Asbestos News Roundup: 5.31.12 – Carpenter, Electrician, Plumber Asbestos Risk

May 31st, 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.

Carpenter, Electrician & Plumber Asbestos Mesothelioma Risk

According to a 2009 report in the British Journal of Cancer, and reported by the BBC, carpenters, electricians and plumbers born in the 1940s and working in the UK are at increased risk for asbestos-related lung cancer mesothelioma. The stats are not good — 1 in 17 carpenters will die of the asbestos-related disease, the researchers predicted, and 1 in 50 plumbers and electricians, as well as 1 in 125 construction workers will also become fatally ill.

The researchers interviewed 1,400 healthy people and more than 600 patients with asbestos mesothelioma. The lifetime risk of asbestos-related disease was calculated among workers exposed to asbestos for more than a decade before the age of 30.

While these results do not reflect the incidence in the US, it nevertheless makes the point that men who work in trades such as carpenters, electricians and plumbers are at higher than normal risk for asbestos exposure, illness and related death, due to working with asbestos-containing building materials.

Asbestos Lawsuit

Charleston, WV: Eight separate asbestos lawsuits have been filed in West Virginia, by 14 individuals who all allege they were unknowingly exposed to asbestos through their work. All the plaintiffs have various asbestos-related lung injuries.

James W. Cronin and Margaret Ann Cronin; Paul E. Herstine; Joseph L. Kolakowski and Delores R. Kolakowski; Shirley I. Quinn and David L. Quinn; George P. Schmidt Jr. and Ann S. Schmidt; Tim Watts and Nita Watts; Aubrey L. Woodward and Lydia J. Woodward; and Lawrence C. Yeater, executor of the Estate of Robert R. Yeater, deceased, are the plaintiffs, according to eight lawsuits.

James Cronin, Joseph Kolakowski, Shirley Quinn, George Schmidt, Tim Watts, Aubrey Woodward and Lawrence Yeater were diagnosed with asbestosis and lung cancer and Herstine was diagnosed with asbestosis, all resulting from asbestos exposure.

The asbestos lawsuits claim the defendants caused negligent exposure to asbestos, and failed to warn of the dangers of exposure. The plaintiffs further claim the defendants failed to inform them of appropriate safety apparel to wear while around asbestos. The 14 plaintiffs are seeking jury trials to resolve all issues involved.

The 173 companies named as defendants in the suit are: 20th Century Glove Corporation of Texas; 4520 Corp. Inc.; Air & Liquid Systems Corporation; Ajax Magnethermic Corporation; AK Steel Corporation; Alliance Machine Company; Allied Glove Corporation; American Optical Corporation; Ametek, Inc.; Anderson Greenwood & Co.; Aristech Chemical Corporation; Armstrong International, Inc.; Armstrong Pumps, Inc.; Atlas Industries, Inc.; Aurora Pump Company; Bayer Cropscience, LP; Beazer East, Inc.; Bechtel Corporation; BP Products North America, Inc.; Brand Insulations, Inc.; Cameron International Corporation; Cashco, Inc.; Catalytic Construction Company; CBS Corporation; Certainteed Corporation; Chevron U.S.A., Inc.; The Cincinnati Gasket, Packing & Mfg., Inc.; Cleaver-Brooks, Inc.; Columbia Paint Corp.; Columbus McKinnon Corporation; Cooper Industries, Inc.; Copes-Vulcan, Inc.; Coppus Turbines; Crane Company, Inc.; Dana Corporation; Dezurik, Inc.; Dow Chemical Company; Dravo Corporation; E.I. Du Pont De Nemours & Company; Eaton Corporation; Eichleay Corporation; F.B. Wright Company; The Fairbanks Company; Fairmont Supply Company; Flowserve U.S., Inc., and its Byron Jackson Pump Division; Flowserve U.S., Inc., f/k/a Flowserve FSD Corporation, f/k/a Durametallic Corp.; Flowserve U.S., Inc., f/k/a Flowserve FSD Corporation, as Successor to Edward Valves, Inc.; Flowserve U.S., Inc., f/k/a Flowserve FSD Corporation, as Successor to Valtek International; Flsmidth Inc.; Flsmidth Dorr-Oliver Eimco, Inc.; Flsmidth Salt Lake City, Inc.; Fluor Constructors International; Fluor Constructors International, Inc.; Fluor Corporation; Fluor Enterprises, Inc.; Ford Motor Company; Foseco, Inc.; Foster Wheeler, LLC; Fuller Company; The Gage Company; Gardner Denver, Inc.; General Electric Company; General Refractories Company; Gentex Corporation; George V. Hamilton, Inc.; The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company; Goulds Pumps, Inc.; Greene Tweed & Co.; Grinnell, LLC; H.E. Neumann Company; Hercules Chemical Company, Inc.; Hinchliffe & Keener, Inc.; Honeywell International, Inc.; Howden North America, Inc.; I.U. North America, Inc.; IMO Industries, Inc.; Industrial Holdings Corporation; Ingersoll-Rand Company; Insul Company, Inc.; ITT Corporation; J.H. France Refractories Company; Jabo Supply Corporation; Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc.; John Crane, Inc.; Joseph T. Ryerson & Son, Inc.; Joy Technologies, Inc.; Katy Industries, Inc.; Kelly Moore Paint Company; Kentile Floors, Inc.; Lockheed Martin Corporation; M.S. Jacobs & Associates, Inc.; Magnetek, Inc.; Mallinckrodt LLC; Manitowoc Company, Inc.; McCann Shields Paint Company; McCarls, Inc.; McJunkin Redman Corporation; Meadwestvaco Corporation; Metropolitan Life Insurance Company; Milwaukee Valve Company; Mine Safety Appliances Company; Minnotte Contracting Corporation; Mobil Corporation; Monongahela Power Company; Morgan Engineering Systems, Inc.; Moyno, Inc.; Mueller Steam Specialty; Nagle Pumps, Inc.; National Services Industries, Inc.; Nibco, Inc.; Nitro Industrial Coverings, Inc.; O.C. Keckley Company; Oglebay Norton Company; Owens-Illinois, Inc.; P&H Mining Equipment, Inc.; Parker-Hannifin Corp.; Parker-Hannifin Corporation; Peerless Industries, Inc.; Plotkin Brothers Supply, LLP; Pneumo Abex Corporation; Power Piping Company; Premier Refractories, Inc.; Reading Crane; Research-Cottrell, Inc.; Rhone-Poulenc AG Company, Inc.; Riley Power, Inc.; Robinson Fans, Inc.; Rockwell Automation, Inc.; Roper Pump Company; Rust Constructors, Inc.; Rust Engineering & Construction, Inc.; Safety First Industries, Inc.; The Sager Corporation; Saint-Gobain Abrasives, Inc.; Schneider Electric USA, Inc.; Seco/Warwick Corporation; Seegott, Inc.; Selkirk Corp.; S.P. Kinney Engineers, Inc.; Spirax Sarco, Inc.; SPX Cooling Technologies, Inc.; Sterling Fluid Systems (USA), LLC; Sullair Corporation; Sunbeam Products, Inc.; Sundyne Corporation; SVI Corporation; Swindell-Dressler International Company; Taco, Inc.; Tasco Insulation, Inc.; Team Industrial Services, Inc.; Townsend & Bottum, Inc.; Trans-Pumps, Inc.; Trans-Pumps, Inc. of Pittsburgh; UB West Virginia, Inc.; Unifrax Corporation; Union Carbide Corporation; United Conveyor Corporation; United States Steel Corporation; Universal Refractories Corporation; Viacom Inc.; Viking Pump, Inc.; Vimasco Corporation; Warren Pumps, Inc.; Washington Group International; Waste Management, Inc.; Watson McDaniel Company; Weil-McLain Company; West Penn Power Company; Whiting Corporation; The William Powell Company; WT/HRC Corporation; Yarway Corporation; and Zurn Industries, LLC.(wvrecord.com)

St. Louis, MO: Adrian Fayne has filed an asbestos exposure lawsuit against Trigen-St. Louis Energy Corporation, claiming he was exposed to asbestos after a steam pipe allegedly burst in downtown St. Louis.

The lawsuit alleges that on April 5 Trigen-St. Louis was delivering steam through a steam line at the intersection of 11th and Convention Plaza. Fayne claims the pipe broke open and allowed a steam cloud to escape, and that steam cloud contained asbestos and carried the toxic substance several blocks through the downtown area.

Fayne further alleges he was exposed to a highly-toxic asbestos cloud that caused immediate damage to his lungs. He accuses Trigen-St. Louis of negligence and asks for more than $25,000 in actual damages. Fayne is seeking more than $5 million in punitive damages plus court fees. (madisonrecord.com)

Tags: Asbestos, asbestos lawsuit, Asbestos Settlement, asbestosis, Carpenter, Electrician, mesothelioma, Occupational Asbestos Exposure, Plumber

This was posted on Thursday, May 31st, 2012 at 1:37 pm and is filed under Asbestos Mesothelioma, lawsuits, Settlement . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.