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United States Gypsum Co. v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore9/12/1994
pra, 283 Md. at 399, 392 A.2d at 377, it becomes clear that dust sampling through the processes employed here has achieved general acceptance in the scientific community. Such evidence has been accepted by numerous courts called upon to consider asbestos property damage claims. See, e.g., Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ v. U.S. Gypsum, 882 F.2d 335, 336-337, 339 (8th Cir. 1989); City of Greenville v. W.R. Grace & Co., supra, 827 F.2d at 980.age 183} Furthermore, a 1989 protocol issued by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) supports the use of Mr. Hatfield's microvacuum device to evaluate projects for cleaning and contamination of asbestos-containing materials. Dr. Longo, an expert in material science and analysis, also submitted a supplemental affidavit in which he discussed the acceptance by the American Society for Testing Materials of the dust collection techniques used in the City's buildings. At trial, both Mr. Hatfield and Dr. Longo testified to their own longstanding experience with the methods of dust sampling.
Certainly, the dust sampling technique is not free from criticism. The EPA materials introduced at trial indicated that there is no universally accepted protocol for the sampling and analysis of settled dust. The defendant's expert, Dr. Richard J. Lee, also testified that determining standard procedures for the collection, preparation and analysis of surface dust samples "was a matter of some discussion." Under Reed v. State, however, scientific acceptance need not be universal in order to be considered "general." 283 Md. at 397, 391 A.2d at 376 ("A degree of scientific divergence of opinion is indeed inevitable"). The defendants have failed to direct this Court to any information which indicates that the divergence of opinion over the use of dust sampling amounts to the type of "fundamental division in the scientific community" which necessitates the exclusion of such testimony. 283 Md. at 392, 391 A.2d at 373.
Asbestospray also argues that the jury was misled because the City's experts reported their dust sampling results per
square foot rather than per square centimeter. This, the defendant claims, "multiplied all the results by several orders of magnitude and resulted in parading dramatically large figures . . . in front of the jury." We find no merit to Asbestospray's argument of unfair prejudice. While it is true that a report in square feet will yield a larger total number of fibers than will a report in square centimeters, a report in square feet is simply another standardized method of conveying information about the area examined. See City of Greenville v. W.R. Grace & Co., supra, 827 F.2d at 980 (reporting the dust sampling results in terms of asbestos fibers per square foot).
For these reasons, we hold that Asbestospray has not shown that the admission of dust sampling testimony constituted reversible error.
VI.
The final issue on this appeal concerns the City's claim against Asbestospray for punitive damages. Asbestospray argues that there was insufficient evidence of actual malice, under the standards set forth in Owens-Illinois v. Zenobia, supra, 325 Md. at 450-471, 601 A.2d at 647-659, for the punitive damages claim to have been submitted to the jury.
A.
While the issue was not raised by any party, the claims for punitive damages in this case logically present a threshold question which we shall mention for purposes of future cases. That question is whether, under Maryland law, punitive damages are available in
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