Asbestos News Roundup: 11.5.10

November 5th, 2010. By LucyC

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

Asbestos Settlements

Charleston, WV: A liability verdict was issued Wednesday against industrial manufacturer John Crane, Inc. after jurors found that the company’s asbestos-laden products caused a retired pipefitter to contract the deadly lung disease mesothelioma. 

The unanimous verdict was handed down following two hours of jury deliberations. The case was settled for a confidential amount after the liability verdict was announced based on an earlier agreement between the Wood family and representatives from Morton Grove, IL-based John Crane. 

Mr. Robert L Wood, a resident of Wheeling, WV, was diagnosed with mesothelioma two weeks before Christmas in 1999. He had worked as a pipefitter for a local union for more than 41 years. Jurors heard how Mr. Wood handled John Crane gaskets that contained dangerous levels of asbestos, the leading cause of mesothelioma, and how company executives knew about the dangers of asbestos as early as the 1930s. 

In the verdict, the six-member jury found that John Crane was negligent for failing to warn Mr. Wood about the dangers of its products, and that the company’s gaskets were defective. (wvirginiarecord.com)

Asbestos Law

Austin, TX: On October 22, the Supreme Court of Texas ruled that legislators improperly granted bottle cap maker Crown Cork and Seal retroactive protection from asbestos lawsuits. 

Although Crown never made products with asbestos, it still faces liability because it merged in 1966 with Mundet Cork, a company that did use asbestos in its products. Crown spent $7 million to buy Mundet and then paid $413 million to resolve asbestos related claims. Consequently, in 2003, Texas legislators seeking to lighten Crown’s financial burden, inserted retroactive relief into a larger asbestos litigation reform law. (SETexasRecord) 

Asbestos Fraud

Washington, DC: Albania Deleon, who was convicted in November, 2008 in Massachusetts on environmental and other charges related to a fraudulent asbestos training institute she ran there, was picked up in the Dominican Republic, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported earlier this week.

Forty-year old Deleon made the EPA’s wanted list of fugitives a result of fleeing the state in March 2009, two days before her sentencing. She has the auspicious honor of being the first woman to be listed on the EPA’s fugitives list, which the agency initiated two years ago. The list includes people wanted for crimes ranging from dumping oil or contaminated soil to importing vehicles that fail to meet United States emissions standards.

When Deleon was picked up on Saturday she was carrying a false identity card and had changed her hair colour to blonde. The State Department had submitted an extradition request to the Dominican Republic after realizing she had left the country.

She could face substantial jail time after extradition to the United States, given that she was convicted of 28 counts that carried penalties of 5 to 20 years, the EPA said. Her crimes, which date as far back as 2001, include operating Environmental Compliance Training, a certified asbestos-removal training school in Methuen, MA, which issued hundreds of certificates to people who had never taken the course or who were not qualified. The training center grew to become the largest asbestos training business Massachusetts. (nytimes.com)

Asbestos Study

Libby, MT: The Center for Asbestos Related Disease in Libby, MT and researchers from the University of Cincinnati are looking for the 600 individuals who participated in a 2000-01 health screening in Libby as a child or young adult age 10-19 in order to participate in a follow-up study. 

“ATSDR (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry) did the screening, they did the original study,” CARD research assistant Jenifer Fortner said. “We’re doing a follow-up study, but because of confidentiality reasons and because of their age we’re unable to get their names. We have to find them.” 

The Childhood Health Investigation and Exposure Follow-up Study is investigating potential health effects on people that were exposed to Libby amphibole asbestos as children. 

If you would like to learn more about the Childhood Health Investigation and Exposure Follow-up Study, or for those who may be eligible to take part in the study, call CARD research assistant Jennifer Fortner at 406-293-9274, ext. 23 or e-mail her at . (westernnews.com)

Asbestos Hot Spots – Madison Square Garden Scare: No Health Risk

New York, NY: Madison Square Garden was shut down on Wednesday during a game because white dusty debris was falling from the ceiling. 

Officials at the Garden described the falling particles as ‘debris’ but refused to say how much of the ‘debris had fallen, what is was made of, or how big the pieces of ‘debris’ were.

The particles reportedly drifted down from an attic above a partly-open ceiling that was being cleaned. 

A Garden employee who wouldn’t give his name told the New York Post that, judging by how long it was taking to clean up the material, “it must be a lot.” 

“They got 50 percent out of the arena bowl,” the worker said. “The rest of it will be gone by Friday.”

Initially the debris was cause for concern, as it was inconclusive as to whether the particles were potentially asbestos. The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), along with independent contractors, tested the material and determined that no asbestos had been released into the air in the arena.

Subsequently, Farrell Sklerov, a spokesman for the NY DEP stated, “There’s no health risk.” (NYTimes.com)

Tags: Asbestos, Asbestos Mesothelioma

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