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"That would mean tougher competition for customer acquisition as well as pricing," said A.S.V.

"There's a certain amount of under-reporting arising out of evergreening of loans, which can never be precisely derived," said A.S.V.

But Chih-Hung Lee Sr., a senor consulting gas engineer in the risk management area of the company, wrote in a 2006 memo that automatic shutoff valves, known as A.S.V.’s, “will not provide additional safety to people or prevent property damage.”

“The damage will happen before the A.S.V. can have any effect on the ruptured pipeline,” he wrote.

Last week, racing on the springy new track at Zurich as a member of Cologne's A.S.V. track club, Lauer was first out of the blocks in the 110-meter high hurdles.