Posts Tagged ‘ asbestos_mesothelioma ’

Hall of Shame: OH School Allegedly Has Kids do Asbestos Cleanup

January 14th, 2013. By AbiK

The news clip here speaks for itself–but suffice to say if, indeed, this Ohio school had students clean up an abandoned YWCA building that was ridden with asbestos, its a disgrace. In this day and age, no one should be put in harm’s way due to asbestos exposure.

Tags: Asbestos, Asbestos Exposure, asbestos law, asbestos lawsuit, Asbestos Mesothelioma, asbestos_mesothelioma
Posted in Asbestos Mesothelioma | 1 Comment »

Asbestos News Roundup: 7.5.12 – Oil Rig Workers, 2nd-Hand Asbestos Exposure

July 5th, 2012. 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.

Oil Industry Workers at High Risk for Asbestos Disease

Drilling mud is widely used in the oil industry, both onshore and offshore, to help cool the drill bit and flush debris from the well hole during drilling. Many oilfield workers may have been exposed to toxic asbestos products without knowing its harmful, and often lethal, effects.

Drilling mud composition contained asbestos, which led to mud engineers being

exposed to asbestos drilling mud, and the potential to develop asbestos-related disease such as asbestos mesothelioma.

The two drilling mud brands that were mainly used were Flosal and Visbestos: both products were packaged in 50 lb. bags and were used for sweeping the hole as a viscosifier.

Asbestos Lawsuits

Hyde, TX: Chevron USA is facing a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the widow of Louis Esbry, who recently died from asbestos-related disease.

Camelia Esbry and her children filed the suit June 29, blaming Chevron USA for her husband’s death, alleging the company exposed him to asbestos.

While employed with Chevron, Louis Esbry was exposed to asbestos dust and fibers, the lawsuit states, which resulted in his developing asbestosis. He died on December 18, 2011, the lawsuit states.

According to the lawsuit, Chevron knew for decades that asbestos could cause cancer, yet the company allowed employees and contractors to work around the mineral, exposing them to potentially lethal health effects, without warning them of the dangers.

The plaintiffs are suing to recover exemplary damages. (SETexasrecord.com)

Jefferson County, TX: A second-hand asbestos exposure lawsuit has been filed by Ginger Hall naming suit 11 companies as defendants. In her lawsuit, Mrs. Hall claims she was exposed to asbestos through her husband’s work clothes.

Chevron USA, Citgo, DuPont, ExxonMobil, Huntsman Petrochemical, Mobil Chemical, Mobil Oil, Oxy USA, Texaco, Union Oil and Unocal Corp, are the named defendants in the lawsuit.

Mrs. Hall alleges she was exposed to asbestos through her husband’s employment at several of the defendants’ refineries.

Specifically, the lawsuit alleges the asbestos dust on Mr. Hall’s work clothes has caused Mrs. Hall to suffer breathing difficulties and develop cancer. The defendants are accused of failing to protect workers and their family members from inhalation of asbestos fibers.

In addition to exemplary damages, Mrs. Hall is suing for her alleged past and future medical expenses, mental anguish, pain, impairment and lost wages, plus all court costs. (SETexasrecord.com)

New Orleans, LA: Jacqueline Carron Lowe and the children of George Lowe have filed an asbestos lawsuit against Marathon Oil Co. and others, claiming the defendants exposed the late Mr. Hall to asbestos and are therefore responsible for his death. Mr. Lowe was diagnosed with mesothelioma in November 2011 and died in December 2011 from complications from the disease.

Mrs. Lowe claims her husband was exposed to dangerously high levels of asbestos during his employment for Marathon Oil from 1957 until 1995 in various positions and at various sites including Detroit, MI, Robinson, IL, and Garyville, LA.

The defendants are accused of exposing George Lowe to asbestos which caused him to develop asbestos mesothelioma.

Lowe’s family is seeking an unspecified amount in damages for physical pain and suffering, loss of income, mental anguish, fear of death, loss of enjoyment of life, medical expenses, loss of personal assistance, loss of support to wife and children, loss of consortium, loss of services and loss of companionship.(louisianarecord.com)

Tags: Asbestos, Asbestos Exposure, asbestos lawsuit, Asbestos Mesothelioma, Asbestos Settlement, asbestos_mesothelioma
Posted in Asbestos Mesothelioma, lawsuits, Settlement | No Comments »

Asbestos News Roundup: 4.12.12 (Spotlight: Boiler, Furnace Workers Asbestos)

April 12th, 2012. 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.

Boiler and Furnace Technicians Asbestos Disease Risk

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, insulation blankets (the outside covering or shell), door gaskets, duct insulation, and tape at duct connections of furnaces and boilers can all contain asbestos. Technicians who worked on repairing boilers and furnaces in the past would have been at risk for asbestos exposure.

Asbestos was used between 1930 and 1972 as high-temperature insulation for oil, coal, or wood furnaces, generally found in older homes. Steam and hot water pipes were insulated with asbestos-containing material, particularly at elbows, tees, and valves. Pipes may also be wrapped in an asbestos “blanket”, or asbestos paper (which looks very much like corrugated cardboard). Asbestos-containing insulation has also been used on and inside round and rectangular furnace ducts. Sometimes the duct itself may be made of asbestos-containing materials.

Anthony Lamano worked for years as a boiler technician. He recently died from asbestos-related lung disease, but his family was successful in their pursuit of damages against the companies that manufactured the asbestos-containing materials. You can read about his asbestos settlement below.

Asbestos Lawsuits

Charleston, WV: Gay and Barbara Williams have filed an asbestos lawsuit following Gay’s recent diagnosis of asbestos-related lung cancer. Diagnosed with the potentially fatal disease on January 25, Mr. Williams alleges he was exposed to asbestos and/or asbestos-containing products during his employment as a laborer from 1966 until 2005. The couple is suing 58 companies they claim are responsible for a lung cancer diagnosis.

The Williams are suing the defendants based on theories of negligence, contaminated buildings, breach of expressed/implied warranty, strict liability, intentional tort, conspiracy, misrepresentations and post-sale duty to warn.

The 58 companies named as defendants are: A.W. Chesterton Company; Air & Liquid Systems Corporation; Beazer East, Inc.; Bechtel Corporation; Catalytic Construction Company; Cleaver-Brooks Company, Inc.; Copes-Vulcan, Inc.; Crane Company; Dravo Corporation; Eaton Electrical, Inc.; Flowserve US, Inc. f/k/a Durco International, Inc.; Flowserve US, Inc. f/k/a Flowserve FSD Corporation; FMC Corporation; Foster Wheeler Energy Corporation; General Electric Company; Goulds Pumps, Inc.; Grinnell, LLC; Hercules, Inc.; Howden North America, Inc; IMO Industries, Inc.; Inductotherm Industries, Inc.; Industrial Holdings Corporation; Ingersoll-Rand Company; ITT Corporation; Hammel Dahl Valves; Joy Technologies, Inc.; McJunkin Corporation; Metropolitan Life Insurance Company; Morgan Engineering Systems, Inc.; Nagle Pumps, Inc.; Nitro Industrial Coverings, Inc.; Owens-Illinois, Inc.; Ohio Valley Insulating Company, Inc.; P&H Mining Equipment, Inc.; Reading Crane and Engineering Company; Riley Power, Inc.; Rust Constructors, Inc.; Rust Engineering & Construction, Inc.; Rust International, Inc.; Schneider Electric USA, Inc.; State Electric Supply Company; Sterling Fluid Systems (USA), LLC; Sunbeam Corporation; Superior Combustion Industries, Inc.; Surface Combustion, Inc.; Swindell Dressier International Corporation; Tasco Insulations, Inc.; The Alliance Machine Company; The Gage Company; UB West Virginia, Inc.; United Engineers & Constructors and Washington Group International; Viacom, Inc.; Electric Corporation; Viking Pump, Inc.; Vimasco Corporation; West Virginia Electric Supply Company; Yarway Corporation; and Zurn Industries, Inc. (westvirginiarecord.com)

Asbestos Settlements

New York, NY: Three asbestos lawsuits were successfully settled this week against major asbestos and manufacturing corporations.

The lawsuits all allege that the plaintiffs—long-time workers in industries that exposed them to toxic asbestos insulation—ultimately developed asbestos-related cancers that led to their deaths. The settlements will pass to the families of the deceased. 

One of the three plaintiffs, Anthony Lamano, served in the Navy from 1955-57, then worked for years as a boiler technician in Long Island before developing lung cancer. His lawsuit was filed and reached the jury selection phase before the defendants named in the complaint agreed to settle.

Two other clients’ cases were filed alongside Mr. Lamano’s. Lawrence Johnson worked for major power houses and construction sites as an insulator, later developing mesothelioma, a cancer for which the only known cause is asbestos. And, William Barthold worked as a pipefitter after serving in the Navy from 1942-46. He also died of lung cancer.

Asbestos Hot Spots

Marshalltown, IA : City officials in Marshalltown are urgently working to remove asbestos-laden debris, currently cluttering 135 E. Main St. And, the City Council has approved the filing of an asbestos lawsuit against building owners F&H Properties Corp. to mandate the cleanup.

According to a report in the Times Republican, city attorney, Curt Ward, said the city filed suit claiming that the rubble is a nuisance. The lawsuit would allow the court to seize the amount of money for the cleanup from F&H, owned by Charles Fairall and Ed Hughes, and hand it over to the city. (timesrepublican.com)

Tags: Asbestos, asbestos lawsuit, Asbestos Settlement, asbestosis, asbestos_mesothelioma, Boiler Workers, Furnace Workers, mesothelioma, Occupational Asbestos Exposure
Posted in Asbestos Mesothelioma, lawsuits, Settlement | 2 Comments »

Asbestos News Roundup: 4.5.12 – (Spotlight: Asbestos Pipefitter Exposure)

April 6th, 2012. 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.

Laborers and Pipefitters at Risk for Asbestos Disease

People who work or worked as laborers and pipefitters are known to be at high risk for asbestos exposure. Why? Asbestos is mainly used as an insulating material—so it’s used in roofing and many construction materials, in electrical fittings and caulking compound for drywall. Because asbestos is a very effective fire retardant, it is also used to insulate boilers, pipes, and fire doors.

It seems that almost every week a new lawsuit is filed by the family of someone whose work involved exposure to asbestos, like the Bookers who just filed a second asbestos lawsuit on behalf of Robert Booker, who worked as a laborer and pipefitter.

 Jefferson County, TX: Oda Booker filed an asbestos suit against 22 companies, on behalf of the late Robert Booker this week, even though the deceased already received a settlement for an asbestos-related disease: this second suit is brought for a different malignant asbestos-related disease. 

Robert Booker worked as a laborer, pipefitter and operator. According to the lawsuit, it was through this work that he was exposed to asbestos products and asbestos fibers and dust, which caused him to suffer from asbestos-related diseases. The plaintiff alleges the defendants acted with malice, and are accused of manufacturing, distributing and using asbestos products without warning workers of the dangers.

The defendants named in the suit are: A.W. Chesterton, Bechtel Corp., CBS Corp., Certainteed Corp., Crown Cork & Seal, D&F Distributing, Dana Companies, Flour Enterprises, Flour Maintenance, Foster Wheeler Constructors, Foster Wheeler Corp., Foster Wheeler Energy, General Electric, Gould Pumps, Henry Vogt Machine, Ingersoll Rand, Metropolitan Life Insurance, Owens-Illinois, Riley Power, Sepco, Union Carbide and Uniroyal Holdings.

New Study Shows Asbestos Workers ‘face a greater risk of strokes and heart disease’

Results from a new study by British researchers show that men and women who worked around asbestos in their lifetimes are not only at an increased risk for asbestos-related diseases, but also cancer, heart disease and stroke.

The investigators looked into more than 15,000 deaths that occurred among nearly 99,000 workers in the British asbestos industry between 1971 and 2005. They found that nearly 4200 deaths were caused by heart disease and more than 1000 by a stroke, particularly among women.

According to a report in The Australian, “Male asbestos workers were 63% more likely to die of a stroke and 39% more likely to die of heart disease when compared with the general public, even when smoking was taken into account. The corresponding figures for female asbestos workers were 100 per cent and 89 per cent.”

The study, led by Anne-Helen Harding of Britain’s Health and Safety Laboratory, was begun in 1971 to monitor the long-term health of people who work in the asbestos industry. The investigators found that most of the male workers had been employed in removing asbestos, while female workers were generally employed in manufacturing.

There has long been a question about a possible link between asbestos, which, in addition to being a carcinogen is also as an inflammatory agent, and the risk for cardiovascular disease. This study appears to answer that question. The study was published in the latest issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. (theaustralian.com)

Global Asbestos Awareness Week 2012

Dallas, TX: This week is Global Asbestos Awareness Week 2012. Though many people think that asbestos is a thing of the past, the reality is that asbestos remains a current threat to people. According to a report by the Environmental Information Association (EIA), only 25% of countries have banned the use of asbestos worldwide and United States has not banned the use or import of asbestos. Canada still manufacturers and exports asbestos.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 107,000 people die each year from asbestos lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis resulting from workplace exposure to asbestos. In the U.S. alone, approximately 3,000 people are diagnosed with mesothelioma each year. And according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), U.S. asbestos imports are increasing. While much of this asbestos is being used in construction products, such as roofing materials, a portion of it ends up in consumer products. (Marketwatch.com)

Tags: Asbestos, asbestos lawsuit, Asbestos Settlement, asbestosis, asbestos_mesothelioma, mesothelioma
Posted in Asbestos Mesothelioma, Emerging Issues, lawsuits, Settlement | 3 Comments »

Asbestos News Roundup: 3.29.12 (Spotlight: Asbestos and Railway Workers)

March 30th, 2012. 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 Workers at Risk

Railway workers…. Every week new asbestos lawsuits are filed, many of them by retired railway workers or their widows. Case-in-point—the lawsuit below filed by the widow of a retired BNSF railway man, who died from asbestos-related lung disease.

Asbestos exposure was a constant danger for people working on or around the railways in the US. Because of its insulating properties, asbestos was used to insulate steam and diesel locomotives, boxcars and cabooses, refrigeration units, pipes, and pipes, steam and hot water lines. Asbestos was also widely used in railroad brakes and clutch linings, gaskets, and in heavy-wearing floor tiles for passenger cars. And, during locomotive inspections it was not uncommon to have asbestos insulation stripped off the boilers, which would send asbestos fibers into the air and onto people’s clothing, affecting everyone in the vicinity—as well as family members at home.

Railway Worker’s Widow Sues BNSF

St. Clair County, IL: The wife of a recently deceased railroad worker, Anthony Ianno, filed an asbestos lawsuit recently against her husband’s former employer, BNSF Railway Company. In her lawsuit, Norina M. Ianno claims the railway company contributed to her husband’s death by exposing him to asbestos fibers throughout his employment with them.

Mrs. Ianno claims her husband developed asbestosis, lung cancer and another unspecified lung disease after he was exposed to asbestos fibers through his employment as a dock foreman and clerk from 1954 until 1986 for BNSF Railway Company. In addition to asbestos fibers, Mrs Ianno alleges her husand was also exposed to diesel exhaust, tobacco smoke, silica and other toxic gases, which also contributed to his disease.

Norina blames BNSF for causing her husband’s disease because, she says, the railroad negligently failed to provide Anthony Ianno with safe work, failed to provide him with equipment to protect him from asbestos fibers, exposed him to asbestos, failed to warn him of the hazards associated with asbestos and agreed to conceal the hazards of asbestos exposure.

Because of Anthony Ianno’s respiratory illness, he endured great pain, suffering, disability, disfigurement and mental anguish and lost his enjoyment of life, the suit states. He also incurred medical costs, the lawsuit states.

And, Mrs. Ianno claims that following her husband’s death on March 6, 2009, she lost his financial support. Consequently, she is seeking a judgment of more than $100,000, plus costs. (Madisonrecord.com)

Asbestos Settlements

St. Clair, IL: The Illinois Supreme Court has ruled against CSX Transportation and in favor of the family of Annette Simpkins of Granite City, IL, who died of asbestos-related cancer after her husband brought the toxic dust home on his clothing from the railroad. The ruling yesterday returns the case to Madison County, IL, for trial after a majority of Supreme Court justices found that an employer has an obligation to warn workers and their families about the dangers linked to take-home asbestos exposure.

According to the complaint in Simpkins, et al. v. CSX Transportation, Mr. Simpkins brought asbestos dust home on his clothes in the 1960s while working for CSX Transportation, formerly B&O Railroad. Mrs. Simpkins was exposed while Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Asbestos, asbestos lawsuit, Asbestos Settlement, asbestosis, asbestos_mesothelioma, mesothelioma, Occupational Asbestos Exposure, Railway Workers, Take Home Asbestos
Posted in Asbestos Mesothelioma, lawsuits, Personal Injury, Settlement | 1 Comment »