Asbestos News Roundup: 2.6.14 – Navy Vets & Asbestos

February 6th, 2014. 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.

Navy Veterans at Risk for Asbestos

US Navy Veterans are at a particularly high risk for asbestos-related disease, due to their asbestos exposure while working on navy ships undergoing refits. But because asbestos-related disease can take up to 30 years or more to manifest, it is often detected long after men have left the Navy.

The states with the most US Navy Veterans include California, Florida, New York, Texas, Ohio, Michigan, Arizona, Massachusetts, Washington, Maine, Oregon, Arizona, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Montana, Kansas, North Dakota, Hawaii, Nebraska, and Mississippi.

US Navy Veterans are not the only group of workers at high risk for asbestos exposure. Men and women who worked in power plants, manufacturing factories, chemical plants, oil refineries, mines, smelters, aerospace manufacturing facilities, demolition construction work sites, railroads, automotive manufacturing facilities, or auto brake shops may also have been exposed to high levels of asbestos.

Asbestos Lawsuit

Edwardsville, IL: John Reidy, a plumber from Florida, and his wife, have filed an asbestos lawsuit alleging negligence, willful and wanton conduct, failure to warn, and negligent spoliation of evidence, on the part of the defendants.

John Reidy began his career as a plumber and boiler tender while serving in the U.S. Navy in 1951, the lawsuit states. After leaving the military, Reidy continued in the plumbing industry, working for various employers until 1996. During the course of his career, he installed and maintained furnaces, boilers and cement pipe, and it was through this work, the lawsuit claims, that Reidy was exposed to and inhaled asbestos fibers. He now has asbestos mesothelioma.

The lawsuit contends that the defendants should have known of the presence of asbestos and dangers involved in working with the asbestos-containing products. Further, the lawsuit alleges that John Reidy developed mesothelioma as a direct result of working with those toxic asbestos-containing products, “which has disabled and disfigured him.”

The plaintiffs further claim allege that the defendants at one point held documents and information relating to identification of asbestos-containing products, locations where those products were sold, identity of manufacturers and knowledge regarding the hazards of asbestos. However, the whereabouts of those documents are now unknown.

“It was foreseeable to a reasonable person/entity in the respective positions of defendants that said documents and information constituted evidence, which was material to potential civil litigation, namely asbestos litigation,” the lawsuit states. The lawsuit had originally named 40 defendants, however the list has dwindled to a handful of names including Crane Co., Bryant Heating & Cooling, Carrier Corporation, Burnham LLC and Nibco, Inc. (legalnewsline.com)

Asbestos Settlement

New York, NY: Bubblewrap manufacturer, Sealed Air Corp., has paid $930 million in cash into a trust for asbestos victims, the company said in a statement this week. The payment resolves a claim that arose after Sealed Air bought a business from W.R. Grace & Co., which filed for bankruptcy after facing millions of dollars in asbestos claims.

W.R. Grace, manufacturer of Zonolite Insulation which contains vermiculite asbestos, and former owner of an asbestos mine in Libby Montana, emerged from bankruptcy this week after nearly 13 years, which cleared the way for Sealed Air to pay the settlement.

Sealed Air also paid 18 million shares of Sealed Air common stock, with a value of more than $540 million, based on current share values.

The claims against Sealed Air arose after its 1998 purchase of Cryovac, a flexible packaging business, from W.R. Grace. Some plaintiffs accused W.R. Grace of fraudulently transferring assets to Sealed Air “to the detriment of creditors holding asbestos claims against Grace.”

In 2002, Sealed Air agreed to pay $512 million to settle the claims, but that agreement was held up by 13 years of litigation over the W.R. Grace bankruptcy, and is believed to be the longest-running bankruptcy in U.S. history.

Sealed Air’s payment grew to $930 million because of interest. The total value of the W.R. Grace-related asbestos trusts, which will be used to pay people injured by asbestos, is almost $4 billion. (northjersey.com)

Libby, MT: U.S. Sen. Max Baucus announced this week that a pilot program that provides medical and other services to victims of asbestos exposure will be expanded to include 18 additional counties in Montana, Idaho and Washington.

The program offers home assistance, mileage reimbursements for medical travel and other benefits to people with asbestos-related diseases that have been linked to a closed W.R. Grace, Inc. vermiculite mine in Libby.

Previously, the program had been available only to people in Lincoln and Flathead counties when it was established under the Affordable Care Act. Baucus says it will help people who moved away from Libby. (claimsjournal.com)

Libby MT: The cost of cleaning up 39 asbestos-contaminated sites in 21 states has cost W.R. Grace & Co. more than $63 million, which it paid to the government this week. The payment is part of WR Grace’s bankruptcy reorganization plan, put into place after the firm and 61 affiliates also filed for bankruptcy in April 2001.

The Environmental Protection Agency sued W.R. Grace in 2003, seeking reimbursement for the costs of cleaning up asbestos and other pollution caused by the company. According to statements released by the Justice Department, about $54 million of the $63 million went to the EPA and $9 million to other federal agencies.

“Cleaning up toxic pollution in communities is the responsibility of the company that created it, not the American taxpayer,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. In 2008, W.R. Grace paid the EPA $250 million to settle claims that it contaminated the small and now infamous town of Libby, Montana, with asbestos.

According to the Justice Department , the $54 million payment to the EPA will reimburse the agency for cleanup costs associated with the following Superfund sites: Acton Plant in Acton, Mass.; Amber Oil in Milwaukee; Aqua Tech in Greer, S.C.; Big Tex Site in San Antonio, Texas; Blackburn and Union Privileges in Walpole, Mass.; Cambridge Plant in Cambridge, Mass.; Casmalia Resources in Santa Barbara, Calif.; Central Chemical in Hagerstown, Md.; Galaxy/Spectron in Elkton, Md.; Green River in Maceo, Ky.; Harrington Tools in Glendale, Calif.; Intermountain Insulation in Salt Lake City; IWI Site in Summit, Ill.; Li Tungsten in Glen Cove, N.Y.; Malone Services Co. in Texas County, Texas; Massachusetts Military Reservation in Barnstable County, Mass.; N-Forcer Site in Dearborn, Mich.; Operating Industries Inc. in Monterey Park, Calif.; R & H Oil/Tropicana in San Antonio; RAMP Industries in Denver; Reclamation Oil in Detroit; Robinson Insulation in Minot, N.D.; Solvents Recovery Service of NE in Southington, Conn.; Vermiculite Exfoliation Site in Nashville; Vermiculite Expansion Site in High Point, N.C.; Vermiculite Intermountain in Salt Lake City; Vermiculite Northwest in Spokane, Wash.; Watson Johnson LF in Richland Township, Pa.; Wells G & H (Source & Central Areas) in Woburn, Mass.; Western Minerals Processing in Denver; Western Minerals Products in Minneapolis; W.R. Grace in Weedsport, N.Y.; Zonolite in Wilder, Ky.; Prince George’s Co., Md.; Hamilton Township, N.J.; Ellwood City, Pa.; and New Castle, Pa.; Zonolite/W.R. Grace in Easthampton, Mass.; and Zonolite Road in Atlanta. (courthousenews.com)

 

Tags: Asbestos, asbestos lawsuit, Asbestos Mesothelioma, asbestos risk, Asbestos Settlement

This was posted on Thursday, February 6th, 2014 at 5:04 pm and is filed under Asbestos Mesothelioma . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.