Asbestos Mesothelioma Archive
Asbestos News Roundup: 7.22.11
July 22nd, 2011. By LucyC
A roundup of recent asbestos-related news and information that you should be aware of. An ongoing list of asbestos hot spots from the Asbestos News Roundup archive appears on our asbestos map.
Asbestos News
Asbestos, PQ: The infamous Canadian asbestos mine—the Jeffrey Mine in Asbestos, Quebec could be mothballed indefinitely as of November 13, if talks to keep the mine going don’t produce results soon.
The Jeffrey Mine is Canada’s only fully operational asbestos mine, and is in negotiations with LAB Chrysotile and the union representing the mine’s 350 employees to get the mine up and running again. The Harper government’s decision to allow funding for the mine comes despite international outrage and lobby from organizations including the Canadian Cancer Society. Further, Steven Harper’s government recently blocked a United Nations motion to have asbestos declared a carcinogen.
Simon Dupéré, president of LAB Chrysotile in Thetford Mines told the Montreal Gazette “A shutdown will be necessary on November 13 if we can’t come to an agreement, but both parties want to avoid that, and both parties are willing to collaborate very closely to avoid it.”
The Jeffrey Mine is an open pit asbestos mine and functions for only a few months each year because it’s nearly exhausted. Its owners are hoping to get a loan guarantee from the Quebec government in order to expand into an underground operation, but the government wants to see private financing in place by August 15, or the loan guarantee offer will expire. (Montreal Gazette)
Fort Branch, IN: The charred remains of a meat packing plant in Emge will be cleaned up by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency because it contains asbestos and the plant’s owner refused to do it.
The EPA’s project manager, Kevin Turner, said the EPA has budgeted $400K for the clean-up, which is scheduled to being mid-August. It will likely take four to eight weeks.
“We have engaged the owner to clean it up and he refused,” Turner said. “There is a civil process we go through. Under the law he can say he will do it or not do it but that doesn’t relieve him of any liability or financial responsibility.”
According to a report in the Evansville Courier & Press, regulations in the state of Indiana regulations allow asbestos containing materials to be disposed in licensed municipal landfills but require they be sealed in airtight containers before disposal. According to Turner, the asbestos in the Emge plant was in the insulation and transite which is a material used in wallboard. (evansvillecourierandpress.com)
Detroit, MI: Two men from Bay County are facing federal charges for their alleged mishandling of asbestos while overhauling a former auto manufacturing plant near Utica.
Brian Waite, 38, the project manager, and his colleague Daniel Clements 49, an on-site supervisor, had been contracted to remove fixtures and pipes that contained asbestos from the plant which is located in Macomb County’s Shelby Township.
While federal regulations require asbestos to be wetted down and kept wet before and during its removal, the two men allegedly “directed workers to tear down the asbestos-containing material while it was dry, and to place (it) into plastic bags without wetting it,” according to the indictment. Clements allegedly told the workers onsite to “let it fly,” letting them kick or throw the materials to the waste area at ground level. From there, the indictment claims, Waite and Clements instructed the workers to load dry asbestos into commercial trash containers and cover it with bags of debris that had been wetted.
Waite and Clements have each been charged with two counts of violating the Clean Air Act and one count of conspiring to commit that crime. (mlive.com)
Asbestos News Roundup: 7.14.11
July 14th, 2011. By LucyC
A roundup of recent asbestos-related news and information that you should be aware of. An ongoing list of asbestos hot spots from the Asbestos News Roundup archive appears on our asbestos map.
Asbestos Lawsuits
New Orleans, LA: A wrongful death lawsuit stemming from asbestos exposure has been filed by the widow of a career merchant mariner. Katrine Davalie filed the lawsuit on behalf of the estate of Tookie A. Davalie, alleging that her deceased husband was, while alive, exposed to asbestos, cigarettes and tobacco resulting in pulmonary disease that caused his death.
According the lawsuit, Tookie Davalie was continually exposed to asbestos friable fibers, causing him to inhale carcinogenic asbestos dust on an on-going basis. The named defendants in the case allegedly maintained each of their respective vessels in an unsafe, unseaworthy condition causing the crewmen exposure to toxic chemicals and carcinogens including to friable asbestos and second hand exposure to cigarette and tobacco smoke.
Mrs. Davalie is seeking, on behalf of the estate of Tookie Davalie, damages for loss of earnings and earning capacity, life with fear of cancer and other disease, while living, pain and suffering, costs of being forever medically monitored for disease onset and worsening, loss of pleasurable, social and recreational amenities, exemplary and punitive damages, death, loss of love, affection and support, punitive damages, interest, attorney’s fees and court costs.
Mrs. Davalie has named the following companies as defendants in the wrongful death lawsuit: A-C Product Liability Trust, ACandS Inc., Acorn Iron & Supply Co., Alcoa Steamship Company Inc., Anchor Packing Co., Argo International Corp., Auburn Pump Division of General Signal Corp., Bethlehem Steel Corp., Black & Decker Corp., Boyd Co AB, Bryan Steam Corp., Champion International Corp., Chesterton Co AW, Coffin Pump Inc., Coltec Industries, Inc., Combustion Engineering Inc., Conhagen Inc., Alfred, Crane Co., Crosby Steam and Valve Co., Crown Cork & Seal Co., Inc., Delta Steamship Lines, Inc., Dover Resources Inc., Durabla Read the rest of this entry »
Asbestos News Roundup: 7.8.11
July 8th, 2011. By LucyC
A roundup of recent asbestos-related news and information that you should be aware of. An ongoing list of asbestos hot spots from the Asbestos News Roundup archive appears on our asbestos map.
Asbestos Lawsuits 
Jefferson County, TX: Three defendant companies have been named in an asbestos lawsuit filed by Willis Mareceaux this month. Mareceaux filed the lawsuit on behalf of his late wife’s estate, alleging that his asbestos exposure while working in various refineries indirectly caused the death of Yolande Mareceaux.
The named defendants in Willis’ asbestos lawsuit are Atlantic Richfield, Chevron USA and Oxy USA. He filed the lawsuit on June 28 in Jefferson County District Court.
In his lawsuit, Mareceaux, who worked as a pipefitter, boilermaker and carpente, claims that Yolande was indirectly exposed to asbestos through his employment. “During the time decedent lived at home with her husband, she was exposed to asbestos containing products,” the lawsuit states. “Decedent was exposed to asbestos dust brought home on her husband’s clothing while … working on defendants’ premises.”
Mareceaux’s lawsuit also claims that the defendants should have warned the Mareceaux family of the dangers of asbestos dust on clothing, including the risk for secondary asbestos-related disease. Mr. Mareceaux is suing for exemplary damages. (SETexasrecord.com)
Jefferson County, TX: Texaco and Chevron USA are facing another asbestos lawsuit, this time filed by the widow of Homer Fitts, who, the lawsuit claims, was negligently exposed to asbestos throughout his career working for the defendants. Eunice Fitts filed the lawsuit June 23 in Jefferson County District Court, on behalf of her late husband.
Homer was, according to the asbestos lawsuit, employed by Texaco at its Port Arthur refinery, working as a pipefitter and painter—during which time, and as a result of those occupations, he was exposed him to deadly asbestos dust and fibers. “As a result of such exposure, Homer Fitts developed an asbestos-related disease, asbestosis and lung cancer, for which he died a painful and terrible death on March 10, 2010,” the lawsuit states.
According to the lawsuit, the defendants were aware of the health hazards associated with asbestos yet still allowed their employees to work with asbestos products in the workplace. The plaintiff is suing for exemplary damages. (SETexasrecord.com)
Asbestos Settlements
New Orleans, LA: An Orleans Parish Civil District Court jury hearing an asbestos lawsuit has found in favor of the plaintiff, and awarded him a $1.5 million settlement in general damages.
Leopold Granier Jr., developed asbestos mesothelioma as a result of his exposure to asbestos, the lawsuit claimed. Granier was exposed to asbestos through the negligence of Avondale Shipyards, Cajun Insulation and Union Carbide Corp. The jury’s four page verdict also found that Avondale, Cajun and Union Carbide were strictly liable and that the products in their possession were a “substantial and contributing cause” of Granier’s mesothelioma.
The jury also found that Union Carbide, in particular, was strictly liable because asbestos materials incorporated into the company’s Taft, La., plant were a “substantial and contributing cause” of the man’s cancer, the jury found.
Avondale shipyard was, at one time, the largest employer in the state of Louisiana, employing more than 20,000 people. The shipyard was acquired by Northrop Grumman Corp., and is now slated to close in 2013. Northrop Grumman made the decision as a result of a reduced order for warships from the US Navy. (Legalnewsline.com)
The jury also awarded Granier $104,160.77 in special damages, in addition to the $1.5 million in general damages.
Asbestos Hot Spots
Libby, MT: Perhaps the most infamous superfund site in the US, Libby finds itself in the news again, and its residents in danger of deadly asbestos exposure, resulting from a recent discovery of asbestos-contaminated woodchip piles littering the grounds around the town.
Some reports suggest that the federal government has been aware of the situation for as long as three years, without doing anything to mitigate the associated health hazards.
According to a report in the Huffington Post the contaminated bark and wood chips were a popular item for residents of the town who were landscaping their properties, as well as contractors who packaged the product and sold it around the country.
To date, the government has spent $370 million cleaning up the town, an operation that has been underway since 2009, when Libby was given a public health emergency designation under the federal Superfund law. Libby was the home to the now defunct WR Grace Vermiculite Asbestos Mine, which produced Zonolite asbestos insulation for many years.
Many an asbestos claim has been filed, and Libby residents continue to be treated at a local clinic for exposure to asbestos that can lead to asbestosis lung disease.
Asbestos News Roundup: 6.30.11
June 30th, 2011. By LucyC
A roundup of recent asbestos-related news and information that you should be aware of. An ongoing list of asbestos hot spots from the Asbestos News Roundup archive appears on our asbestos map.
Asbestos Lawsuits
Houston, TX: An asbestos lawsuit has been filed by the estate of Milan Arthur Barackman by Michael Grant Mason. Mason filed the lawsuit thirty years after Barackman was exposed to asbestos on a United States Navy vessel. The lawsuit claims that Barackman was exposed to the material during the late 1960s and early 1970s and that he inhaled asbestos during these years, later resulting in his developing asbestos mesothelioma.
The estate of Barackman has filed a wrongful death suit against Foster Wheeler, Owens-Illinois Inc., General Electric Co., Uniroyal Inc., Riley Power Inc., Rapid American Corp. and Viacom Inc. with U.S. District Judge Jay C. Zainey presiding over Case No. 2:11-cv-01309. The lawsuit claims that Barackman’s diagnoses with asbestos mesothelioma last year was a direct result of asbestos exposure.
Plaintiffs in the case argue that the defendants were allegedly manufacturing a dangerous product and yet gave no warning to Barackman or others of the dangers of being exposed to asbestos. This is not a single case. There Read the rest of this entry »
Asbestos News Roundup: 6.23.11
June 23rd, 2011. By LucyC
A roundup of recent asbestos-related news and information that you should be aware of. An ongoing list of asbestos hot spots from the Asbestos News Roundup archive appears on our asbestos map.
Asbestos Lawsuits
Charleston, WV: A couple from Zelienople, PA have filed an asbestos lawsuit naming 103 companies as defendants. The Pandocchis claim in their lawsuit that the defendants are responsible for Jeffrey Pandocchi’s asbestosis diagnosis.
Mr. Pandocchi was diagnosed with asbestosis in December, 2009. In his lawsuit he alleges he was exposed to asbestos and asbestos products during the course of his employment with the defendants, and that the defendants failed to warn him of the asbestos-containing products and failed to warn him of the harm the products could do.
Mr. Pandocchi further claims the defendants failed to recommend methods to improve the work environment and failed to develop alternative products that did not contain asbestos.
The asbestos lawsuit alleges that the 103 defendants “continued to use a known cancer-causing product.”
Mr. Pandocchi and his wife, Kathryn Pandocchi, are seeking compensatory and punitive damages.
The 103 defendants named in the suit are: A.O. Smith Corporation; Ajax Magnethermic Corporation; Allegheny Energy, Inc., F/K/A Allegheny Power; Allied Glove Corporation; American Electric Power Company, Inc.; American Optical Corporation; Appalachian Power Company; Aqua- Read the rest of this entry »
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