Asbestos Mesothelioma Archive
Asbestos News Roundup: 6.3.10
June 3rd, 2010. By LucyC
A roundup of recent asbestos-related news and information that you should be aware of.
Asbestos Lawsuits
Jefferson County, TX: A couple from Orange County have filed an asbestos lawsuit in which they name 46 defendant corporations, alleging that the lung cancer with which Doug York was diagnosed was wrongfully caused. Mr. York was diagnosed with the disease in December 2009.
According to their lawsuit, Doug York worked as a pipefitter for numerous companies from 1972 to 1985. Some of those corporations include Mobil, Olin, Texaco, Fina, Jefferson Chemical, Houston Chemical, Union 76 and Gulf Oil Corp. During his time as a pipefitter, Mr. York claims that not only was he unknowingly exposed to asbestos but also that he was not aware, nor made aware of, the serious health risks associated with asbestos exposure. Further, the suit claims that Mr. York was not supplied with safe working apparel.
The suit also claims that the defending companies failed to take reasonable precaution to enforce a safety plan, failed to develop a substitute material to eliminate asbestos exposure in the workplace and failed to market asbestos products that were safe to use.
The defendants negligently failed to test their products before they were released into the stream of commerce; failed to provide Doug York with a safe workplace; included asbestos in their products when they could have substituted other, safer materials and when they could have reasonably foreseen that Doug York and his coworkers would inhale the asbestos fibers; and failed to recall the asbestos materials, the suit states.
In their suit, the York’s allege that Mr. York suffers physical pain and mental anguish; that he has endured emotional distress; incurred medical costs; suffered physical impairment and partial disability; lost his earning capacity and his earnings; and became prevented from engaging in the benefits of a complete life.
Defending companies named in the complaint include: AMF Inc., Arch Chemicals, Atlantic Richfield Co., B&B Engineering and Supply Co., BP America, BP America Production, BP Corporation North America, BP Products North America, CBS Corp., Certainteed Corp., Chevron Phillips Chemical Co., Chevron Phillips Chemical Holdings, Chevron U.S.A., Conoco Phillips Co., Crest, Crown, Cork and Seal Co., Deltak, Dravo Constructors, E.I. DuPont de Nemours and Co., Entergy Texas, Exxon Mobil Corp., Exxonmobil Oil Corp., Firestone Polymers, Fluor Constructors International, Foster Wheeler Energy Corp., Foster Wheeler North America Corp., Foster USA Corp., Garlock Sealing Technologies Inc., Guardline, Gulf Oil Corp., Gulf States Utilities, Henry Vogt Machine Co., Huntsman Petrochemical, Mid Valley, Oxbow Calcinning, P.D. Glycol, Riley Power Inc., Temple Inland, Texaco Inc., Total Petrochemicals, Union Oil Company of California, Unocal Corp., Velsicol Chemical Corp., Weil-McClain Boiler Co. and 4520 Corp. (SETexas Record)
Asbestos Study Needs Ex-Residents of Libby Montana
Kalispell, MT: Researchers who are involved in a five-year study of the ongoing health effects of asbestos exposure in people who lived in and near the infamous asbestos mining town of Libby, MT are looking for anyone who went to high school in the town between 1950 and 1990, then moved away.
The Center for Asbestos Related Disease (CARD) is running the $4.8 million study which will Read the rest of this entry »
Asbestos News Roundup: 5.27.10
May 27th, 2010. By LucyC
A roundup of recent asbestos-related news and information that you should be aware of.
Asbestos Lawsuits
Charleston, WV: The widow of James P. Davis, from Ashland, KY, has filed an asbestos lawsuit naming 48 defendants as contributors to her late husband’s lung cancer and resulting death.
Mr. Davis was diagnosed with lung cancer on October 11, 2006, and subsequently died June 1, 2009. He worked for Ashland Oil from 1957 until 1995, according to the suit. The defendants are being sued for negligence, contaminated buildings, breach of expressed/implied warranty, strict liability, intentional tort, conspiracy, misrepresentations and post sale duty to warn.
The 48 companies named as defendants are: 3M Company; A.W. Chesterton Company; Ashland Oil, Inc.; Aurora Pump Company; Brand Insulations, Inc.; Buffalo Pumps, Inc.; BW IP, Inc.; Certainteed Corporation; Cleaver-Brooks Company, Inc.; Crane Co.; Fisher Controls International, Inc.; Flowserve FSD Corporation; Flowserve US, Inc.; FMC Corporation; Foster Wheeler Energy Corporation; Garlock, Inc.; General Electric Company, Inc.; Goulds Pumps, Inc.; Honeywell International; Howden-Buffalo, Inc.; IMO Industries, Inc.; Industrial Holdings Corporation; Ingersoll-Rand Company; ITT Corporation; Leslie Controls, Inc.; Lockheed Martin Corporation; Metropolitan Life Insurance Company; Mueller Steam Specialty; Nagle Pumps, Inc.; Nitro Industrial Coverings, Inc.; Ohio Valley Insulating Company, Inc.; Owens-Illinois, Inc.; Rapid American Corporation; Riley Power, Inc.; Rockwell Automation, Inc.; Roper Pumps Company; Schneider Electric USA, Inc.; Sterling Fluid Systems (USA), LLC; Stockham Valves & Fitting; Taco, Inc.; Tasco Insulations, Inc.; the Gorman-Rupp Company; UB West Virginia, Inc.; United Engineers & Constructors, Inc.; Uniroyal, Inc.; Viacom, Inc.; Viking Pump Company; and Vimasco Corporation. (setexasrecord.com)
Asbestos Settlements
Milwaukee, WI: The estate of John D. Pender was recently awarded $1.48 million in damages by a Milwaukee County jury as compensation for his development of asbestos mesothelioma. Mr. Pender worked as a painter for Harnischfeger, part of P&H Mining Equipment for nearly 40 years, and during that time he was exposed to asbestos-contaminated dust from ground brake linings, the suit claimed. This was noted as the cause of his malignant mesothelioma, which resulted in his death in May 2006. He was 75 years old. (asbestos.com)
Asbestos Hot Spots
Eden Mills, VT: A Boy Scout camp in Eden Mills that has been closed for several months due Read the rest of this entry »
Asbestos Companies Covers Blown—Decades Too Late
May 26th, 2010. By janem
As early as the 1930s executives at companies where asbestos was mined and/or used have been covering up the dangers of asbestos disease to their employees. These execs didn’t suffer from asbestosis or die from mesothelioma; instead they wrote thousands upon thousands of death sentences by hiding or destroying asbestos warning memos from doctors, unions and even insurance companies.
Instead, they paid off many sick workers and made them promise never to tell their co-workers about their disease. Recently, some of these hidden documents have been found and you can read this one online. They are chilling, to say the least, and prove without a doubt that these despicable companies knew and concealed the hazards of asbestos for decades.
“…if you have enjoyed a good life while working with asbestos products, why not die from it.” – 1966 memo by the Director of Purchasing for Bendix Corporation, now a part of Honeywell, to Canadian Johns Manville Co. in Asbestos, Quebec.
The Trinity of Evil: Bendix Corporation, Manville and W.R. Grace.
Manville filed for bankruptcy in 1982 after settling so many asbestos liability claims. This is a convoluted story, so please bear with me: In 1986 a judge approved a settlement that created the Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust to settle asbestos claims.
Manville’s liability insurers, of which Travelers was the primary, contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to the trust in exchange for immunity from future claims related to Manville’s liability insurance policies. This arrangement was subsequently in more than 40 other asbestos cases and Congress wrote it into law. It also meant that asbestos claimants and others who were a part of the 1986 agreement could not make future claims or challenge the bankruptcy.
In 2001, new plaintiffs sued Travelers of conspiring with Manville to hide the dangers of asbestos from the public. One of the plaintiffs was Chubb Indemnity Insurance Co, an asbestos industry liability insurer with its own asbestos claims.
In 2004 Travelers paid $500 million to the plaintiffs in exchange for an order from the bankruptcy court that the original 1986 agreement barred future lawsuits. Just two months ago, a ruling by the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals reversed rulings by a district court and bankruptcy court related to Travelers’ involvement with Johns Manville Corp and Chubb can now sue Travelers Insurance Cos-because Chubb was not a part of that 1986 agreement, unlike countless asbestos victims.
Grace is doubly despicable. Not only did it know in 1960 when it took over the Libby mine that vermiculate could kill people-and continues to potentially harm about 30 million Americans who have the product in their homes-the company didn’t even file for bankruptcy honestly. In May 2002, the Justice Department charged that Grace “removed billions of dollars of assets against which parties who were injured or damaged by Grace’s asbestos-containing material had claims”. Grace could get slapped with a $280 million fine and executives may face up to 70 years in prison.
One can only hope their cells are contaminated with asbestos fibers
Asbestos News Roundup: 5.20.10
May 20th, 2010. By LucyC
A roundup of recent asbestos-related news and information that you should be aware of.
Asbestos Settlements
Miami, FL: A $14 million settlement has been awarded in an asbestos lawsuit brought by a man who alleged that he developed deadly abdominal cancer after being exposed to the mineral in the 1970s.
William Aubin, now 59 years old and a retired firefighter, worked for his family’s construction company, Aubin Construction on Key Biscayne, in the 1970s. During that time he was exposed to products laden with asbestos, specifically joint compounds.
In hearing the case, a jury in Miami-Dade county found that the chemical manufacturer, Union Carbide, was negligent for using asbestos fibers to make the joint compounds used by construction companies such as Aubin Construction. Further, Aubin was exposed without his knowledge, as the product labeling did not mention asbestos.
The jurors also found four other compound manufacturers, including Georgia-Pacific, responsible for causing Mr. Aubin’s peritoneal mesothelioma. (Miamiherald.com)
Asbestos Hot Spots
Quebec, Canada: A decision affecting the future of the asbestos mining industry in the Canadian province of Quebec is pending and, if passed, could negatively impact thousands of people’s health and well-being, anti-asbestos lobbyists claim.
The Quebec government is currently trying to decide whether to provide essential loan guarantees for an expansion of the Jeffrey Mine in Asbestos, Que.
The new underground mine is reportedly set to create 450 jobs and produce enough asbestos Read the rest of this entry »
Wake Up Canada and Smell the Asbestos
May 18th, 2010. By janem
Canadians are proud of their healthy lifestyle– surrounded by wide open spaces, fresh air and clean water. But there’s a nasty blight on this near-perfect landscape: Quebec’s asbestos mine. Yep, Canadians still allow asbestos mining, despite the World Health Organization’s (WHO) plea to ban asbestos in every country and despite medical and political professionals warning about asbestos mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis.
Quebec exports mined asbestos to many underdeveloped countries and Canada is the leading exporter of chrysotile asbestos–putting at stake the lives of countless people who will be exposed to the deadly asbestos fibers and likely unaware of the danger. Even if they knew the risk of asbestos exposure, many people couldn’t afford, or don’t have access to, safety equipment. And their employers aren’t likely to have safety regulations in place.
WHO estimates that 125 million people around the world are exposed to asbestos in the workplace today, and in 2004 alone, 107,000 people died from occupational exposure to the fibre. The use of asbestos is restricted in the US, but not banned.
Last week in Ottawa about 100 medical and political professionals–including a handful of people from Quebec’s own professional, medical, academic and scientific communities– held an anti-asbestos rally to protest the last active asbestos mining in Asbestos (yes, the town is actually called Asbestos!), Quebec. Increasing pressure on the government couldn’t come at a better time: asbestos industry officials are waiting on yet another loan from the government, this time to approve another underground asbestos mine. It would mean about 30 years of exports and it could create 450 jobs. BIG DEAL.
The two asbestos mines in Quebec only have about 700 people on the payroll. In 1979, the Canadian asbestos industry was valued at US$652 million, and that amount has decreased significantly. Not much for so much misery it has caused.
So how about the government coming up with another means of income for miners? After all, they’ve done it before with pulp and paper mills that went belly-up. In 2008 the Canadian government spent nearly $20 million in the past two decades to promote exports of the mineral, almost all of it going to developing nations. How about spending on alternative job creation instead of asbestos promotion?
Do Canadians want to be known for the next 30 years as the biggest exporter of asbestos? That’s grounds for separation from Quebec!
Of course the asbestos industry defends itself by denials and lies. Industry spokespersons in Asbestos (town of) claim that chrysotile is less dangerous than other forms and with care can be used safely. But just about everyone in the know vehemently disagree.WHO claims that all types of asbestos cause asbestosis, cancer and mesothelioma and in a report last year, the former Assistant Surgeon General of the US said that “the chrysotile lobby relies on misinterpretations, false claims, and undocumented statements to advance its global propaganda campaign for the continued use of chrysotile asbestos. . . . Blow away their smoke . . . and truth emerges for all to see: asbestos is deadly . . . and the continued use of chrysotile is unconscionable.”
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