Asbestos Mesothelioma Archive

Asbestos News Roundup: 5.9.13 – Second-Hand Asbestos Risk

May 9th, 2013. 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.

Family Members at Risk for Asbestos Disease

The recent case of John Mays, below, who died from mesothelioma, highlights how asbestos dust represents a danger not just to those who worked in heavy industry, but also to their family members who were in daily contact with them.

The lawsuit filed on behalf of the estate of the late John Mays, claims he suffered secondary asbestos exposure through his father who was a laborer. Recently, we also reported on the case of a 78-year old women succumbed to asbestos mesothelioma which she developed as a result of having breathed in second-hand asbestos fibers as she shook out the work clothes of her husband and son, who worked at a power station.

There are many cases of family members developing asbestos disease as a result of secondary asbestos exposure—secondary exposure caused, for example, by wives beating their husband’s dusty overalls as they hung on a washing line, or shaking them off in a doorway before putting them in a washing machine. Their husbands worked in industries such as mining, ship-building, construction, plumbing and electrical.

Children and even grandchildren have also been put at risk, running up to a returning parent to give them a hug as they return from work, or sitting on their knee as they wear their dusty work clothes. The risk of loved ones being accidentally exposed is unfortunate and just adds to the tragic legacy of asbestos. But as this latest case shows, it is something that family members need to be made aware of.

Asbestos Lawsuits

Schenectady, NY: An asbestos lawsuit has been filed on behalf of Norman Westover in the New York Supreme Court’s 4th Judicial District in Schenectady to recover damages for Mr. Westover’s lung cancer, which, according to the lawsuit, was allegedly caused by asbestos exposure.

According to the filed complaint, Mr. Westover was allegedly exposed to dangerous asbestos fibers on a daily basis during his twenty-plus-year career at the International Paper mill located in Ticonderoga, NY. International Paper purchased the pulp mill, which had been operating on the western shores of Lake Champlain near the Vermont border since the late 19th century, in 1926. In the late 1960s, International Paper began decommissioning the original mill and, in 1971, opened a new mill at the location which is still operating today. The mill produces 850 tons of paper a day, employs approximately 600 workers and contracts with 650 loggers and truckers in New York and Vermont.

International Paper was formed in 1898 upon the merger of 18 paper mills in the northeast. The company was responsible for supplying 60% of the newsprint in the country. International Paper’s Hudson River Mill, located in nearby Corinth, where the Sacandaga River joins the Hudson, was a major pioneer in the development of the modern paper industry. In the early 20th century, the Hudson River Mill was one of International Paper’s largest plants and served both as the company’s principal office and a place where paper workers helped shape the direction of the industry’s early labor movement.

As per the asbestos lawsuit papers, during his tenure at International Paper, Mr. Westover worked in both the original and new mill and he held a variety of positions that allegedly exposed him to asbestos fibers used in connection with mill machinery, including, but not limited to, cutters, dryers, rollers, boilers, pumps, and valves. Mr. Westover was also allegedly exposed to asbestos that was used in an abundance to insulate component parts of the original and new mill and the related piping and wiring. (digitaljournal.com)

St. Clair, IL: An asbestos lawsuit has been filed on behalf of Neda Flake-Mays, who is special administrator of the estate of John Mays, alleging 60 defendant companies caused Mays to develop lung cancer after his exposure to asbestos-containing products throughout his career.

According to the lawsuit, Mays worked as a bulldozer driver at Job Corps Cooking from 1963 until 1965, as flooring maker at E.L. Bruce from 1965 until 1967, as a wood paneling maker at Evans Products from 1967 until 1969 and as a chemical mixer and operator at Humko Chemical from 1969 until 1991. The complaint also claims Mays suffered secondary asbestos exposure through his father who was a laborer at Nikki Brothers.

Flake-Mays lawsuit claims the defendants should have known of the harmful effects of asbestos, but failed to exercise reasonable care and caution for the plaintiffs’ or their deceased relative’s safety.

As a result of his asbestos-related diseases, the lawsuit states Mays became disabled and disfigured, incurred medical costs and suffered great physical pain and mental anguish. Further, Mays became prevented from pursuing his normal course of employment and, as a result, lost large sums of money that would have accrued to him.

In her 10-count complaint, Flake-Mays is seeking a judgment of more than $150,000, economic damages of more than $200,000, punitive and exemplary damages of more than $50,000, compensatory damages of more than $100,000, punitive damages in an amount sufficient to punish the defendants, plus costs and other relief the court deems just.

Tags: Asbestos, Asbestos Exposure, asbestos law, asbestos lawsuit, Asbestos Mesothelioma
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Asbestos News Roundup: 5.2.13 – Navy Vets and Asbestos Risk

May 2nd, 2013. 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.

US Navy Veterans at Risk for Asbestos

US Navy Veterans are at high risk for asbestos-related disease, due to their asbestos exposure while working on navy ships undergoing refits, for example. 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 Lawsuits

New Orleans, LA: several corporations are facing an asbestos mesothelioma lawsuit filed by a woman from St. Tammany Parish who alleges each company contributed to her contraction of the asbestos-related disease.

Sharon Laurent filed her asbestos lawsuit against CRS Limited, Eagle Inc., Georgia-Pacific LLC and Taylor Seidenbach in the Orleans Parish Central District Court.

Laurent alleges that due to her household exposure to asbestos containing products manufactured by the defendants she contracted mesothelioma.

The defendants are accused of lack of warning or sufficient and timely warning of the hazards of their products would present on the course of the normal and intended use, lack of safety instructions to eliminate or reduce the health risk associated with the use of their products and failing to inspect products to assure sufficiency and adequacy of warnings and safety precautions.

An unspecified amount is sought for all medical expenses, loss earnings, mental suffering, physical pain and suffering and loss of quality of life. (LAreceord.com)

Asbestos Clean Up

Columbia, MO: Residents of an apartment building in Columbia, who lost everything in a fire that all but consumed the building, have now learned that the fire, clean-up and subsequent rains have triggered a safe level of asbestos in the building to become toxic, said Melissa DeCicco, the marketing manager for Mills Apartments, the St. Louis-based company that owns the complex.

DeCicco said the asbestos has made it dangerous for residents to take back most of their possessions. “Anything of sentimental value, the contractor will try and get back in and have them cleaned for free, but those are the only things that we can really get out,” she said.

None of the residents of the 66 apartments will be able to move back in for a long time, DeCicco said, though how long is unknown. She couldn’t say exactly how many residents were displaced. (columbiamissourian.com)

Tags: Asbestos, Asbestos Exposure, asbestos law, asbestos lawsuit, Asbestos Mesothelioma
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Asbestos News Roundup: 4.26.13 – Top Risk Jobs for Asbestos Exposure

April 26th, 2013. 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.

Asbestos Exposure—Who’s at Risk?

A $7.5 million asbestos lawsuit settlement was recently awarded to construction worker who developed a highly aggressive cancer after his exposure to asbestos. The plaintiff, who was not named, brought the lawsuit against several of the companies that manufactured the materials.

But construction workers aren’t the only people at high risk for asbestos disease. According to information posted by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), workers in the following areas can be exposed to asbestos:

• Brake repair mechanic

• Carpenter

• Demolition worker

• Dry wall finisher

• Electrician

• Insulation installer

• Miner

• Pipe or steam fitter

• Plumber

• Roofer

• Shipyard worker

• Vermiculite processing plant worker

• Welder

The ATSDR also states that outdoor workers, such as construction workers, landscapers, and excavators might be exposed to naturally occurring asbestos found above the ground through activities that crush asbestos-containing rock or stir up dust in soils that contain asbestos.

Asbestos Lawsuits

New Orleans, LA: Carol Phillips and the Estate of Robert Lee Phillips have filed an asbestos lawsuit against ABB Combustion Engineering Inc., Centerpoint Energy Inc., Associated Electric Cooperative Inc., Nebraska Public Power District, and City of Grand Island in St. John the Baptist District Court.

Mrs. Phillips alleges her husband died from asbestos exposure. He worked for the defendants for various times from 1956 until 1980, and, the lawsuit contends she was exposed, on numerous occasions, to asbestos or asbestos-containing products and inhaled great quantities of asbestos fibers. Phillips developed mesothelioma and subsequently died as a result of his alleged exposure, the lawsuit claims.

The asbestos lawsuit claims negligence and premises liability for failing to provide a safe place to work, failing to inspect, approve, and supervise the work of Philips and his co-workers, failing to provide adequate warnings, physical examinations, safety equipment, ventilation, and breathing apparatus to prevent Phillips from being harmed by exposure to asbestos, failing to comply with the applicable regulations regarding workplace exposure to asbestos, failing to provide adequate safety equipment, and failing to protect Phillips from any asbestos exposure, on the part of the defendants.

Mrs. Phillips is seeking an award of wrongful death and survival damages for physical pain and mental anguish, pain, medical expenses, physical impairment, total disability, loss of earning capacity and wages, expenses for domestic help and nursing care, loss of love and affection, loss of services, medical expenses, funeral expenses, attorney’s fees, interest, and court costs.

Los Angeles, CA: A construction worker who developed a highly aggressive cancer after his exposure to asbestos, has settled pre-trial for $7.5 million. The plaintiff brought his asbestos lawsuit against several of the companies that manufactured the asbestos-containing materials.

The plaintiff was a construction worker in the 1970s and ‘80s, helping install underground water and sewer lines beneath the Sacramento Valley city of Chico. His job involved working with pipes made from a concrete-asbestos compound, which he would cut with a gasoline-powered saw. The cutting generated an enormous amount of cement-asbestos dust, which left the plaintiff covered head to toe by the end of the day. The plaintiff was later diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma, an aggressive form of cancer, also rare except where attributable to asbestos exposure.

The plaintiff filed the lawsuit in the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, seeking damages on a defective product liability action. The plaintiff sought recovery of medical expenses, lost wages, and non-economic recovery. The defendants named were several companies who manufactured, sold or delivered the asbestos-containing pipes the plaintiff worked with, including Parex USA, Westburne Supply, John K. Bice Co., Los Angeles Rubber, Hajoca Corp., Hanson Permanente Cement, Keenan, Properties, J-M Manufacturing, Certainteed Corp., Ferguson Enterprises, Grinnell Corp., Amcord, Ameron International and Calportland.

Asbestos Manufacturer Files for Bankruptcy

On Monday, April 22, 2013, Yarway Corporation filed a chapter 11 petition for bankruptcy in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. According to papers filed by Yarway with the Bankruptcy Court, the company’s origins go back to 1908 when it started manufacturing pipe clamps, steam traps and valves. The company was privately owned until 1986, when it was sold to Keystone International, Inc. Keystone was purchased by Tyco International Ltd. in 1997.

According to its Declaration, Yarway “allegedly manufactured, distributed and/or sold asbestos-containing products, which ceased entirely by 1988.” The company stopped its manufacturing operations entirely in 2003 when it sold its manufacturing facility to an unrelated third party. Id. Even after the company sold off its manufacturing assets, it remained in existence in order to “defend, process and satisfy asbestos-related claims asserted against it.” These asbestos related claims are the basis for Yarway filing for bankruptcy.

Yarway contends that its bankruptcy filing is the result of the continued flow of asbestos-related claims due to human exposure to the company’s asbestos-containing products. The company places the asbestos claims in two primary categories: (1) claims stemming from exposure to Yarway’s gaskets and packing that was manufactured between the 1920s to the 1970; and (2) claims relating to the manufacture of joint packing consisting of Teflon and asbestos from the 1940s to the 1970s.

Yarway is faced with an enormous amount of asbestos-related litigation. The company contends that it was first named as a defendant in a lawsuit in 1991. In the last five years over 10,000 new asbestos-related claims have been asserted against the company. Since the beginning of Yarway’s fiscal year (October 1, 2012), Yarway has received over 1,000 new asbestos claims. In the past five years, Yarway has paid over $128 million in settlement costs for asbestos claims. That number reached $18 million for this fiscal year alone.

Yarway contends that in 2012 it settled the last of its insurance policies known to provide coverage for asbestos-related claims. The company believes it has no additional insurance coverage for future claims. By filing for bankruptcy, Yarway hopes to “negotiate, obtain approval of, and consummate a plan for reorganization that establishes an appropriately funded trust to provide for the fair and equitable payment of legitimate current and future Yarway asbestos claims …” (MondaqNews.com)

Tags: Asbestos, Asbestos Exposure, asbestos law, asbestos lawsuit, Asbestos Mesothelioma
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Asbestos News Roundup: 4.18.13 – Asbestos in Schools, Libby Delays

April 18th, 2013. 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.

School Kids at Risk for Asbestos Exposure?

Building materials and insulation such as drywall, floor/ceiling tile, applied fireproofing spray, and piping/boiler insulation used in the construction of schools prior to 1980, frequently contained asbestos.

While undisturbed asbestos materials generally do not pose a health risk to students and teachers, over time they can become hazardous due to deterioration or damage.

If asbestos containing materials are disturbed, (e.g. during the installation, maintenance, or removal process), asbestos fibers may become airborne and pose a health threat to students, teachers and other employees within the schools. Once asbestos fibers are inhaled or swallowed, the risk of getting an asbestos related disease, such as asbestosis or mesothelioma, also increases. Student exposure to asbestos in schools is particularly concerning because once the fibers accumulate in the lungs, the latency period between asbestos exposure and the onset of symptoms can take as long as 20 to 50 years.

The federal government has been regulating the use of asbestos in schools since the 1980′s. Schools now have regulatory requirements and management plans to reduce the risk of potential asbestos exposure for students and teachers. However, until the presence of asbestos in schools is eliminated entirely, many believe it will continue to pose a health risk.

Asbestos Lawsuits

Charleston, WV: William Eugene Miller, from Wheelersburg, Ohio, is suing 60 companies he alleges caused his lung cancer.

Miller was diagnosed with the asbestos-related illness on April 21, 2011. According to his asbestos lawsuit, the defendants exposed Miller to asbestos and/or asbestos-containing products during his employment as a laborer from 1947 until 1995, according to a suit. The defendants are being sued based on theories of negligence, contaminated buildings, breach of expressed/implied warranty, strict liability, intentional tort, conspiracy, misrepresentation and post-sale duty to warn, according to the lawsuit.

Chicago, IL: A developer renovating a nursing home in uptown Chicago is facing an asbestos lawsuit brought by Attorney General Lisa Madigan. The eight-count lawsuit cites environmental violations related to the faulty removal of asbestos from the nursing home by Somerset Place Realty, the new owner of the property at 5009 N. Sheridan Rd.

Developer Zidan Management Group and general contractor Dubai, Inc., were also named in the lawsuit, which seeks $400,000 in damages ABC7Chicago reported.

“Unfortunately, careless mishandling of this dangerous substance posed a health threat,” Madigan said in a release Wednesday. “This legal action will ensure the workers take appropriate precautions and the contractors effectively clean up the location.”

Both city health inspectors and inspectors with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency) allegedly saw workers “wearing only paper respirators,” and indicated they “were not dressed properly for asbestos removal,” according to Madigan’s office.

The workers were also “removing pipe insulation, tile and mastic containing asbestos without enclosures and without following the proper wetting procedures,” Madigan’s office said.

Madigan’s complaint against Zidan, Somerset and Dubai alleged “substantial danger to the environment, air pollution, violation of asbestos inspection, emission control and disposal procedures, and violations regarding state and local notification of asbestos removal.” (ABC7chicago.com)

EPA Comes Under Fire for Libby, Montana Cleanup

Billings, MT: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is coming under fire by internal investigators for “years of delays” in completing health studies that are necessary to inform the ongoing cleanup at the infamous asbestos mining town of Libby.

Hundreds of people living in and around Libby have died from asbestos exposure resulting directly from the mining activities of WR Grace, which mined vermiculite asbestos and made insulation from it, for years.

In 2009, the area where Libby is, some 50 miles from the US-Canada border, was declared a public health emergency, but that was 10 years after federal regulators initially responded to concerns over asbestos dust that came from a WR Grace vermiculite mine. The insulation was used in millions of US homes.

To date, the cleanup has cost at least $447 million, and it will continue, with between 80 and 100 properties remaining to be remediated this year and several hundred still waiting for remediation dates.

Meanwhile, Libby remains under a public health emergency declaration issued by then-EPA administrator Lisa Jackson in 2009. Deaths resulting from the WR Grace asbestos exposure will likely continue for decades due to the long latency of asbestos-related diseases. As for the mine itself, cleanup work has only just begun. WR Grace closed the mine in 1990 and filed bankruptcy, but the mine remains its responsibility. (Associated Press)

Tags: Asbestos, Asbestos Exposure, asbestos law, asbestos lawsuit, Asbestos Mesothelioma, EPA, Libby MT, WR Grace
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Asbestos News Roundup: 4.11.13 – Surgeon General’s Asbestos Statement

April 11th, 2013. 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.

No Safe Level of Asbestos Exposure – Surgeon General Issues Statement

On April 1, 2013, as part of National Asbestos Awareness Week, the US Surgeon General, Dr. Regina Benjamin, issued a statement concerning asbestos exposure. In short, the message is that there is no safe level of asbestos exposure.

In fact, the statement notes “that anyone who disturbs asbestos is at risk. However, it is of special concern for construction, insulation, and demolition workers, pipefitters, boilermakers and others who might disturb asbestos found in old buildings or equipment as part of their work. The hazard is also very real to home handymen, first-responders, and community volunteers.”

Veterans who served in any of the following occupations may have also been exposed to asbestos: mining, milling, shipyard work, insulation work, demolition of old buildings, carpentry and construction, manufacturing and installation of products such as flooring and roofing.

Additionally, veterans who served in Iraq and other countries in that region could have been exposed to asbestos when older buildings were damaged and the contaminant released into the air.

The Surgeon General’s statement explains that asbestos exposure can happen from activity that disturbs asbestos, making the asbestos fibers airborne. Inhaling these fibers leads to asbestos-related diseases. Three of the major health effects associated with asbestos exposure are lung cancer; mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer that is found in the thin lining of the lungs, chest, abdomen and heart; and asbestosis, a serious progressive, long-term, non-cancer disease of the lungs. Specifically:

Asbestosis – Scarring of lung tissue that causes breathing problems, usually in workers exposed to asbestos in workplaces before the Federal government began regulating asbestos use (mid-1970s).

Pleural plaques – Scarring in the inner surface of the ribcage and area surrounding the lungs that can cause breathing problems, though usually not as serious as asbestosis. People living in areas with high environmental levels of asbestos, as well as workers, can develop pleural plaques.

Cancer – The two types of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos are lung cancer and mesothelioma, a cancer of the thin lining surrounding the lung (pleural membrane) or abdominal cavity (the peritoneum). Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer usually caused by asbestos exposure.

Asbestos Lawsuits

Charleston, WV: Wayne Junior Rider, who was diagnosed with an asbestos related lung injury on January 28, 2012, has filed an asbestos lawsuit naming 55 companies he alleges are responsible for his illness.

In his lawsuit, Rider claims the defendants exposed him to asbestos and/or asbestos-containing products during his employment at various work sites in and around West Virginia from 1944 until 1980.

Rider is suing the defendants based upon the 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 premises owners and as Rider’s employers for deliberate intent/intentional tort, according to the lawsuit.

The 55 defendants in the suit include: 3M Company; A.C.F. Industries; A.W. Chesterton Company; Aurora Pump Company; Borg-Warner Corporation; Brand Insulations, Inc.; Buffalo Pumps, Inc.; CBS Corporation; Certainteed Corporation; and Cleaver-Brooks Company, Inc. (wvrecord.com)

Jefferson County, TX: Ann Skelton, the recent widow of Robert Skelton, has filed an asbestos lawsuit naming E.I. DuPont De Nemours as the defendant. In her lawsuit, Skelton claims the company exposed her late husband to asbestos throughout the course of his career, and that exposure subsequently led to the illness which caused his death.

According to the lawsuit, DuPont employed Robert at its Beaumont Works facility, where he was exposed to asbestos containing products.

The lawsuit alleges that as a result, he developed lung cancer, “from which he died a painful and terrible death on February 6, 2013.”

The defendant is accused of using benzene products without warning workers of the health risks and failing to take proper safety precautions. Skelton alleges the defendant acted with malice, entitling her to exemplary damages. (setexasrecord.com)

Tags: Asbestos, asbestos lawsuit, Asbestos Settlement, asbestosis, mesothelioma
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