Asbestos Mesothelioma Archive

Asbestos News Roundup: 9.23.10

September 23rd, 2010. By LucyC

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

Asbestos Lawsuits

Charleston, WV: Frank S. Reisberger of Shadyside, Ohio, is suing 95 companies alleging that they are responsible for his developing malignant asbestos mesothelioma. Reisberger was diagnosed with the fatal disease on August 17.

The 95 defendants include:  3M Company; A.O. Smith Corporation; A.W. Chesterton Company; Allegheny Power Systems; Armstrong International, Inc.; Armstrong Pumps, Inc.; Aurora Pump Company; Bayer Cropscience, LP; Brand Insulations, Inc.; Buffalo Pumps; Catalytic Construction Company; Ceitainteed Corporation; Chemtura Corporation; Cleaver-Brooks, Inc.; Cameron International Corporation; Copes-Vulcan; Crane Co.; Crane Valves North America & Stockham Company; Dezurik, Inc.; Dunham-Bush, Inc.; Eaton Electrical, Inc.; Elliott Company; F.B. Wright; Fairmont Supply Company; Felt Products Mfg. Co.; First Energy Corporation; Flowserve US, Inc., f/k/a Flowserve FSD Corporation; Flowserve US, Inc., f/k/a Durco International, Inc.; Flowserve US, Inc., and its Byron Jackson Pump Division; Fluor Enterprises, Inc.; Flour Corporation; FMC Corporation; Foster Wheeler Energy Corporation; General Electric Company, Inc.; General Refractories Company; Geo. V. Hamilton, Inc.; Goulds Pumps, Inc.; Graybar Electric Company; Grinnell, LLC; Hercules, Inc.; Honeywell International f/k/a Allied Signal, Inc.; Honeywell International, Inc.; I.U. North America, Inc.; IMO Industries, Inc.; Industrial Holdings Corporation; Ingersoll-Rand Company; ITT Corporation; John Crane, Inc.; McJunkin Corporation; Milwaukee Valve Company; Mobay Chemical Corporation; Mueller Steam Specialty; Nagle Pumps; National Service Industries Venture, Inc.; Nibco, Inc.; O.C. Keckley Company; Nitro Industrial Coverings, Inc.; Oakfabco, Inc.; Ohio Valley Insulating Company, Inc.; Peerless Boilers Company; Pneumo Abex Corporation; Rapid American Corporation; Reliance Electric, Inc.; Riley Power, Inc.; Rockwell Automation, Inc.; Rust Engineering & Construction, Inc.; Rust Constructors, Inc.; Rust International, Inc.; Smith Cast Iron Boilers; Spirax Sarco, Inc.; Square D Company; Standco Industries, Inc.; State Electric Supply Company; Sterling Fluid Systems (USA), LLC; Taco, Inc.; TAMKO Roofing Products; Tasco Insulations, Inc.; the William Powell Company; Townsend & Bottom, Inc.; Trane U.S., Inc.; Tyco Flow Control Company LLC; UB West Virginia, Inc.; Uniroyal, Inc.; United Engineers & Constructors, Inc.; Vellumoid, Inc.; Viacom, Inc.; Viking Pump, Inc.; Vimasco Corporation; Washington Group International; Watson McDaniel Company; Warren Pumps; Weil-McLain Company; Wilsonart International, Inc.; Yarway Corporation; and Zurn Industries, Inc. (wvirginiarecord.com)

Parkesburg, WV: A Parkersburg couple have filed an asbestos suit naming 58 defendants Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Asbestos, Asbestos Mesothelioma
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Asbestos News Roundup: 9.16.10

September 16th, 2010. By LucyC

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

Asbestos Lawsuits

Bellevue, WA: The Longwell Company of Bellevue has been charged by state regulators with violating the state’s asbestos regulations. 

Longwell Company is a privately owned real estate investment and management company, that has acquired, managed and disposed of multi-family real estate assets since 1992. It was during that period that they allegedly improperly removed asbestos-containing materials, or ACMs, from 43 apartments in a single complex in December of 2009. 

The Washington State Department of Labor and Industries (L&I), has consequently fined Longwell $165,400 for violating state statutes governing ACM handling, removal and disposal. 

Washington state mandates asbestos removal only by certified contractors, a list of which can be found on L&I’s website. As the site further notes, if the contractor’s name is not on that list, they are not allowed to perform asbestos remediation or removal. (mesotheliomaweb.org) 

Taconite Miners’ Study Moves to Silver Bay

Silver Bay, MN: A meeting was held recently in Silver Bay to inform people about a University of Minnesota study on asbestos mesothelioma. The study is a continuation of research begun in 2009 in Virginia, and is testing past and present workers exposed to Read the rest of this entry »

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Asbestos News Roundup: 9.10.10

September 10th, 2010. By LucyC

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

Asbestos Lawsuits

Jefferson County, TX: Surviving family members of four deceased refinery workers in Texas, have filed a wrongful death suit that names 78 defendant companies. Family members of Betty Laverne, Jimmie Ray Sonnier, William Harold Tinney and Perkins Young allege that the defendants exposed the workers to asbestos through their work, and that exposure led to their deaths from asbestos-related diseases. 

According to the complaint, the plaintiffs worked as craftsmen and construction tradesmen at the refineries, chemical plants and other industrial facilities in Jefferson, Orange and Harris counties. The suit alleges that the workers were exposed to asbestos through thermal and electrical insulation products, flooring materials, textiles, gaskets, wicking and packing, mastics, cement products, coatings and other uses of asbestos. Further, the family members contend that “Even after defendants knew the truth about the propensity of asbestos they remained mute when by reasonable effort they could have prevented the risk of cancer and asbestosis from afflicting the Plaintiffs.”

The suit claims that the defendants’ negligent acts include failure to exercise reasonable care to protect the plaintiffs from dangers and unreasonable risks of harm known to exist.

The 78 defendants are divided into “premises defendants” which are the refineries, chemical plants and shipyards; “product defendants” that make the asbestos containing products; and “distributor defendants” that sold or supplied the products.

The defendants named in the suit are 4520 Corp., A.W. Chesterton Co., Air Liquide America, American Petroleum Institute, American Standard, Ametek, AMF Inc., Aqua-Chem, Babcock Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Asbestos, Asbestos Mesothelioma
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Possibly Most Dangerous Video to Produce…Ever

September 10th, 2010. By AbiK

I have to believe this video was one of the most dangerous ever created. Worse than even those swimming-with-the-sharks videos—after all, the danger there is clear and present. With this, it’s more insidious—and no one had a crystal ball to clue folks into the dangers that would be with asbestos exposure.

I’ve watched this video—Asbestos A Matter of Time—originally created by the Bureau of Mines – US Department of the Interior in 1959—numerous times. The music and voiceover harken back to those classic made-for-schoolkids videos many of us endured in the ’60’s, ’70’s and ’80’s—only those were usually talking about the dangers of forest fires, marijuana, or some birds-n-bees thing.

No, this little gem talks about that wonder mineral, asbestos.

Obviously, we now know (though perhaps our northerly neighbors up in Canada didn’t get the memo) that asbestos is some pretty bad stuff—highly toxic and carcinogenic. But back in the life-is-good ’50’s, asbestos was the jack-of-all-trades ingredient in roofing, flooring, insulation…just look at the video (and yes, it’s a bit lengthy). See the cord on the iron? The little boy playing with his train? Why, asbestos was almost as important to daily living as the very air everyone breathed!

But the most alarming part of this—aside from wondering about the ultimate health of the camera guy—is that the asbestos miners aren’t wearing any protective inhalation gear. The video talks about “safety”, but who knew back then that just bringing home some asbestos fibers on your clothes for your devoted wife to wash could result in her getting asbestos mesothelioma?

We’ve come a long way, baby—that’s for sure. And let’s hope Canada joins us at some point. Soon.

Tags: Asbestos, Asbestos Mesothelioma, asbestos_mesothelioma
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Abestos Disease tops for Worker Deaths in British Columbia

September 9th, 2010. By LucyC

You would think in this day and age that some common sense would prevail when it comes to the production and dissemination of carcinogenic materials. To be clear, I’m defining common sense as meaning erring on the side of caution, and if the substances are really lethal—not producing them at all… 

Not so, according to a new report released by Canadian health officials. The report apparently states that diseases related to asbestos are now the leading cause of workplace death in the Canadian province of British Columbia (BC). This is the kind of news you might expect to hear coming out of India, Pakistan, China, even the Canadian province of Quebec, where the infamous Jeffrey asbestos mine—among the largest open pit asbestos mine in the world—is currently fighting for its financial life. (And it looks as if the federal and provincial governments are going to support it—all in the name of  job creation—where—in the funeral business?) 

Back to BC. According to a report by The Vancouver Sun, a BC-based newspaper, “WorkSafe BC documents some 50 asbestos-related workplace deaths annually, but the true toll is far higher, as agency statistics only cover workers who have filed compensation claims. 

‘Among BC workers alone, it is estimated that 1,500 workers will die from asbestos- Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Asbestos, Asbestos Mesothelioma, British Columbia, Canada, Jeffery Mine
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