w.o. leonard recalls the industry's reaction.e wanted a reasonable standard established, not one that was impossible to reach. we also were very interested in the time frame for implementation. we knew that the technology was not all in place to achieve compliance. we wanted enough time for that to be developed and to become commercially available. industry claimed the new regulations would require spending $2 billion on equipment, and they could achieve almost as much with dust masks costing $1.49 each. the amalgamated clothing and textile workers union disagreed. workers still died from brown-lung disease. dust masks wouldn't eliminate the risk. the union argued fiercely, but many sided with industry. eric frumin remembers the arguments. well, there were forces within the carter administration, particularly the economists, who thought that the money spent to protect workers' health was, in a sense, not worth it. and if workers could just be forced to wear these intolerable dust masks-- which don't look that uncomfortable, espec