“I’LL SEE IF HE’S IN, Mr. McDarvid,” said the nameless woman on the other end of the telephone.
“Thank you.” According to the EPA briefing papers, the rat studies, and the risk assessments, chlorohydrobenzilate was a probable human carcinogen. The health arguments were against JAFFE, but—
“Jack?”
“It’s me. Just like a bad penny. I had a question for you. Nothing hush-hush, but it’s hard to keep on top of everything.”
“Will this cost me my wallet or my integrity?”
“Neither … I think.” McDarvid cleared his throat softly. “Outside of North America, who are the big citrus producers? Besides Israel, I mean.”
“Brazil’s a great deal bigger than Israel. But, from our point of view, the Israelis are the ones that count.”
“Would you be concerned if someone were proposing a regulation that would hit the Israelis pretty hard?”
“Hard to tell. We can’t come down very hard on the economic stuff. Technology and financial flows are usually as far as we go. You know that. Who cares if the California citrus growers can’t get all they want into Japan? Or if the Israelis have trouble competing with the Brazilians?”
“What about OMB? Backdoor?”
“Send me a package. One of your specials, with all the arguments laid out. Then we’ll see.”
“Look. I’d like the help, but this has to be on the merits. You don’t see it that way, then let it drop. All right?” McDarvid waited.
“You got something bigger on the way?”
“Maybe. That one—well, I need a little more information, but … say a couple of weeks?”
“Let me know. Let me know.” The line clicked dead.
McDarvid took a deep breath as he put the phone down. He turned in the chair, and his fingers touched the computer keyboard as he studied the graph displayed on the screen.
After he and Jonnie finished the pesticide paper … He shook his head. He wasn’t looking forward to the trip to Savannah. But you never got a feel for the processes and the real scope of the problem without seeing the plants, and Jonnie understood numbers, not technologies.
Numbers were never enough, especially in Washington. By the time all the official numbers were clear, you’d either won or lost.