Asbestos News Roundup: 8.19.10

August 19th, 2010. By LucyC

A roundup of recent asbestos-related news and information that you should be aware of. 

Asbestos Lawsuits

Everett, WA: Dozens of firefighters in the city of Everett have filed asbestos lawsuits totaling a reported $9 million, and some are moving toward a multimillion dollar lawsuit against the city, alleging they and their spouses were exposed to asbestos during training exercises in city-owned buildings known to contain asbestos. Those exercises included chopping holes in several of the homes on North Broadway and Tower streets. 

However, unlike a real-life situation, the firefighters were not wearing self-contained breathing gear during the exercises. According to a report on the Heraldnet.com, “At least one fire official knew the houses contained asbestos before the training, but the exercise went on anyway, apparently because of miscommunication.” 

The firefighters don’t want money, apparently, but instead want the city to undertake to pay for lifetime medical monitoring for asbestos-related health problems. And they want that undertaking in writing. 

City spokesperson Kate Reardon told the Heraldnet.com that the city has offered lifetime medical monitoring to 27 of the firefighters who are named in the claim. They were thought to have had the greatest exposure to asbestos fibers during the training exercise. 

The city has not made that same offer to a further 22 firefighters who also trained in the houses, as they were deemed ineligible for medical monitoring because their levels of exposure weren’t believed to be as significant as that of the other firefighters. 

What the city has not done is make that same offer to another 22 firefighters who also trained in the houses. Those firefighters weren’t eligible for medical monitoring, the city determined, because their levels of exposure weren’t believed to be as significant as that of their colleagues.

A consultant with the Department of Labor and Industries reportedly concluded in a December 2007 report that the asbestos exposure problem was serious enough that firefighters who had “significant exposures” should be checked by a doctor on a regular basis to monitor their health. 

Additionally, the report concluded that all Everett firefighters have probably suffered asbestos exposure sometime during their careers because the department has, until recently, lacked a policy to inspect training areas for possible hazardous materials exposure. (Heraldnet.com) 

Jefferson County, TX: Lillian Theriot, the widow of Wilbert Theriot who worked in a refinery owned by Texaco, has filed an asbestos claim against Texaco and Chevron USA, alleging her late husband was frequently and negligently exposed to asbestos fibers throughout his career. 

Court documents reportedly state, “throughout the course of his work life” Theriot was employed by Texaco working at its Jefferson County facilities, during which he was allegedly exposed to asbestos. And,  “As a result of such exposure, Theriot developed an asbestos-related disease, pulmonary asbestosis and lung cancer, from which he died a painful and terrible death on September 5, 2008,” the suit states. (SE Texas Record.com) 

Madison County, IL: Lornalee Rapinchuk of Illinois, a clerk, production line worker and home health assistant at various locations from 1954 until 1985, has filed an asbestos-related lawsuit. She claims she was secondarily exposed to asbestos fibers through her father, Thomas Manz, who worked as a construction worker and painter; through her brother, Charles Manz, who worked as a painter; and through her husband, Thomas G. Rapinchuk, who worked as a sheet metal worker, press operator, draftsman and engineering detailer from 1955 until 1995. 

Another asbestos suit was filed in Madison County, this one by Claudine B. Hope of South Carolina, who claims her recently deceased husband, William L. Hope, developed mesothelioma after his work as an insulator at North Brothers from 1945 until 1951, as a branch manager at North Brothers from 1951 until 1972 and as an area vice president in 1972. William L. Hope also worked for International Paper Company in 1948. 

Asbestos Hot Spots

Portland, OR: Portland barge builder, Zidell, has announced that it will begin cleaning up contaminated soil on its south waterfront property, beginning sometime in August. The clean-up operation has been planned for 15 years. 

The work should be completed by October and will involve removing or capping 17,000 cubic yards of soil that is heavily contaminated with asbestos, as well as metals and other toxic substances. The clean-up will involve a two-foot soil cap over a future “greenway” along the site. Additionally, about 5,000 cubic yards of soil from contaminated “hot spots” will be shipped to a landfill and other soils will be buried in containment cells under the route for a planned light-rail line to Milwaukee. 

The state-mandated operation will reportedly cost $20 million, and will encompass the entire 30 acre site which also affects the Willamette River shoreline. Controversial plans to clean up the river-related work are still being reviewed by federal regulators.

Tags: Asbestos, Asbestos Mesothelioma

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