Asbestos News Roundup: 10.18.12 – Pipefitter Asbestos Risk, New Lawsuits

October 18th, 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.

Pipefitter Asbestos Risk

Many of the materials used in construction, including welding, pipefitting, and millwright work, contained, or in some cases still contain asbestos. By the mid-20th century asbestos was being used in fire retardant coatings, concrete, bricks, pipes and fireplace cement, heat, fire, and acid resistant gaskets, pipe insulation, ceiling insulation, fireproof drywall, flooring, roofing, lawn furniture, and drywall joint compound.

It wasn’t until the 1980s that the knowledge of the dangers of asbestos exposure and related asbestos disease became more widely known amongst the general public. Consequently, millions of men and women likely worked on or around asbestos without any protection for decades.

It would not be uncommon for people to work with asbestos-containing products, either installing or removing them, which would send asbestos fibers into the air. The fibers are inhaled, and settle on people’s clothing—and that’s how asbestos disease begins. People who become ill from asbestos are usually exposed to it on a regular basis, hence the hundreds of asbestos lawsuits we are seeing now.

Asbestos Lawsuits

Charleston, WV: Paul Everett Beckman Sr. and his wife Pearl Lina Beckman, are suing 81 companies they allege are responsible for his mesothelioma diagnosis. Beckman was diagnosed with mesothelioma on August 9, 2012.

In their lawsuit, the Beckmans allege the defendants exposed Mr. Beckman to asbestos during his career as a mechanic and laborer since the 1940s and through his wife, who worked at Owens Illinois Glass Factory, and his father and brother, who were utility workers with Consol Energy.

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

Certain defendants are also being sued as premise owners and as Beckman’s employers for deliberate intent/intentional tort, according to the lawsuit.

The 81 companies named as defendants in the suit are: 3M Company; A.W. Chesterton Company; Airtek, Inc.; Aurora Pump Company; Autozone Stores, Inc.; Beazer East, Inc.; Borg-Warner Corporation; Caterpillar Inc.; Certainteed Corporation; Clark Equipment Company; Cleaver-Brooks Company, Inc.; Consol Energy, Inc.; Copes-Vulcan, Inc.; Crane Co.; Dravo Corporation; Eaton Electrical, Inc.; F.B. Wright Co. of Pittsburgh; Fairmont Supply Corporation; Flowserve FSD Corporation; Flowserve US, Inc.; FMC Corporation; Foster Wheeler Energy Corporation; Gardner Denver, Inc.; General Electric Company; Genuine Parts Company; George V. Hamilton, Inc.; Georgia Pacific Corporation; Georgino Industrial Supply (Pittsburgh), Inc.; Goulds Pumps; Grinnell, LLC; Harvey Hubbell, Inc.; Hercules, Inc.; Honeywell International; Howden North America, Inc.; I.U. North America, Inc.; IMO Industries, Inc.; Devalco Corporation; Industrial Holdings Corporation; Ingersoll-Rand; ITT Corporation; J. H. Fletcher & Co.; Joy Technologies, Inc.; Kelsey-Hayes Company; Lewis-Goetz And Company, Inc.; Maremont Corporation; McJunkin Red Man Corporation; McNeil Corporation; Metropolitan Life Insurance Company; Mine Safety Appliances Company; Morgantown-National Supply, Inc.; Nacco Materials Handling Group, Inc.; Nagle Pumps, Inc.; Nitro Industrial Coverings, Inc.; Ohio Valley Insulating Company, Inc.; Owens-Illinois, Inc.; P&H Mining Equipment, Inc.; Petroleum Pipe and Supply Company, Inc.; Pettibone/Traverse Lift, LLC; Phillips Corporation; Pneumo Abex Corporation; Premiere Refractories, Inc.; Rapid-American Corporation; Riley Power, Inc.; Ritter Technology LLC; Rockwell Automation, Inc.; Schneider Electric USA, Inc.; State Electric Supply Company; Sterling Fluid Systems (USA), LLC; Sunray Electric Supply Company; Tasco Insulations, Inc.; The Goodyear Tire & Rubber, Co.; Union Carbide Chemical & Plastics Company; Uniroyal, Inc.; United Conveyor Corporation; United Engineers & Constructors and Washington Groups International; Viacom, Inc.; Vimasco Corporation; West Virginia Electric Supply Company; Yale Materials Handling Corporation; Yarway Corporation; and Zurn Industries, LLC. (wvrecord.com)

Charleston, WV: Roscoe H. Peters and his wife and Mary J. Peters have filed an asbestos lawsuit naming 86 companies as defendants, alleging they were responsible for exposing Mr. Peters to hazardous levels of cancer-causing asbestos.

The Peters allege that the companies were responsible either as premise owners or employers for Roscoe Peters developing asbestos-related disease: he worked as a laborer/electrician with Weirton Steel from 1950 to 1983. The Peters claim 80-year old Roscoe Peters was diagnosed with mesothelioma due to his exposure to asbestos, a silicate that once was widely used in insulation, while with Weirton Steel.

The lawsuit alleges negligence in not protecting Peters from contaminated buildings and not warning him of the dangers.

The 86 defendant companies named in a civil lawsuit alleging negligence in allowing a former worker to be exposed to asbestos at Weirton Steel are: 3M Co.; A.W. Chesterton Co.; Air & Liquid Systems Corp.; Ajax Magnethermic Corp.; Allied Corp.; Allied Mineral Products Inc.; Aurora Pump Co.; Beazer East Inc.; Caterpillar Inc.; CBS Corp.; Certainteed Corp.; Cleaver-Brooks Co. Inc.; Columbus McKinnon Corp.; Copes-Vulcan Inc.; Crane Co.; Dezurik Inc.; Dravo Corp.; Eaton Corp.; F.B. Wright Co. of Pittsburgh; Fairmont Supply Co.; Flowserve U.S. Inc., successor in interest to Durametallic Corp.; Flowserve U.S. Inc. formerly known as Durco International Inc.; FMC Corp.; Foseco Inc.; Foster Wheeler Energy Corp.; General Electric Co.; Georgia-Pacific LLC; George V. Hamilton Inc.; Goulds Pumps Inc.; Grinnell LLC; Hedman Resources Limited; Hercules Inc.; Honeywell International Inc.; Howden North America Inc.; IU North America Inc.; IMO Industries Inc.; Industrial Holdings Corp.; Ingersoll-Rand Co.; Insul Co. Inc.; ITT Corp.; J.H. France Refractories; Joy Technologies Inc.; Lockheed Martin Corp.; Mallinckrodt U.S. LLC; Manitowoc Cranes; McCann Shields Paint Co.; McJunkin Corp.; Metropolitan Life Insurance Co.; Milwaukee Valve Co.; Morgan Engineering Systems Inc.; Nagle Pumps Inc.; Nitro Industrial Coverings Inc.; Oakfabco Inc.; Oglebay Norton Co.; Ohio Valley Insulating Co. Inc.; Owens-Illinois Inc.; P&H Mining Equipment Inc.; Pettibone Traverse Lift LLC; Pneumo Abex Corp.; Power Piping Co.; Premier Refractories Inc.; Rapid American Corp.; Reading Crane and Engineering Co.; Riley Stoker Corp.; Rockwell Automations Inc.; Rust Constructors Inc.; Rust Engineering & Construction Inc.; Rust International Inc.; Schneider Electric USA Inc.; Sterling Fluid Systems USA LLC; Tasco Insulations Inc.; The Alliance Machine Co.; The Gage Co.; The Sager Corp.; The William Powell Co.; Thiem Corp.; Treco Construction Services Inc.; UB West Virginia Inc.; Union Carbide Corp.; Uniroyal Inc.; United Engineers & Constructors and Washington Group International; Viking Pump Inc.; Vimasco Corp.; Warren Pumps Inc.; Yale Material Handling Co.; and Zurn Industries LLC. (ellwoodcityledger.com)

Asbestos Hot Spots

 Eagle County, CO: Camp Hale in Eagle County, a popular and historic place for camping and hunting, has been shut down due to asbestos contamination.

Located along Highway 24, between Minturn and Leadville, Camp Hale served as a military facility prior to World War II and housed up to 17,000 soldiers during WWII. It was subsequently handed over to the US Forest Service in the 1960s. While many of the buildings in the area were destroyed in the 1960s, cleaning up the remaining munitions and asbestos on site has been an ongoing challenge. However, friable asbestos has been found on the surface of the site, recently, which prompted the site’s closure. (CBS4)

Tags: Asbestos, Asbestos Exposure, asbestos lawsuit, Asbestos Mesothelioma

This was posted on Thursday, October 18th, 2012 at 1:23 pm and is filed under Asbestos Mesothelioma, lawsuits . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.