Yes.
Q Do you think you used any asbestos
products there?
A No.
Q Do you believe you might have been exposed
to asbestos when you were there?
A Theres a possibility I might have been, but I
couldnt give you a truthful answer to it.
MR. KRIEGER: Can we take a short
break?
MS. FRIEDEL: Sure.
(Recess.)
Q Mr. Jankola, let me just ask you two
questions.
You said most of your work has been new
steel erection.
A A lot of it was new steel. But also at the same
time, you know, while we were erecting maybe certain
parts of the rigging they were also starting to spray
fireproof the steel.
If the wind was blowing in that direction,
I used to come home all white with that asbestos
insulation when they were spraying the dust and
everything.
Q But my question is: What you did was new
steel erection?
A Most of it.
Q And you recall being at these job sites
that are listed here?
A Yes.
Q You seem to have a good recollection of
where you were?
A Yes. Oh, when I see this, then I, you know.
Q Let me ask you a general question. Can
you look at these job sites and tell me, did you ever
use asbestos products when you were at any of them?
A The most was done in Chesebrough where I worked
with the men in maintenance, but I never used it as an
ironworker simply because this isnt in our trade. The
pipe coverers and the carpenters used that.
But theres times that we were exposed to
it when we were in the general area where theyre
working.
Q As you look at these job sites, can you
tell me which job sites you would have been exposed to
asbestos?
A I know all the the powerhouses that I worked in
and even when I worked with Brennan Brothers, we worked
in a lot of powerhouses moving machineries and so on
and so forth.
And theres a very good possibility that
we were exposed to asbestos dust because they were
always doing insulation around the boilers.
Q If you pick up where we left off with
CIBA-GEIGY, and go down from there to the end; which of
those jobs would have had a powerhouse?
Take your time.
A Okay. You want to start from CIBA?
Q Right. Why dont you tell me which ones
first and then well go back to them?
A Well, I want to start with that.
Q Which one is a powerhouse?
A Oh.
MR. KRIEGER: You mean which ones
where he worked had a powerhouse?
Q When you would have at some point been at
the powerhouse?
A Okay. Douglass College had a powerhouse.
Q Okay.
A DuPont, GAF in Bound Brook, Hercules in Parlin,
Johnson & Johnson in New Brunswick, Menlo Park School
in Edison, Merck Chemical in Linden, Peter J.
Schweitzer, Spotswood; Piscataway High School,
Piscataway; PSE&G, Sewaren, New Jersey; PSE&G, Port
Reading; thats the same place but I dont know why
they have Sewaren and Port Reading; Raritan Copper,
Senior Citizens Housing in Iselin; Squibbs in New
Brunswick, Tenneco Chemicals in Parlin, Union Carbide
in Keasbey, I believe Western Electric in Holmdel.
Thats about it, I believe.
Q Now, the powerhouses at these sites, do
you believe any of them — let me strike that. Let me
rephrase the question.
Any of the powerhouses at these sites, was
there any asbestos products being utilized that you
know of?
A Most of the time. Yes. They were either
covering with asbestos or the pipe covering, majority
of them when you are were working there.
Q You done — I didnt mean to interrupt
you.
A Yes.
Q When you say they, who are you referring
to?
A The people that had to do the pipe covering and
the pipefitters.
Q And what asbestos-containing products were
they using?
A They were using the pipe coverings and the paste
or whatever you call it, to cover, like, the joints,
like where the elbows are, a lot of time they use the
paste.
Q What leads you to believe that the pipe
covering was asbestos?
A It says it on the boxes and the bags that were
laying around the job site.
Q Do you recall the brand names of the pipe
covering that was used at the powerhouses?
A Not really, because like I said before, that
wasnt my line of work. But, I mean, Ive seen the bag
and the boxes and all, but I never really made a study
of it, you know, what company, what brand, what name.
Q You saw asbestos?
A Yeah.
Q Is there anything else that led you to
believe it was asbestos other than you saw it on boxes
and bags?
A I wont know otherwise unless I read about it.
Q Do you recall the name of any of the
cement or paste that was used at the powerhouses?
A Some of it was U.S. National Gypsum, I believe.
U.S. something.
Q You dont have a specific recollection of
U.S. Gypsum at any of these job sites, do you?
A Yes, I do. It was around quite a few times, but
like I say, I cant remember exactly, you know, how
many times that I did see it, but it was wherever they
were using it. I mean, that was the stuff that they
used.
Q Now, how often would you have occasion to
go to a powerhouse if you were on a job site?
A Well, thats very hard to say.
When I worked out of the hall, I never
know where Im going.
You know, I worked out of the union hall,
I never know what job Im going on until they give me a
slip. So its hard to say.
Q Let me rephrase the question. If you are
on a job site with a powerhouse, would your job duties
include working at the powerhouse or on the powerhouse?
A It all depends if you had steel erection or
moving of machinery or whatever. Yes.
Q How often would you work near the pipe
coverers that you recall?
A Thats a hard question to answer. It all
depends if were in the general area and theres this
piece of equipment has to be there, we have to work
there. You have to work in that area.
Q Would you be there every day?
A As long as the job took. It could be a week, it
could be two weeks, it could be even longer. It all
depends how big the equipment was, how much work we had
to do.
Q In what proximity would you work near the
pipe coverers?
A Well, thats very hard to say.
Q You would be five feet or more?
MR. GANDELMAN: Objection.
A Maybe 5, maybe 10. Its very hard to say.
Excuse me a minute, I have to take my
medication.
Q Okay. Now, Mr. Jankola, other than
working near pipe coverers, do you recall if you were
exposed to any other asbestos-containing products in
any other manner?
A Almost every school that I worked on they were
spraying this insulation on and I was — I believe I
was exposed to it there. Because all these — most of
the structural steel jobs had to have this fireproofing
on, especially schools. They had to fireproof the
buildings.
Q So the school jobs that you were on –
A School jobs and a lot of offices also where
there was structural steel on offices.
Almost all the jobs were — there was
structural steel involved had to be coated with this
asbestos –
Q Other than the schools –
A — to make it fireproof. Schools also,
including schools. Schools and offices.
Q Would you look at the job sites and tell
me if you recall which of those job sites spraying
would have been undertaken when you were there other
than the schools? You said that. If you recall any
others?
A Yeah. I can give you this Bambergers in East
Brunswick, Bell Labs in Holmdel, AT&T, Bedminster; you
got Bridgewater High School would be included in
schools. Okay. Bridgewater, Raritan Municipal
Building, and Colgate, Piscataway; Douglass College,
J.F.K. Hospital, Long Branch Nursing Home.
Well, I got the Menlo Park School.
MediCenter in Neptune, Merck Chemical, Linden;
Middlesex County College, Monmouth County Community
College, Ortho Pharmaceutical in Raritan, Peter J.
Schweitzer Paper Company, Philip — they got Philip
Care but its Philip Carey Corporation and Piscataway
High School, PSE&G in Sewaren, but the Port Reading and
Sewaren are the same, but I also worked at PSE&G in
South Amboy, which is also a powerhouse. Let me see.
Squibbs in New Brunswick, Tenneco in Fords, Union
Carbide in Keasbey, Woodbridge Shopping Center.
Q You have a specific recollection that
there was insulation being sprayed at these job sites?
A Yes.
Q Would you remember the name of any of the
insulation contractors?
A Contractors?
MR. KRIEGER: That were doing the
spraying?
MS. FRIEDEL: Right. That were
doing the spraying?
A I think one was called U.S. Gypsum Company, that
done there spraying also.
Q Do you remember –
A Im not positive of it because like I say –
MR. KRIEGER: Dont guess, though.
A — it wasnt my field.
Q And what leads you to believe that the
insulation they were spraying contained asbestos?
A Pardon?
Q I said what leads you to believe that the
insulation that they were spraying contains asbestos?
A Well, how I know is, this is fireproofing and
thats what they put on the steel columns to fireproof
it. Thats how they insulate it by spraying asbestos.
Q Did they tell you that?
A I know about that. They told you that thats
what theyre spraying. Its an asbestos to fireproof
the steel.
Q So the contractors themselves told you?
A The workers told me, but not the contractor.
I have nothing to do with the contractor.
I know a lot of my friends that done that, that type of
work.
Q And they told you it was asbestos?
A Yes.
Q Do you have a recollection of any of the
product names or brand names of the insulation that was
being used?
A I know, but offhand I can think of any. I cant
recollect offhand.
Q Could you tell me, would you do your work
and then they would come in and spray?
A Yes. Wed be erecting the steel and then they
would fireproof it because then they have to box it
around, they have other jobs to do but they have to
fireproof it before they can do anything else.
Q They would also come in after you?
A After me or while were erecting the steel.
Q So sometimes you were working at the same
time?
A Yes.
Q How close would you be to them when they
were working?
A Thats hard to say. If the building was plumbed
up, theyd be right on your tail.
Q Did they wear masks when they were doing
their work?
A Some of them did, some didnt.
Q Did you ever wear a mask when they were
doing this?
A No.
Q Did you ever wear a mask at all in your
employment?
A Not to my knowledge.
Q Other than pipe coverers and the spraying
of insulation, do you believe you were exposed to
asbestos in any other manner during your employment?
A Just as I stipulated before, when they were
doing the separation and I worked in the powerhouses.
Q But weve discussed the pipe coverers you
believe and the insulation being sprayed?
A Yes.
Q Any other manner that you can recall at
any other job site in which you may have been exposed
to an asbestos-containing product?
A I might have been exposed to asbestos on almost
every job that I went on but truthfully I didnt know
it.
You know, theres dust flying all over,
people doing all different operations of their job,
putting up the wall boards and everything like that.
You know, its very, very hard to specify, but I would
say almost job, theres a possibility I might have been
exposed to it.
Q Other than the pipe coverers –
A Right.
Q — and the insulation spraying, do you
remember specifically any other product that contained
asbestos?
A Not really.
Q Would you per chance remember the name of
any of the pipe coverer contractors that worked on any
of the job sites you were at?
A Schwalje done pipefitting and they probably
hired other contractors to do their insulation.
Q Do you remember what job sites Schwalje
was at?
A Well, I know one, it was Squibbs in New
Brunswick.
Q Any others?
A There are a lot others, but I dont recollect.
Q So you remember Schwalje but no others?
A Yeah. Theres a lot of others, like I say 26
years –
Q I can appreciate that.
A — its hard to remember.
Q Do you know who would have supplied pipe
covering or insulation to any of the job sites that you
were at?
A Yes. E&B Mills, Madsen & Howell. I seen their
trucks a lot because theyre local, from Perth Amboy.
Q Do you remember what jobs you would have
seen E&B Mills?
A A lot of jobs. Like I say, its so hard to say.
I cant recall what particular jobs, but they were
almost all the school jobs, anyway, delivering.
Q You would see their trucks?
A Oh, yes.
Q Did you ever assist in unloading the
truck?
A My friend used to drive the truck for them.
No. I didnt assist. That wasnt my job.
That was a laborers job.
Q How about Madsen & Howell, do you recall
any job sites that Madsen & Howell –
A A lot of the schools, they delivered it to.
Q Did you ever assist in unloading Madsen &
Howell?
A No, maam. Thats the laborers job.
We were all union workers and we all had
specific jobs.
Q Did you ever order supplies –
A No.
Q — on any of these jobs?
Were you ever a foreman?
A Yes.
Q What jobs were you a foreman?
A I worked on Exit 11 on the Turnpike, New Jersey.
Turnpike, we were moving Exit 11.
Q Actually, specifically would you refer to
the job sites on these three pages here?
Were you a foreman on any of those, that
you recall?
A In the Woodbridge Shopping Center.
Q You were a working foreman or supervising
foreman?
A No. I was a working foreman.
Senior Citizen Housing in Iselin.
Q Working foreman or supervisor?
A Working foreman.
As I said before, there was — might have
been a lot more, but not to my knowledge.
Its hard for me to recollect, so many
years back.
Q Now, did there come a time when you became
aware that asbestos could be hazardous to your health?
A I had heard of it. I heard of it, that it could
be hazardous to your health.
Q Do you remember when you first heard of
it?
A Yeah. After I had my chest X-ray and they told
me that I had — I cant pronounce that. I call it
asbestos mithalomia (phonetic), something like that.
And thats when they told me that I had that from.
Q Do you recall ever being at a union
meeting at which asbestos was discussed?
A No. They ever discussed it.
Q You referred to a chest X-ray. When was
that?
A I dont know. What year do you have down,
maam?
MR. KRIEGER: Shes talking about
the chest X-ray you just mentioned, when
you had mesothelioma.
A That was in May of 1994.
Q Is that the first time you had a chest
X-ray?
A No.
Q What other times before that did you have
a chest X-ray?
A When I had pneumonia, I had a chest X-ray.
Q Any other times?
A Not to my knowledge.
Q Lets go back to when you had pneumonia.
When was that?
A I believe it was 1989.
Q Were you admitted to the hospital?
A Yes.
Q Which hospital?
A Its called South Amboy Memorial Hospital. It
was, but they have a new name now.
Q Do you remember where you had the X-ray
done?
Was it at the hospital?
A Yes. At South Amboy Hospital.
Q Do you remember the name of the doctor
that treated you?
A Dr. McKenna.
Q Was he your doctor or was he just a doctor
at the hospital?
A No. He was my doctor.
Q And what did he tell you about your chest
X-ray at that time?
A Well, at that time I had pneumonia, so I had
fluid on my right lung which had to be removed.
Q Was it surgically removed?
A Yes.
Q Do you recall Dr. McKenna telling you
anything else at that time?
A No. They just treated me. After the removal of
the fluids, I was given antibiotics. And that was it.
Q And then you said your next X-ray was in
May of 94?
A Yes.
Q Im sorry, by the way; when did you
retire? Do you remember what year?
Did you work until 65?
A No. I worked to 62. I believe it was November
the 1st, 1989.
Q And why did you retire early?
A The job was very dangerous. I had all my hands
and fingers and legs and I said thats it, I quit. A
very dangerous job.
Q Was it more dangerous than it had been
or –
A Well, I hate to put it to you this way, I worked
with a lot of younger fellows there, they didnt care
one way or the other the way the steel went up, one way
or the other. I didnt want to be around.
When I worked with a good raising gang, I
didnt have to worry about anything happening. So
thats the only way I can put it.
Q So you receive Social Security benefits?
A Yes.
Q Do you also receive benefits –
A Yes.
Q Did you receive less Social Security
benefits as a result of retiring at age 62?
A Excuse me?
Q Did you receive less in Social Security
than you would have?
A Oh, yes.
Q How about the pension, did you receive
full pension benefits?
A Oh, yes. Because I had 25 years in. So I
received full.
Q Youre receiving full pension?
A Yes.
Q Do you have any other sources of income?
A No.
Q Now, your X-ray in May of 1994, was that
done at a hospital?
A Yes. Raritan Bay Medical Center, Perth Amboy.
Q And what caused that admission to the
hospital?
A I had a bladder infection.
Q And what happened?
A And I had a catheterization at Dr. Husseins
office in Perth Amboy and then they sent me to Raritan
Bay Medical Center.
Q Is Dr. Hussein your general –
A Hes a urologist.
Q How did you discover you had a bladder
infection?
A Very simple. I couldnt urinate.
Q Did you go to your general physician?
A I went to the urologist.
Q You went to Dr. Hussein?
A Hes my neurologist.
Q Had you seen him before?
A A few times. Yes. Like on a yearly basis.
Q And who required the chest X-ray?
A They did it at the hospital.
Q And where was?
A It was a general procedure when you go to the
hospital.
Q Is this during your preadmission testing?
Do you recall?
Let me –
A It might have been that. Might have been that.
Q Was the X-ray taken at the hospital?
A Yes, maam.
Q Do you remember who took the X-ray?
A No.
Q Who talked to you about the results of
this X-ray?
A My physician, Dr. Sinha.
Q How do you spell that?
A S-i-n-h-a. On Hobart Street in Perth Amboy.
Q What did Dr. Sinha tell you about your
X-ray?
A That I had — that word — messloma
(phonetic) — I cant pronounce it. Misoleoma
(phonetic.) Something like that.
Q What else did he tell you?
A That Im going to have to be operated on. I had
cancerous tumor on my pleural sac.
Q Did Dr. Sinha tell you this before or
after the catheterization that Dr. Hussein –
A After the catheterization, thats when I was
admitted to the hospital.
Q And he told you an operation would be
necessary?
A It would be. Yes.
Q And did you have that operation?
A Yes, I did.
Q When was that?
A That was in — I was admitted May the 20th of
last year at the Sloan Kettering Cancer Research
Hospital. May the 21st at 10:30, I was operated on at
the Sloan Kettering Hospital by Dr. Bain, B-a-i-n. I
was there 11 days.
Q Did Dr. Sinha refer you to Dr. Bain?
A Yes.
Q Did you have any discussions with
Dr. Bain after this surgery?
A I had — I cant think of the word now — my
consultation before I went, before I went for the
operation and he told me that I have to be operated on
otherwise the cancer would go through my whole body.
And at first they thought that they might
have to remove the lung, but then they checked the
X-rays over, they didnt have to.
I lost 40 percent of my right lung.
Q Did you have a consultation with Dr. Bain
afterwards?
A Oh, yes. I saw Dr. Bain afterwards. He came to
visit me at the bedside. Yes. Asked how Im doing, so
on and so forth.
Q What did he tell you about the operation
after it was completed, Dr. Bain, that is?
A Well, Dr. Bain put it to me this way, he says if
I wasnt an ironworker and a strong athlete, that I
would have never survived it.
I was on the operating table five hours
and I lost six pints of blood.
Q Do you want to take a break?
MR. KRIEGER: Do you want to take a
break for lunch?
THE WITNESS: Yes. I hate to be
reminded of it.
MS. FRIEDEL: Its okay.
(Luncheon recess taken.)
A F T E R N O O N S E S S I O N
Q Mr. Jankola, were going to continue and
you are still under oath and the same instructions that
I gave you this morning apply.
I appreciate you have difficulty
discussing this recent surgery, but if you can
appreciate –
A No. Thats okay.
Q — I do have to make some inquiries about
it.
A Thats all right. Ill be okay.
Q Well try to make them as brief as
possible.
A Thats all right.
Q When we had a break for lunch you were
saying that you did have a consultation with the
surgeon, Dr. Bain, afterwards.
Can we just start again. Tell me some of
the things he told you after the surgery?
A Well, he told me theres a lot of things that I
wont be able to do, like such as participate in sports
and so on and so forth, which Im very interested in.
If I may? If you dont want me to, I
wont, but its up to you. Im the United States
national senior Olympian and I wone 238 medals in five
years. I never started until I was age 64. Im 70
years old now. I won five gold medals. Im in track
and field. Mostly field, United States national.
MR. KRIEGER: Do you want to mark
them?
MS. FRIEDEL: I wasnt going to have
them marked.
MR. KRIEGER: Yes. Mark them.
Q I dont mean to interrupt you. Your
counsel would like us to have the court reporter mark
them. Just hold that thought.
(Photographs are marked as
P-1 and P-2 for Identification.)
MS. FRIEDEL: For the record, the
court reporter has marked P-1.
Q Would you identify that?
A Yes.
MR. KRIEGER: You have to tell her
what it is.
A Oh. I won these medals down in Puerto Rico. I
won five gold in –
Q Actually, well get to that. Just tell me
what that is actually for the record so we have an
indication.
A These are medals that I won in Puerto Rico in
field. I won five gold medals.
Q What is that a picture of?
MR. KRIEGER: Its a picture of me.
A Its a picture of me.
Q Very simple question. Theres no trick.
A Right. I thought — okay. I misunderstand,
where was it taken or so on.
Q And could you identify the photo thats
been marked P-2 for the record?
A This photo was down in my den. I have 238
medals. Im New Jersey Masters Champion eight times,
Eastern Masters Champion 77 times. I have four All
American Awards. One with a 25 weight trophy, three
with the 56 and I also have seven presidential sports
awards and I hold four records in my age group in Red
Bank Masters swim group.
If anybody cares to look at them? If not,
Ill just leave them right there.
Q Now, Im not familiar with this. You said
you are a member of the Senior Olympians?
A Yes. National Senior because its the whole
United States.
Q Tell me about that organization?
A Every two years — every two years they have the
Senior Olympians. It consists of track and field
events. Track is running, and field events consist of
shot put, discus, javelin, hammer and weight throw.
THE REPORTER: Excuse me?
THE WITNESS: Its a ball with a
wire on it, a four foot wire and handle
and you swing it around and throw it as
far as you can.
A The weight throw is a ball with a triangle
handle and you pick that up, you spin it around and you
throw it as far as you can.
Q And when did you become a member of the
Senior Olympians?
A When I was 64 years old.
Q Did you participate –
A I was at Kean College.
Q — did you participate in track and field
type competitions prior to this?
A No, maam. I started at 64 years old.
Q How about as a youth?
A No.
Q And what made you decide to do this?
A Well, I was retiring and I said what am I going
to do, I have to find something to do? So I read the
article in the paper about the Senior Olympians, so I
tried it.
So I didnt even know how to throw a
discus or a shot put, so I asked this gentleman, Frank
DJessee (phonetic), I said, Frank, how do you throw
this? He showed me. The first time I threw the
discus, I threw it 75.9 and a half inches. He beat me
about eight feet. I went to the masters in Monmouth
College, I threw it 175 feet 5 inches. He packed it
in. He never went to anymore meets after that. I was
too tough for him.
Im not saying this to brag, but its a
true statement.
Q Had you done any other type of sports
prior to this involvement?
A Well, I was a swimmer and all that. I was a
weight lifter, body builder when I was in the Marines.
I had a 48-inch chest and a 29 and a half inch waist.
I used to body build on the carrier.
Q After your discharge from the Marines, did
you continue body building?
A Yes. I was a member of the Keasbey weight
lifting team. Keasbey Eagles.
Q Keasbey Eagles was a weight lifting team?
A Yes.
Q What years did you participate in that?
A I guess 1948. Somewhere around there.
Q To when?
A Its hard to say because the highway went
through and I dont know what year the highway went
through. Then they destroyed our building. So Id say
five, six years approximately.
Q So the 50s, you would have stopped
participating with the Keasbey Club?
A Yeah, or so. Somewhere around there.
Q Did you join another weight lifting club
after that?
A I joined Golds Gym and Metro Sport.
Q Do you remember when you joined Golds Gym?
A About four years ago.
Q Is there anything between Keasbey and
Golds Gym that you recall?
A I used to do a lot of weight lifting at home,
working out at home.
Q Just at home?
A Always the home. I have to get rid of them. I
sold my two bikes because I cant use them anymore.
Q You also said you were a swimmer in the
Marines?
A Yes.
Q Did you ever do swimming after your
discharge with the Marines?
A Yes. I was a swimmer with the Red Bank Masters
swim team.
Q Do you remember when that was?
A Four years ago or so.
Q How about before then?
A No.
Q Any other times?
A I was a lifeguard in Perth Amboy a couple years,
but that goes way back. I dont recall what years.
Q Did you use to swim on a regular basis?
A Yes. Thursday and Saturdays we had our practice
sessions for two hours.
Q How about before joining the Red Bank
team, did you swim regularly?
A Not really.
Q Other than swimming and body building, did
you do any other sports before joining the Senior
Olympians at any time?
A No.
Q So you participated in the track and field
events?
A Field events, not track. I never done track.
Field events. Like I say, the javelin,
hammer weight, shot put and discus.
Q On a given week, how much time would you
devote to your participation in these Olympian events?
A I would like to, if it was possible, every
second day or so, I would like to train sometimes for
an hour or two.
Q Where would you train?
A Well, I would like to go — I was able to go to
Sayreville High School for awhile until some kids
vandalized the school, the equipment and all, and I had
to go to Middlesex College. I think its college.
Thomas Park.
Q So you trained approximately every other
day?
A Well, depended on weather also. If it was real
cold, naturally I couldnt do that. I was afraid of
getting pneumonia again.
If I get pneumonia again, Im finished.
Q How often on an annual basis would there
be competition?
A Oh, theres a lot of competition during this
thing.
I used to go at least 8 or 9 meets, maybe
sometimes 10 during the course of the year.
Q Did you go –
A And I traveled to Philadelphia with the Senior
Olympics in Providence Rhode Island, Senior Olympics in
Bridgeport, Connecticut, Senior Olympics in Columbus,
Ohio and Masters meet in Columbus, Ohio, and National
Senior Olympics in St. Louis, Missouri and three times
down in Puerto Rico on an annual Masters meet.
By the way my wife and I got stuck there
during Hurricane Hugo. You talk about a mess, 140
miles an hour wind. This is nothing. They had 40, we
had 140. It blew the roof off the auditorium. The
chandeliers came tumbling down. We lived on water and
sandwiches for three days. Couldnt even go back in
your room. There was that much water on the floor.
You couldnt go back in your room.
Q Not a fun trip.
A No. It wasnt.
I won two gold medals on the Saturday.
Sunday, they had to cancel it out because of terrific
high winds that we had. They wouldnt let us
participate. I didnt care either.
But I might have thrown the discus about
200 feet that day with a nice back wind. I would throw
it up high and let the wind take it. I might have
broken the worlds record.
Q Well, thank you for telling me about that.
Before we got a little sidetracked there,
you were telling me that Dr. Bain advised you not to
participate?
A Dr. Sinha advised me not to participate simply
because I must have a lot of stitches and everything in
there and he doesnt want me to hurt myself. So thats
the safety precaution.
Even though Im dying to do it, but I have
to wait until I get orders from him to be able to do it
again.
Q So since 1994, you have not participated
in any of these events?
A No.
Q Are you training at all?
A No. I cant. Im very short winded and Im not
as strong as I used to be. So Im sort of handicapped,
you know.
Q Have you discussed with Dr. Sinha or
Dr. Bain, is there a possibility –
A Dr. Bain is New York. No.
After my operation there isnt too much I
have to do with him. Hes a surgeon and this is my
local physician, Sinha. I go to him almost every three
months. And Im due for a chest X-ray and also for a
CAT Scan. They just want to make sure everything is
okay, you know.
Q Did Dr. Bain, did he give you a
consultation after the surgery and discuss the surgery,
its results or anything like that? Do you recall?
A He did tell me a little bit. But truthfully, I
was on morphine, I was like a drug addict. Whatever he
told me, I dont even remember it because I was out of
it for, like, about three days.
But he was nice enough to come and visit
me and I was very fortunate, to be honest with you, I
heard he was the third best surgeon in Sloan Kettering
Hospital, so I was very lucky to have him operate on
me.
Q So after the surgery, you never had an
office consultation with him?
A No. Not an office consultation.
Q Did you discuss with Dr. Sinha the results
of your surgery?
A He knows all about it.
Q What did he tell you?
A He got the reports from Dr. Bain. He told me
what Dr. Bain says, that I shouldnt participate in
sports.
Q What else did Dr. Sinha tell you after the
surgery?
A The soreness of my ribs. See I have a problem,
my rib cage is still very sore. They removed my sixth
rib to get at my pleural sac, to get at the cancerous
tumors, and they removed the back part of my sixth rib
to get at it. I have a lot of discomfort. I wouldnt
wish what I went through on a dog.
Q Do you still treat with Dr. Sinha?
A Yes. Im under medications. Im glad you
brought that up. These are the medications I have to
take probably for the rest of my life.
Q Im going to read these into the record.
A Sure.
Q Pain, Percocet four times a day. Relax,
Xanax –
A Yes.
Q — three times a day. Heart, Lanoxin,
once a day.
A Yes.
Q Sleep, Halcion at bed time?
A Yes.
Q Did you prepare this list during the lunch
break?
A No. My wife made it up.
Q Did Dr. Sinha prescribe Percocet for you?
A Yes.
Q Did he prescribe the Xanax?
A Yes. Everything on that paper.
Q Now, youve been taking the Percocet since
the operation?
A Every day I have to take these.
Q Do you take it when you feel pain or do
you take –
A No. I have a schedule. I take it at 7:30 in
the morning, 12:30, 5:30 and at bed time. I think she
has it here. No, she didnt put it the way I wanted
her to, but thats okay. Thats close enough.
Q And youve been taking it since May of
94, since the operation?
A Yes. Since my operation. Yes.
Q Did Dr. Sinha say he wants you to continue
it?
A Oh, yes. Yes.
By the way, also I had 25 radiation
treatments after my operation at the J.F.K. Hospital.
I also had a filter put in my body. Thats to prevent
blood clots because I had in my thigh, I had a red
line. I asked my wife what the heck is that because
she works in the hospital. She says you got
thrombosis, which is another word, I guess, for blood
clot. So after I had my one radiation treatment, they
operated on me for an hour and a half and put a filter.
The filter is made out of titanic material so it
doesnt rust or anything and that prevents further
blood clots.
Q I dont mean to interrupt you. I just
wanted you to slow down so we can go through your
medicines.
A Yes.
Q You werent taking Percocet before the
surgery, right?
A Oh, no. No, no, no, no.
Q Now, were you taking the heart medicines?
A No.
Q Were you taking the relaxant?
A Nothing.
Q And also?
A None of these on the paper.
Q Were you on any medications before –
A No.
Q — before the surgery of 1994?
A Just like anybody else, Advils, Tylenol or
whatever.
Q You were not on any prescription?
A No. No. No prescriptions drugs.
Only when I had pneumonia, I had to take
antibiotics. And after my — I had a prostate
operation in 1986. I was on antibiotics for seven days
or so. Other than that, I was all right.
Q Now, the relaxant medicine, do you take
that in response to something or is that also on the
schedule?
A No. Thats on the schedule. Thats orders from
the doctor, Dr. Sinha.
Q And the sleep medicine, do you take that
when you need it or is that –
A No. Thats a daily thing. He says if I dont
need it, I dont have to take it. But I tied it one
night, so I couldnt sleep, so I said back to the
sleeping pill.
Q Now, backing up, too. You said you also
received radiation treatments after your surgery?
A 25 radiation treatments, five times a week for
five weeks.
They wanted me to go to Sloan Kettering.
I couldnt handle it because its a four hour trip, two
hours there and two hours back, so my doctor wasnt for
that. And I couldnt handle it. I would have been
dead by now. Its hot and when its hot and humid, I
couldnt breathe.
Q This is the summer of 94?
A Yeah. That would be July and August.
Q So they arranged for it to be done in
J.F.K.?
A Yes. And my doctor says if they can do it, our
people over at J.F.K. can do the same thing.
So it was easier for me. It only took me
20 minutes to get there. So I was very happy for that
instead of spending four hours traveling back and
forth, which I may not have made it.
Q Now, since the surgery, is there anything
else youve been doing other than the medicine and the
radiation?
A Well, I go to my physician every three times –
I mean, every third month or so.
Q Dr. Sinha?
A Yes.
Q Youve seen Dr. Sinha every three months?
A Yes.
Q What does he do at those visits?
A Well, he checks my blood pressure, he checks my
heart, he checks the sound of my lungs.
The 18th of this month Im due for a chest
X-ray and then some time during the week, which is on
the Monday, during the week hes going to try to make
arrangements for a CAT Scan and its just a safety
precaution to make sure that everything is, you know,
everything is going okay.
Q Have you had a chest X-ray every three
months?
A No, no, no. Not every three months. I dont
know how he works that. I had enough radiation. You
cant keep going for X-rays.
Q Do you know how many you had since 1994?
A No.
Q At least one, though?
A More than one. At least two or three maybe.
Q What else does Dr. Sinha do at these –
A Just a general checkup.
Like I said, blood pressure and checks to
see how — I have a very big scar here, to see if its
healing very well. I have no problem there.
And he checks me out with the stethoscope
to see if my lungs are clear and he checks my weight
and my blood pressure. Thats it.
Q Did Dr. Sinha advise you whether he
believes all of the cancer was removed in the surgery?
A It wasnt up for Sinha. Dr. Bain told my wife
and I that theyre positive that they got all the
cancerous tumors and Im hoping and praying that they
did. I wouldnt want to go through that again.
Q Who actually advised you to go for the
radiation treatments?
Was that Bain or Dr. Sinha?
A Dr. Bain in Sloan Kettering recommended that.
Yes.
But like I say, I was a little annoyed
with them wanting me to go to Sloan Kettering Hospital,
which was a four hour ordeal. Two hours there and two
hours coming back. And I didnt think I could handle
it.
And my doctor frowned upon it because that
was asking too much of a person after surgery like I
had.
Q Would you tell me, Mr. Jankola, what type
of complaints you would have currently?
How do you feel every today?
A Shortness of breath, weakness at times, hard
time breathing. At times I also have oxygen at home if
its too hot and humid, I have to take the oxygen. I
have two small tanks of oxygen. And I cant do any
work around the house, like cut the grass or nothing.
The doctor doesnt want me to do that. He said its a
little too strenuous for me.
I got a good wife, she cuts the grass.
Q Did you cut the grass prior to your
surgery?
A Oh, yes. I done all of that. Yes.
Q When you –
A Landscaping.
Q When you say landscaping, what do you
mean?
A Taking care of the grass, the shrubs and so on
and so forth. You know, the fertilizer and all. I had
to do paint the grass — to paint the grass green.
Q Are there any other tasks or chores that
you used to do around the house that you cannot do now
as a result of this surgery?
A Well, these are the chores that I had to do,
its like cut the grass and maintain the property.
Thats all.
Q Did you shovel the snow before the
surgery?
A Oh, yes. I did. But I cant do it now.
I was so surprised the last snow fall we
had last year, I looked out the window, eight people
were shoveling snow for me, my neighbors.
Q Are there any household chores that you
used to do that you cant do now or does your wife
usually take care of the house?
A Thats her job. Mine was outside.
No. I help her. I wash the dishes. You
know, like a good guy.
After having a good meal, you know, I give
her a little help.
Q Have you hired anyone to do outside work?
A I did hire a man to cut my grass but he cut it
like this here and I says adios amigos.
My wife said Ill cut the grass, and he
charged me $20. It takes him 15 minutes to do it. She
says, Ill cut the grass. So I taught her how to do
it.
Q Now, were you are currently living in
South Amboy, is that a single-family house?
A Yes, maam.
Q How long have you lived there?
A I think since 1980.
Q Thats what your Answers to
Interrogatories say.
Have you done any renovation work or
additions to your house in South Amboy?
A No. My den — shows the picture there. Hes a
carpenter. He done it for me.
Q You havent done any work to the house
yourself?
A No.
Q Any other prior homes that you lived in,
did you do any work?
A All our homes I lived in with my parents were
rented homes. We didnt have to — well, they might
have painted their bedrooms and so on and kitchen and
stuff like that, but other than that, we didnt do any
repairs. It wasnt our responsibility.
Q Did you ever install a boiler or water
heater in any of your homes?
A No. I just had one installed by my friends the
plumbers.
Q Just bear with me a second.
Other than Dr. Bain and Dr. Sinha, have
you seen any other doctors?
A Dr. McKenna, when I had pneumonia.
Q That was back in 1989, right?
A Yes. Somewhere abouts there.
Q Any other doctors other than those three?
A Well, my urologist, Dr. Hussein. Thats all.
Q Anyone else?
A No.
Q Have you ever smoked, Mr. Jankola?
A Yes. I did smoke in 1946 for one year and I
woke up one morning coughing and spitting up phlegm and
I got my Pall Malls and I ripped them up and threw them
in the garbage and I quit cold turkey. I smoked for
one year and that was it.
Q So it wasnt a doctor that advised you, it
was your –
A No. It was myself. My own.
Q Your own common sense?
A Thats right. Common sense and good judgment.
Because Dr. Bain asked me the same thing, were you a
heavy smoker? Well, I told him I only smoked one year.
He said how many packs a day? One pack a day. So he
was trying to attribute it to smoking — from smoking.
I says, I doubt that very much.
Q Does Lillian smoke?
A No. She did.
Q Did she ever?
A Yes.
Q What years did she smoke?
A I have no idea. I couldnt answer that.
Q Not since you were married?
A Oh, no, no. Since were married, neither of us
smoke.
Q Did Dr. Bain ever offer you an explanation
as to why he believes you contracted cancer?
A Yes. It was from, I call it asbestosis. I
cant pronounce that name. Mesolemia (phonetic),
mesotolemia (phonetic), whatever it is, which is the
same thing I guess.
Q Dr. Bain told you it was from asbestos?
A Yes.
Q Do you remember exactly what he told you?
A Exactly. He said that it was from asbestosis –
asbestos.
Q Did you discus with Dr. Sinha what might
have caused your cancer and did he offer you any
explanation?
A No. Most of my dealings with this situation I
had was with Dr. Bain and then after Dr. Bain, then I
was referred to Dr. Sinha to take over because simply I
wasnt going to go to New York to see Dr. Bain every
time, you know, so Dr. Sinha is right across the river
from me in Perth Amboy, so I go to him. But they talk
to one — you know, to one another once in awhile to
see how Im progressing, which is very nice of
Dr. Bain.
Q Did your union ever advise you to take a
physical?
A No. They didnt care, really.
You had a job to do and you did it and
that was it.
Q Did they ever offer you a physical?
A No.
Q Just bear with me a second. Thats all
the questions I have of you, Mr. Jankola. Some of my
colleagues may also want to ask some guess.
MR. KRIEGER: Lets take a short
break. I want to talk to Al a second.
MS. FRIEDEL: Okay.
(Recess.)
CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MR. PEOPLES
Q Mr. Jankola, my name is Brian Peoples.
Im with law firm of Leary, Bride, Tinker & Moran and I
represent one of the defendants in this matter.
You testified earlier about a contractor
and you called Schwalje. Do you remember that?
A Yes.
Q Is that the full name of the contractor?
A Well, I think theres a couple of initials,
E.J. Schwalje or something like that.
Q You specifically recall this contractor at
Squibb in New Brunswick. Is that right?
A That was the company that I worked for,
Squibbs, Squibbs Company. Pharmaceutical company
right here in New Brunswick.
Q When were you at Squibb?
A I dont really exactly the year or the date.
Q Would it have been — can you give me a
decade? Were you there in the 60s or 70s or 80s?
A Its all right if I refer to this sheet?
Q You are referring to a sheet of a list of
job sites?
A Yes.
Q Is that right? As you prepared for
Answers to Interrogatories?
A It was in the — between 73 and 76. In New
Brunswick. 73 and 76.
Q Does that refresh your recollection
then –
A Yes.
Q — of you being there between 73 and 76?
A Yes.
Q Do you recall who your employer was when
you were there at Squibb?
A It was steel erection but exactly, no.
I dont know who the steel erector was at
that time.
Q Do you recall what you were doing at
Squibb?
A Yes. I was in the raising gang, helping to
erect the steel.
Q Was that a one-shot deal between 73 and
76 or were you there on multiple occasions?
A Theres times that we have to go back and forth.
Sometimes the steel dont come in and we have to
discontinue the job until the steel comes in and when
the steel comes in –
MR. KRIEGER: Hes just talking
about Squibb.
A Yeah. Squibbs. Yes.
MR. KRIEGER: Okay. Im sorry.
A Then we might have to come back and finish the
job up.
Q Do you recall how long that job lasted?
A Not really.
Q Would this have been more than a couple of
weeks?
A Id say approximately two weeks.
Q Do you recall what Schwalje, the
contractor that you told us about earlier was doing at
this site?
A Well, they do a lot of work in the boiler rooms.
Theyre a pipefitting company.
Q Theyre a pipefitting company?
A Yes.
Q How were you aware of that?
A My buddy was the foreman there and the
superintendent.
Q And whats his name? Do you remember?
A Yeah. Jim Gerblanski (phonetic.)
Q Is he still alive?
A Yeah. His father died, but Jim is still alive.
Q Do you know where he lives now?
A He lives in Sayreville some place.
Q Do you recall this buddy of yours being
there at the time you were there in Squibb?
A I cant. Im sorry, I cant answer that
particular question, if he was there or if he wasnt.
Q The boiler room work that you described
was Schwalje, do you know what Schwalje was doing in
the boiler room?
A Installing pipe.
Q And how do you know that Schwalje was
there?
A Their trucks were there.
Q Do you remember what they looked like?
A Yeah. Theyre red trucks. It says — I dont
know — R.J., E.J., I dont know, Schwalje. They have
their names right on the side of the door.
Q And the red trucks –
A Yes.
Q — can you describe them? Were they
pickup trucks, flat beds?
A No. Theyre not flat beds.
There a truck that has a lot of
compartments on it, with all the different tools in it.
A utility truck, I would more or less qualify that.
Q Do you know whether Schwalje, this
company, did any insulating work there?
A They hired insulators to do their pipe covering.
Its a special union that does mostly pipe
covering there.
Q And this contractor you are talking about,
Schwalje, they didnt do insulating as far as you know.
Is that right?
A As I just said, they hired people to do their
insulation of the pipe. They might do it also, but I
was under the impression that they have pipe coverers,
thats a special union, that do that particular type of
work.
Q Do you recall this particular contractor
being at any of the other sites that are listed in your
Answers to Interrogatories while you were present at
the site?
A Other contractors?
Q No. Im sorry. Schwalje, this particular
contractor; do you recall this contractor being present
at any of the other sites listed in your Answers to
Interrogatories while you were there?
A Oh, yes. There were a lot of times. They
worked all over. Its a big company.
Q Do you know where they worked out of?
A Let me see. I think its Metuchen. Dont quote
me on that, Im not sure.
Q Can you estimate how many times they would
have been present at a site while you were there?
A Not really.
Q Would it be more than five times?
A I would say so, but like I say, there are so
many different things going on on the job site that you
cant, you know, look at this one, look at that one,
look at this one; its hard to say, especially when
youre on the raising gang to setting steel, we have a
lot of important jobs to do.
MR. KRIEGER: If you cant estimate,
thats okay. Hes just asking if you can
estimate.
THE WITNESS: Say five. Im
estimating.
Q And those five times — I understand
youre estimating — that you would have been at this
sites while Schwalje was there, is that because you
recognize their trucks there also? Is that how you
identified them?
A I know a lot of gentlemen that worked as
pipefitters also and I know they worked for Schwalje.
Q Who are those people? Can you name them?
A A lot of them are retired now. Its been a long
time. One, you know, stands out is Jim Gerblanski.
Q Thats all I have. Thank you.
A Youre welcome.
CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MR. DeGIULIO:
Q My name is Paul DeGiulio, sir. I
represent –
A How do you, sir?
Q — I represent the defendant in this
action.
From the way youve been describing what
you were doing throughout your career, erecting steel
and working on installing the beams that reinforce the
concrete; is it true that most of the time you were
working outside?
A Yes. Most of the time was outside but a lot of
the times we were inside also in schools renovating.
Q And when you were in the schools, I
believe you testified that there would be spray
fireproofing going on?
A There would be spraying. It would be carpenters
putting up the sheetrock and a lot of things, a lot of
spraying going on.
Q Anything else? Any other contractors?
A Oh, yes. All kinds electricians. You have
pipefitters, you have carpenters. All the trades are
all in the same building. They have a time schedule.
One guy is on and another guy is back and they keep
moving.
Q Would you ever be in the same room where
someone was hanging sheetrock?
A Oh, yes. Many times.
Q How about finishing the wallboard?
A The what, sir?
Q After they installed the sheetrock, would
you be in the room while another work group or union
would be finishing the wallboard?
A Sometimes well be working on what they call a
curtain wall, putting the windows in while theyre in
there and even after theyre there.
Q While whos there?
A The carpenters or –.
Q What would they be doing, hanging the
sheetrock?
A Hanging the sheetrock.
Q Can you let me finish my question? It
will be easier so that the record will be clear. Im
sorry, I dont mean to interrupt.
A Sorry.
Q You may be installing a window or aluminum
window, correct –
A Yes.
Q — while someone was hanging sheetrock?
Would you be there while someone was
finishing the sheetrock after it was hung?
MR. KRIEGER: What do you mean by
finishing?
A Putting the tape down and what do they call it,
spackling?
Q Yes.
A Yes. Theres a lot of times we were both
working at the same time. Im working on this side and
they were spackling.
Q Do you have any recollection of any
specific job sites, and you can take a minute and look
at the list?
A Most of the schools that Ive worked on.
Q Can you tell me which ones?
For example, on the second page, it says
Bridgewater High School –
A Yes.
Q — 1963 to 1966; do you have any
recollection of working while in the same room as
spacklers at that time?
A Yes.
Q Do you have any idea what union they were
affiliated with or subcontractor the spacklers?
A Not really, sir.
Q Do you have any idea what product they
were using?
A Well, they were doing spackling but I dont
know, you know, what kind of brand they were using.
Q Were they sanding the spackle?
A They were doing everything to finish it because
theyre waiting for the painters to come in, so they
have to do job, so the painters can come in.
Q What percentage of the time out of your
career, how often were you working in schools as
opposed to steel erecting or what you testified to?
A Quite a few times.
Q 10 percent? 15 percent?
A Id say maybe 25 percent.
Q And during that time, you would be
installing windows?
A Well, installing windows or putting extra steel
in or working on bar joists and so on and so forth.
Q Whats the bar joists?
A Its hard to explain. Its a metal beam that
goes from this side to this side and they put bridging
in between to support it and that would support the
floor.
Q That would be in a classroom?
A Pardon me?
Q That would be in a classroom?
A That would be in a classroom.
Whether it be working on the walls, they
put the decking down and they start working on the
ceiling.
Q Youd all be in the room at the same time?
A At times, yes, but not all the time.
Q Out of 25 percent of your time you spent
working when you were in school inside, what percentage
of that time was there anybody else working in the
room?
A Its hard to say really. If you want to put an
approximate, put 15 percent.
Q Thats all I mean. As long as its clear
that you are approximating. Im not asking you to
guess.
Do you ever hear of a company called
Georgia Pacific Corporation?
A Yes.
Q What do you associate that name with?
A With insulation. And I think its that
wallboard or whatever they call that.
Q Anything else?
A I dont know if they make that spackling or
whatever they call it.
Q Do you ever recall seeing the words
Georgia Pacific at any of your job sites on a packaging
or a product?
A Yes. I remember seeing it, sir, but I cant
remember exactly where I saw it. I mean –.
Q Did you see it before 1975?
A Yes. I believe so. Its a hard question to
answer.
Q After 1960?
A I cant answer that, to be honest with you, sir.
Its going too far back.
Q Thats all I have.
A Thank you.
Q Thank you.
CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MR. DeMARCO:
Q Good afternoon, sir. How are you?
A Fine. Thank you.
Q My name is Joseph DeMarco. I represent
one of the parties in this action.
Are you familiar with the name Keasbey?
A Yes.
Q What do you associate that name with?
A Well, truthfully Keasbey is a little town right
across the river from me.
Q Anything else?
A Just another name to it also.
Q Well, without looking at anything; do you
recall the name Robert A. Keasbey?
A I do recall it but I cant give you anything out
of it because Ill have to look at it.
Q Im just asking for your recollection.
A I cant recall offhand.
Q Okay.
A Because theres so many different contractors
and jobs that I worked on, its hard to remember.
Q Thats perfectly understandable.
A Okay.
Q I just want to know if you have some
recollection of the name.
A Yes.
Q Do you know what they did or what they
were; what type of company they were or what they were
involved in?
A They might have been insulators. Im not
positive about it, because there were so many.
MR. KRIEGER: Okay.
Q Thats fine. Do you recall ever seeing
them at a job site where you worked?
A Not necessarily. I dont recall. Ill put it
to you that way, I dont recall.
Q Do you know, do you associate Robert
A. Keasbey with any products or any services?
A Not really. Not to my knowledge.
Q Do you know the first time, either a year
or decade when you heard the name Robert A. Keasbey?
A Not to my knowledge.
MR. DeMARCO: I have nothing further.
MR. KRIEGER: Lets break now. Its
5 to 3. Ill try to let everybody
know by Friday a new date. Im going to
try to make it within a week or two.
(The deposition is adjourned at
2:55 p.m.)

C E R T I F I C A T E

I, SANDRA A. PRASNAL, Notary Public and
Certified Shorthand Reporter, do hereby certify that
prior to the commencement of the examination

ALFRED J. JANKOLA

was duly sworn by me to testify the truth, the whole
truth, and nothing but the truth.
I DO FURTHER CERTIFY that the foregoing is
a true and accurate transcript of the testimony as
taken stenographically by and before me at the time,
place, and on the date hereinbefore set forth.
I DO FURTHER CERTIFY that I am neither a
relative of nor employee nor attorney nor counsel for
any of the parties to this action; and that I am
neither a relative nor employee of such attorney or
counsel; and that I am not financially interested in
the action.

________________________________________
Notary Public of the State of New Jersey