Asbestos News Roundup: 4.19.12 (Asbestos & Oil Rig Workers, Asbestos Drilling Mud)

April 19th, 2012. By LucyC

A roundup of recent asbestos-related news and information that you should be aware of. An ongoing list of reported asbestos hot spots in the US from the Asbestos News Roundup archive appears on our asbestos map.

Oil Rig Workers, Asbestos Drilling Mud and Asbestos Disease

Drilling mud is widely used in the oil industry, both onshore and offshore, to help cool the drill bit and flush debris from the well hole during drilling. Beginning in the mid-1960s, asbestos was regularly used as an additive for drilling mud in well-drilling operations by the oil industry.

Many oilfield workers may have been exposed to toxic asbestos products without knowing its harmful, and often lethal, effects. For some, their lives may be cut short due to asbestos mud products. Some oilfield workers remember using a flaky white additive that came in 50-pound bags; they mixed this asbestos into the drilling mud without any breathing or safety equipment.

Unknowingly, these workers could also expose their spouses and children to asbestos when they came home from work with asbestos fibers on their clothing. Next week we’ll take a look at second hand asbestos exposure—also known as “take home” asbestos exposure, which affected and continues to affect families of men employed in many different occupations.

Asbestos Lawsuits

Charleston, WV: On March 28, 2010, Glen Roy Jones was diagnosed with asbestosis bilateral, and now he and his wife, Florence Jones, are suing 95 companies they allege are responsible for his diagnosis.

The couple, from Chesapeake, OH, claim in their lawsuit that Mr. Jones was employed by A.C.F. Industries as a laborer, material inspector, fork lift operator, truck driver and storeroom attendant from 1963 until 1986. During that time, the defendants failed to inform Jones of the dangers of being exposed to asbestos, the lawsuit states.

Jones claims the defendants also failed to provide him with safety apparel to wear when working with asbestos and/or asbestos-containing products.

The Jones are suing the defendants based upon theories of negligence, contaminated buildings, breach of expressed/implied warranty, strict liability, intentional tort, conspiracy, misrepresentation and post-sale duty to warn, according to the lawsuit.

The 95 companies named as defendants in the suit are; 3M Company; A.C.F. Industries, LLC; A.W. Chesterton Company; Ajax Magnethermic Corporation; Amdura Corporation; Derrick Company; Aurora Pump Company; Borg-Warner Corporation; CBS Corporation; Catalytic Construction Company; Caterpiller, Inc.; Certainteed Corporation; Clark Equipment Company; Cleaver-Brooks Company, Inc.; Columbus McKinnon Corporation; Copes-Vulcan, Inc.; Crane Company; Crane Pumps & Systems, Inc.; Crown, Cork & Seal USA, Inc.; Dezurick; Dravo Corporation; Durabla Manufacturing Company; Eaton Corporation; Fairmont Supply Company; F.B. Wright Company; Flowserve Corporation f/k/a the Duriron Company; Flowserve Corporation as Successor-in-Interest to Durametallic Corporation; FMC Corporation; Foster Wheeler Energy Corporation; General Electric Company; General Refractories Company; Genuine Parts Company; Georgia-Pacific LLC; Geo. V. Hamilton, Inc.; Goulds Pumps, Inc.; Grinnell LLC; Honeywell International f/k/a Allied Signal, Inc.; Honeywell International, Inc.; IMO Industries, Inc.; I.U. North America, Inc.; Industrial Holdings Corporation; Ingersoll-Rand Company; FMC Corporation; Insul Company, Inc.; ITT Corporation; J.H. France Refractories Company; John Crane, Inc.; Kelsey-Hayes Company; Lockheed Martin Corporation; Manitowoc Cranes, Inc.; McJunkin Corporation; Metropolitan Life Insurance Company; Mine Safety Appliances Company; Morgan Engineering, Inc.; Nacco Materials Handling Group, Inc.; Nagle Pumps, Inc.; Navistar, Inc.; Nitro Industrial Coverings, Inc.; Oakfabco, Inc.; Ohio Valley Insulating Company, Inc.; Peerless Pumps; Pettibone/Traverse Lift, LLC; Pneumo Abex LLC; Premiere Refractories, Inc.; Rapid American Corporation; Reading Crane and Engineering Company; Riley Power, Inc.; Rockwell Automation, Inc.; Roper Pump Company; Ross Brothers Construction Co.; Rust Constructors, Inc.; Rust Engineering & Construction, Inc.; Rust International, Inc.; Saint-Gobain Abrasives, Inc.; Schneider Electric; Shell Oil Company; State Electric Supply Company; Sterling Fluid Systems (US) LLC; Swindell Dressler International Corporation; SVI Corporation; Tasco Insulations, Inc.; The Alliance Machine Company; Thiem Corp.; Toyota Material Handling, USA, Inc.; U.B. West Virginia, Inc.; Union Carbide Chemical and Plastics Company, Inc.; Uniroyal, Inc.; United Engineers & Constructors and Washington Group International; Vimasco Corporation; Westinghouse Air Brake Division of Trane U.S., Inc.; West Virginia Electric Supply Company; Western Auto Supply Company; Wheelabrator Technologies, Inc.; Yarway Corporation; and Zurn Industries, LLC. (setexasrecord.com)

Jefferson County, TX: The estate of the late Ben Wilkerson has filed a second asbestos lawsuit on his behalf, for a different malignant asbestos-related disease he suffered as a result of his asbestos exposure during his career. Wilkerson worked as a pipefitter and was exposed to asbestos products and asbestos fibers and dust, which caused him to suffer from a non-malignant, asbestos-related disease, according the lawsuit.

Ben Wilkerson had already sued once and received a settlement for his non-malignant asbestos-related disease. The second lawsuit is filed pursuant to Putejovsky v. Rapid American.

In this second lawsuit, the defendants are accused of manufacturing, distributing and using asbestos products without warning workers of the dangers. Wilkinson alleges the defendants acted with malice, entitling her to exemplary damages.

The defendants named in the suit are: A.O. Smith, A.W. Chesterton, Ametek, Bechtel Corp., CBS Corp., Certainteed Corp., Cleaver Brooks, Crane Co., Crown Cork & Seal, D&F Distributing, Dana Companies, Flour Enterprises, Flour Maintenance, General Electric, General Refractories, Georgia Pacific, Gould Pumps, Henry Vogt Machine, Industrial Holdings, Ingersoll Rand, Metropolitan Life Insurance, Pneumo Abex, Riley Power, Sepco, Treco Construction, Union Carbide and Zurn Industries. (wvrecord.com)

Asbestos Law

Springfield, MA: Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley has announced that a Hampden County Grand Jury has indicted 59-year-old Susan Nissenbaum, a Springfield rental owner, who is charged with illegally removing and disposing of asbestos. The indictment was handed down on April 12.

According to investigators, in April 2010 Nissenbaum paid two tenants to remove asbestos siding from her single-family rental property in Springfield, and then store that siding on the property.

The investigators allege that although Nissenbaum was aware that the siding contained asbestos she failed to inform the tenants working for her as to how asbestos needed to be handled and failed to ensure that they had the proper training and equipment to do so.

“We allege that this defendant put her tenants at risk by having them unsafely remove asbestos from the property and failing to warn them of the dangers involved,” says Coakley.

Nissenbaum has been charged with three counts of violating the Mass. Clean Air Act, for her alleged failure to file a notice of asbestos removal with the D.E.P., improper asbestos removal, and improper asbestos storage. (WGGB.com)

Tags: Asbestos, Asbestos Drilling Mud, asbestos lawsuit, Asbestos Settlement, asbestosis, mesothelioma, Occupational Asbestos Exposure, Oil Drilling, Oil Rig Workers

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