Asbestos News Roundup: 5.7.10

May 7th, 2010. By LucyC

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

Asbestos Lawsuits

South East Texas: The children of a recently deceased man have filed an asbestos lawsuit against the petroleum giant Chevron, alleging their father was lethally exposed to asbestos during his career with company as a helper electrician and operator.

According to the lawsuit, Cyrus Kugler developed asbestos-related lung cancer from which he died on July 15, 2008. His children cite Chevron for a number of negligent acts, including allowing their father to work around the substance when Chevron knew of its hazards, exposing him to asbestos, failing to timely and adequately warn him of the dangers of asbestos exposure and failing to take proper precautions to ensure that he was not exposed to asbestos. (setexasrecord.com)

Charleston, WV: The widow of James A. Boggs has filed an asbestos-related lawsuit over her late husband’s cause of death which names 85 companies as defendants.

Deborah E. Boggs’ late husband was a production foreman and plant operator at Conoco Venco in Moundsville. He was diagnosed with asbestosis and lung cancer, according to a complaint filed April 12 in Kanawha Circuit Court.

Mrs. Boggs alleges that her husband was exposed to asbestos products during the years he worked for the defendants and that they failed to warn him of the dangers of the products to which he was exposed. Mrs. Boggs further claims that the defendants knew or should have known that exposure to the asbestos-containing products would cause disease and injury. Mr. Boggs was diagnosed with asbestosis and lung cancer.

The 85 defendant companies are: 20th Century Glove Corporation; Allied Glove Corporation; Anchor Packing Company; Armstrong International, Inc.; Aurora Pump Company; A.W. Chesterton Company; Borg-Warner Corporation; Buffalo Pumps, Inc.; Burnham Holdings, Inc.; Cameron International Corporation; Catalytic Construction Company; CBS Corporation; Certainteed Corporation; Copes-Vulcan, Inc.; Crane Company, Inc.; Dana Corporation; Dow Chemical Company; E.I. Du Pont de Nemours & Company; Earl B. Beach Company; Eichleay Corporation; F.B. Wright Company; Fairmont Supply Company; Flowserve U.S., Inc.; Flowserve FSD Corporation; Flowserve U.S., Inc., as successor to Valtel International; Fluor Constructors International; Foster Wheeler; the Gage Company; Gardner Denver, Inc.; Garlock Sealing Technologies; General Electric Company; General Refractories Company; the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company; Goulds Pumps, Inc.; Greene Tweed & Co.; Grinnell Corporation; Honeywell, Inc.; Honeywell International, Inc.; Howden Buffalo, Inc.; I.U. North America, Inc.; IMO Industries, Inc.; Industrial Holdings Corporation; Ingersoll-Rand Company; ITT Corporation; John Crane, Inc.; Joy Technologies, Inc.; Leslie Controls, Inc.; Lockheed Martin Corporation; Maremont Exhaust Products, Inc.; Metropolitan Life Insurance Company; Mueller Steam Specialty; Nagle Pumps, Inc.; Nitro Industrial Coverings, Inc.; O.C. Keckley Company; Owens-Illinois, Inc.; Pneumo Abex Corporation; Premiere Refractories, Inc.; Rockwell Automation, Inc.; Roper Pump Company; Rust Constructors, Inc.; Rust Engineering & Construction, Inc.; Safety First Industries; the Sager Corporation; Saint-Gobain Abrasives,Inc.; Spirax Sarco, Inc.; SPX Cooling Technologies, Inc.; Sterling Fluid Systems (USA); Sundyne Corporation; SVI Corporation; Swindell-Dressler International Company; Tasco Insulation, Inc.; Townsend & Bottum, Inc.; UB West Virginia, Inc.; Unifrax Corporation; United Conveyor Corporation; U.S.F. & . Insurance Company; Viacom, Inc.; Viking Pump, Inc.; Vimasco Corporation; Warren Pumps, Inc.; Washington Group International; Waste Management, Inc.; Watson McDaniel Company; and Yarway Corporation were named as defendants in the case. (wvrecord.com)

Charleston, WV: A couple from Pittsburgh, PA, the Krunkels, have filed an asbestos-related lawsuit naming 89 companies as defendants.

The suit claims that Darryl R. Kunkel was exposed to asbestos products of the defendants when he was exposed to his father’s asbestos-laden clothes from 1965 until 1994. Kunkel alleges that his father, who worked as a truck driver from 1961 until 1994, drove to numerous industrial and commercial facilities which would have contained asbestos. On January 22, Darryl Kunkel was diagnosed with mesothelioma. He was just 44 years old at the time.

Darryl Kunkel and his wife, Dianne C. Burkhart, claim the 89 defendant companies all failed to exercise ordinary care and should have known the asbestos and asbestos-containing material were deadly, poisonous and highly harmful to Kunkel’s body, lungs, respiratory system, skin and health.

The 89 companies named as defendants in the case are: A.O. Smith Corporation; A.W. Chesterton; Ajax Magnethermic Corporation; AK Steel Corporation; Allegheny Energy Service Corporation; Allied Chemical Corporation; Allied Glove Corporation; American Optical Corporation; Aqua-Chem, Inc.; Atlas Industries, Inc.; Bayer Corporation; Beazer East, Inc.; Brand Insulations, Inc.; Cashco, Inc.; CBS Corporation; Copes-Vulcan, Inc.; Crane Co.; Crown, Cork & Seal USA, Inc.; DeZurik, Inc.; Dravo Corporation; Durametallic Corporation; E. I. DuPont de Nemours; Eaton Corporation; Elsa Benson, Inc.; Electrolux Home Products; F.B. Wright Company; Fairmont Supply Company; FMC Corporation; Foseco, Inc.; Foster Wheeler Energy Corporation; Garlock, Inc.; General Electric Company; George V. Hamilton, Inc.; Goulds Pumps; Greene Tweed & Co.; Grinnell Corporation; Hedman Resources Limited; Honeywell International, Inc.; Honeywell, Inc.; Hunter Sales Corporation; Huntington Alloys Corporation; I. U. North America, Inc.; IMO Industries, Inc.; Industrial Holdings Corporation; Ingersoll-Rand Company; Insul Company, Inc.; ITT Corporation; J.H. France Refractories Company; J.M. Foster, Inc.; Joy Technologies, Inc.; Leslie Controls, Inc.; M.S. Jacobs & Associates, Inc.; Mallinckrodt, Inc.; Marley Cooling Tower; McCann Shields Paint Company; McCarl’s, Inc.; McJunkin Red Man Corporation; Metropolitan Life Insurance Company; Milton Roy Company; Minnotte Contracting Corporation; Monongahela Power Company; Nagle Pumps, Inc.; Nitro Industrial Coverings, Inc.; Oglebay Norton Company; Ohio Valley Insulating Company, Inc.; Owens-Illinois, Inc.; Plotkin Brothers Supply, LLP; Pneumo Abex Corporation; Powell Valve Company; Power Piping Company; Premier Refractories, Inc.; Riley Stoker Corporation; Safety First Industries, Inc.; Saint-Gobain Abrasive, Inc.; Sealite, Inc.; Square D Company; Stockham Valves & Fittings; Tasco Insulations, Inc.; Thiem Corp.; Townsend & Bottum, Inc.; Treco Construction Services, Inc.; UB West Virginia, Inc.; Unifrax Corporation; Union Carbide Corporation; United Conveyor Corporation; United States Steel Corporation; Vimasco Corporation; Washington Group International; and WMX Technologies, Inc. (wvrecord.com)

Firefighters and Asbestos – Government Initiates Study

Firefighters will be the focus of a new study to determine the risk they may be at for asbestos mesothelioma and other cancers as a result of routine exposure to chemical substances such as asbestos.

The study has been undertaken by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in partnership with the U.S. Fire Administration will conduct a study on the health records of more than 18,000 current and retired career firefighters. NIOSH is a division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The study will examine connections between cancers such as mesothelioma in firefighters and exposure to asbestos and other toxins on the job. (surviving mesothelioma.com)

Asbestos Justice

Buffalo, NY: Two contractors in the Buffalo area were arrested recently for illegally dumping more than five tons of asbestos-contaminated debris in an abandoned city warehouse.

Robert L. Bishop, of East Amherst, who owns Peerless Environmental Control, a local asbestos abatement contractor, and Salvatore P. Capizzi, of Grand Island, a self-employed demolition contractor, have been charged with two felony counts that carry a maximum penalty of seven years in prison.

“People who try to cut corners by illegally dumping harmful materials, like asbestos, endanger the public and hurt the environment,” Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo told the Buffalo News.

Reportedly, Bishop collected thousands of pounds of asbestos-contaminated waste and stored it at a local warehouse. However, he moved the toxic waste to an abandoned building after being notified by the state Labor Department of an upcoming inspection. Bishop thought the warehouse to which he moved the waste was owned by Capizzi, but in fact Capizzi was not the owner.

Apparently, the asbestos remained hidden for over a year, until it was discovered by the Labor Department’s asbestos regulators. The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency cleaned the site at a cost of $137,400. (Buffalonews.com)

Anchorage, AK: The owner of a building in Anchorage has been fined $70,000 in penalties for failing to protect renovation workers from asbestos exposure. The building owner reportedly failed to take protective action for his employees, even after receiving a warning from authorities that asbestos was present. In June, 2009, work at the building, which formerly housed the Matanuska Maid creamery in Anchorage, was stopped by Alaskan officials, however further inspections revealed that construction was continuing. Consequently, officials issued two citations to the building owner. (Justice News Flash)

Middleboro, MA: Two brothers have pled guilty to charges of illegally removing and transferring asbestos to a storage facility in Middleboro. In 2009, an environmental strike force found 76 drums of asbestos waste hidden in a local storage facility. The toxic waste originated from demolition projects in North Attleboro and Attleboro.

Conseqeuntly, Arthur Amaral, 50, owner of Northeast Demolition and Removal, and his brother Shaun Amaral, 38, were indicted for violating the Clean Air Act. Their charges included knowingly demolishing buildings that contained asbestos, failure to file notice, improperly removing hazardous material and failure to comply with asbestos disposal regulations.

Both men were sentenced to two years probation. Arthur Amaral was fined $1,500, and Shaun was fined $500. (enterprise news.com)

Tags: Asbestos, Asbestos Mesothelioma

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