MESOTHELIOMA NEWS

Cleanup Workers File Class Action Lawsuit over WTC health effects

Source: PR Newswire
Published: September 13, 2004

A class action lawsuit filed on behalf of Ground Zero workers alleges the leaseholder of the World Trade Center, owners, controllers and the companies hired to oversee the clean up did very little to protect workers from asbestos and other toxins in the air.

The New York law firm, Worby, Groner, Edelman, & Napoli, Bern, filed the lawsuit in a U.S. Federal Court on Friday, the day before a three-year statute of limitations for lawsuits relating to the terror attacks expired.

The lawsuit names as defendants World Trade Center leaseholder Silverstein Properties and the four construction companies hired to supervise the removal of the 1.5 million tons of debris: Turner Construction, AMEC, Bovis Lend Lease and Tully Construction.

David E. Worby, lead attorney for the plaintiffs, said: "The unprecedented combination of lethal toxins present at the World Trade Center site during search and rescue, demolition and cleanup efforts in the months following September 11, 2001 affected not only the cleanup workers but potentially hundreds of thousands of people living and working in the area with 'WTC Toxic Diseases'."

The lawsuit is seeking 1-billion in compensation for victims and to establish funding for a decades-long protocol of medical testing for all those exposed to these poisons, so that the variety of diseases they may contract over the next 20 years or more can be diagnosed and potentially treated as quickly as possible to minimize their effects.

"The tragic reality is that so many of the brave heroes who worked so tirelessly and unselfishly are becoming a second wave of casualties of this horrific attack, and we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg three years later in terms of the number of victims as well as the variety and severity of their illnesses," said Worby.

The firm, in addition to the class action, is initiating thousands of individual lawsuits, notices of claims and other filings against a variety of governmental entities and agencies including New York City, The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on behalf of their individual clients.

William R. Sawyer, a leading national expert on WTC site toxicity who conducted toxicological assessments on WTC workers, said: "The initial collapse of the buildings and smoldering fires released a dust and vapor cloud that hovered over the immediate and surrounding areas."

Sawyer added: "Building materials continued to smolder, releasing a toxic mixture of chemicals measured by EPA subcontractors in the air at levels in great excess of those considered hazardous to human health." These toxins included particulate matter composed of cement dust, glass fibers, asbestos, lead, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine pesticides, and polychlorinated furans and dioxins, which were released into the air for weeks and months following September 11, 2001.

"I have conducted direct testing of the paper dust masks and clothing worn by these workers during their first few weeks of exposure," said Sawyer. "Certified analyses of the particulate matter removed from this gear revealed high levels of several different carcinogens which were far beyond the EPA-recommended levels. The variety and seriousness of the likely resultant illnesses are as unique and unprecedented as the combination of deadly poisons to which these workers were exposed."

John R. Walcott, a former New York City Police Detective who now suffers from benzene-induced leukemia is one of the plaintiffs. He was among several plaintiffs present representing employees of the New York City Fire, Police, Transit and Sanitation Departments, Con Edison, Verizon, construction and ironworkers and a number of private contractors who are currently suffering some form of illness as a result of their onsite exposure. Walcott was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) on May 20th, 2003. Not having a suitable transplant donor, Mr. Walcott was approved for stem cell transplant post cycle four chemotherapy.

The firm is currently representing him in a separate, individual suit, the first such action it filed.

Walcott, 39, was a detective when assigned duty at the WTC site on September 11, 2001. He said that he and other workers were provided with simple paper masks, and that he wore the mask for only a short period of time as it "just became too clogged to breathe in or out". He added that he did not receive another mask on 9/11 despite breathing difficulty, constant cough and gagging, and that there was no post-duty decontamination available that day or throughout the duration of the cleanup. Walcott was assigned to various clean-up tasks over the next several months, including to the pile and sifter at the Fresh Kills Landfill on Staten Island.

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Pfizer Agrees to Pay $430 Million to Settle Asbestos Claims

Source: PR Newswire
Published: September 03, 2004

Pfizer Inc., the world's largest drugmaker, said on Saturday that the company and its wholly owned subsidiary, Quigley Company, Inc., have agreed to pay $430 million to resolve all pending and future claims against the companies in which claimants allege personal injury from exposure to Quigley products containing asbestos, silica, or mixed dust.

Quigley was acquired by Pfizer in 1968 and sold small amounts of products containing asbestos until the early 1970s, Pfizer said in a statement.

Specifically, the companies have taken three steps:

1) Reorganization plan: Quigley will file a Chapter 11 reorganization plan in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York that must be approved by the court and confirmed by a vote of 75 percent of the claimants. In connection with that filing, Pfizer has entered into settlement agreements with lawyers representing more than 80 percent of the individuals with claims against the two companies that provide for a total of $430 million in payments.

2) Establishment of Trust: The reorganization plan will establish a trust for the payment of all remaining pending claims as well as any future claims alleging injury from exposure to Quigley products. Pfizer will contribute $405 million to the Trust over 40 years through a note, as well as approximately $100 million in insurance. Pfizer will also forgive a $30 million loan to Quigley.

3) Permanent injunction: If approved by the court, the reorganization plan will result in a permanent injunction directing all future claims alleging personal injury from exposure to Quigley products to the Trust.

"The steps we announce today will, with court approval, establish a responsible and orderly process for the fair payment of these claims, while at the same time minimizing the costs, risks, and distractions of litigation that has spanned several decades," said Jeff Kindler, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Pfizer.


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NY Judge Approves $500M Travelers Asbestos-Related Settlement

Source: Insurance Journal
Published: August 18, 2004
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Burton Lifland on Wednesday approved a $500 million trust fund to pay asbestos claims against the St. Paul Travelers Companies, Inc. that relate to the bankruptcy of the Johns-Manville Corp.

Travelers, which merged with St. Paul Companies in April, was Johns-Manville's primary insurer while it made and sold asbestos from the 1940s to the 1970s. The company filed for bankruptcy in 1982 after it was flooded with asbestos-related claims.

The settlement was reached between Travelers and the plaintiffs in May after more than two years of negotiations mediated by former N.Y. Gov. Mario Cuomo, Insurance Journal reported.

The Court ruling resolves all pending asbestos-related statutory direct actions against Travelers, including Wise v. Travelers and Meninger v. Travelers and bars all future asbestos-related statutory direct actions against Travelers in West Virginia, Massachusetts and other states in which Travelers believes plaintiffs might try to bring such actions, Travelers said in a statement. It also resolves substantially all pending, and bars similar future, asbestos-related litigation against Travelers.

The Court order is subject to appeal, which, if taken, must be filed within 10 days.


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CDC Finds Asbestos-related Deaths Have Skyrocketed Since 1960s

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Published: July 22, 2004

Asbestos deaths among U.S. residents have increased from fewer than 100 in 1968 to nearly 1,500 annually in 2000, with no apparent leveling off of this trend, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.

Between 1990 and 1999, there were more than 10,000 asbestos-related deaths and the annual asbestos death counts increased by one-third, the CDC said.

In 1998 and 1999, asbestos-related deaths outnumbered coal workers' pneumoconiosis (black lung disease), which the CDC attributes to the decrease in the number of coal mine workers employed in the U.S.

Residents of California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Texas, Florida, Washington, and Virginia together accounted for nearly half of all asbestos-related deaths between 1990 and 1999.

The CDC findings are based on analysis of death certificates of nearly 125,000 people who had lung conditions linked to inhaling dust or fibers from minerals.

Asbestos is the name given to a group of naturally occurring fibrous silicate minerals (amosite, chrysotile, crocidolite, tremolite, actinolite, and anthophyllite) that have been mined for their useful properties such as thermal insulation, chemical and thermal stability, and high tensile strength. All forms of asbestos are hazardous, and all can cause cancer.

Because of the qualities, asbestos has been used in a wide range of manufactured products, mostly in building materials, friction products, and heat-resistant fabrics. Asbestos can only be identified under a microscope.

Since asbestos fibers may cause harmful health effects in people who are exposed, the EPA has banned all new uses of asbestos in the United States.

Asbestos-related diseases may not appear until 30 to 50 years after exposure to asbestos.


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Judge Approves Halliburton $4.2 Billion Asbestos Settlement

Source: The Associated Press
Published: July 16, 2004

Judge Judith Fitzgerald on Friday approved Halliburton's $4.2 billion asbestos settlement plan and signed the Chapter 11 restructuring plans for its business units KBR and DII Industries.

KBR and DII Industries filed for bankruptcy protection in December after about 400,000 individuals filed claims against Halliburton over asbestos and silica exposure.

The majority of claims stem from Halliburton's acquisition of DII, formerly Dresser Industries, which the company bought in the 1990s, when Vice President Dick Cheney was the company's CEO.

As part of the settlement, Halliburton will establish a trust fund, using cash, stock and notes, to pay possible future claims, The settlement is subject to appeals.


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FDA Approves Alimta, First Drug for Mesothelioma

Source: U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Published: February 05, 2004

The Food and Drug Administration today approved Alimta by Eli Lilly and Company for use in combination with cisplatin for the treatment of patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma-a rare type of cancer. Alimta is the first drug approved for this condition.

Cancer of the mesothelium, a membrane that covers and protects most of the internal organs of the body is rare; about 2,000 new cases are diagnosed in the United States each year. This form of cancer is usually associated with a history of asbestos exposure. Asbestos fibers lodged in the lung attach to the outer lung lining and chest wall, causing tumors to grow. By the time symptoms appear, the disease is usually advanced, and patients live, on average, nine to thirteen months following diagnosis.

Malignant pleural mesothelioma is "one of the most devastating kinds of cancer a person can have," said Paolo Paoletti, M.D., vice president of oncology clinical research at Lilly. "This is a cancer that is lethal, painful and debilitating."

Lilly estimates that between 10,000 and 15,000 people worldwide are diagnosed annually with malignant pleural mesothelioma, a figure that is increasing.

"Most people do not learn they have malignant pleural mesothelioma until the disease has progressed to an advanced stage when treatment with surgery or radiation is not an option," Lilly said.


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Most Asbestos-Related Injury Claims Filed Each Year Are Bogus?

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Published: January 13, 2004

Lester Brickman, a leading critic of asbestos litigation, says that 90 percent of all asbestos-related injury claims filed each year are bogus. He contends that more than half-million asbestos claims have been without merit, which resulted in payments to plaintiffs and their attorneys totaling more than $28.5 billion.

"Asbestos litigation has become a malignant enterprise which mostly consists of a massive client-recruitment effort that accounts for as much as 90 percent of all claims currently being generated, supported by baseless medical evidence which is not generated by good-faith medical practice, but rather is primarily a function of the compensation paid, and by claimant testimony scripted by lawyers to identify exposure to certain defendants' products," claims Brickman.

Brickman, who has done consulting work for asbestos defendants, makes the claims in a study to be published this month in The Pepperdine Law Review.


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U.S. Survey Shows Imports of Asbestos Brake Materials Increasing

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Published: October 25, 2003

Do the brakes on your car contain asbestos fibers? The U.S. Geological Survey reports that domestic imports of asbestos brake materials have increased by 300% in the past decade. Last year, the country imported $208.9 million of asbestos products, of which $124.6 million were of asbestos brake materials, according to figures released by the U.S.G.S.

Asbestos containing materials continue to make their way into the United States, while lawmakers focus their efforts on passing legislation that would end all asbestos lawsuits and instead compensate asbestos cancer victims from a set schedule based on their disease.

"I was shocked at the increase in asbestos imports and shocked for two reasons," said Steve Johnson, the acting deputy administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. "One is just the number, the amount of the increase. The second is that given all of the tort liability issues that are swirling around asbestos, I just can't imagine why a manufacturer or importer of asbestos products would want to make themselves vulnerable to these types of suits."

More than 33 countries have banned asbestos, but in the United States it is still legal to mine, import and sell asbestos.

"You cannot underestimate the power of the Canadians when it comes to protecting their asbestos," said Dr. Barry Castleman, a former consultant to the European Union on asbestos issues and public health specialist. "They were effective in killing EPA's ban and their presence is still obvious. They want a bigger piece of the U.S. market.

"With so many countries banning the import of asbestos, Canada needs to be able to point to the United States as a consumer to convince third-world nations that it's still safe to use Canadian asbestos. Canada is truly the great Satan of asbestos."


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Asbestos Companies and Insurers Agree to $114 Billion Fund

Source: Reuters
Published: October 15, 2003

Asbestos companies and insurers have agreed to a proposed $114 billion asbestos fund, which would eliminate all asbestos litigation and instead compensate asbestos cancer victims from a set schedule based on their disease.

The office of Senate Republican Leader Bill Frist brokered the plan, after support for an asbestos bill eroded among Republicans, who questioned whether insurers were being asked to bear too much of the cost.

"I am very encouraged by the agreement reached between the insurers and the defendant companies relating to financial contributions to the trust fund. While many details still remain to be worked out, clearly this is a significant and meaningful step forward between two major parties to the larger asbestos negotiations. It is imperative that for any arrangement to be successful there needs to be bipartisan support. I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle in the coming days to achieve that consensus." But the proposal still needs to win the support of labor unions.

"We haven't been involved in any of these discussions. We'll keep an open mind, but it's extremely unlikely at this point that anything will be worked out," said Jonathan Hiatt, general counsel to the AFL-CIO labor federation.


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EPA rushing to clean up Asbestos near Former Western Minerals Site

Source: Rocky Mountain News
Published: October 13, 2003

After The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) concluded that former employees of Western Minerals Products Company facility in Denver were exposed to elevated levels of asbestos, the EPA has begun to replace soil with clean fill where soil contains 1 percent or more of asbestos.

Libby Asbestos was found up to 12 inches beneath the ground around the Former Western Minerals Site located at 111 South Navajo Street near Interstate 25 and Alameda Avenue.

The EPA decided to perform a “time-critical” cleanup plan after some areas were found to contain up to 12 percent asbestos and some spots had visible vermiculite on the ground.

While the ATSDR recommends that former employees of this facility and those who lived in their households learn more about asbestos and see a physician regarding potentially adverse health effects the Colorado Department of Public Health did not find higher incidence of asbestos related diseases in the neighborhood.

"We didn't find any indication that there was an impact to the populations living in the vicinity," Wilson said. "In this particular case, people are not residing in the immediate several blocks (of the plant). The likelihood of exposure is reduced for that reason." Said Mike Wilson, chief of environmental epidemiology at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.


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Asbestos Alert Issued For Workers of Grace Plant in Beltsville MD

Source: ATSDR - Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
Published: October 06, 2003

ATSDR, a public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, recommends that former employees of W.R. Grace/Zonolite Company site at 12340 Conway Road in Beltsville, Maryland and those who lived in their households learn more about asbestos and see a physician regarding potentially adverse health effects.

The former W.R. Grace/Zonolite Company site operated from 1966 until the early 1990s. The plant processed vermiculite mined in Libby, Montana. The vermiculite ore processed in Beltsville contained asbestos, which can become airborne and can be inhaled. Exposure to asbestos fibers is associated with serious adverse human health effects, including lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis, a disorder that restricts breathing capacity.

"Because of the elevated health risk, ATSDR believes former W.R. Grace/Zonolite employees and members of their households should seek medical follow-up," stated Vikas Kapil, M.D., a specialist in occupational and environmental medicine with ATSDR. "We encourage them to consult with a physician with expertise in the evaluation and management of asbestos-related lung disease."

The Beltsville site is part of ATSDR's National Asbestos Exposure Review (NAER), being conducted in two phases with other federal, state and local environmental and public health agencies. NAER is an examination of more than 200 sites around the U.S. that received asbestos-contaminated vermiculite ore mined in Libby from the early 1920s until 1990. ATSDR is working closely with EPA and state health partners to determine if a hazard to public health exists at any of the sites.

The public health consultation and fact sheet for the Beltsville site are available on the Internet at the following address: http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/naer/beltsvillemd.


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U.S. Automakers Sue Honeywell Over Asbestos Transfer

Source: Reuters
Published: September 26, 2003

General Motors, Ford and DaimlerChrysler have filed a lawsuit to block Honeywell International Inc. from selling its Bendex brake unit to bankrupt Federal Mogul Corporation. The automakers accuse "Honeywell of trying to avoid its asbestos-related obligations," Reuters reported.

Honeywell is attempting to avoid its asbestos-related liabilities by selling its Bendix brake unit, which faces about 47,000 asbestos cases. Federal-Mogul filed for Chapter 11 protection in October 2001 to resolve about 360,000 asbestos lawsuits and future asbestos claims, by establishing a trust to pay victims. Federal-Mogul is expected to "emerge from bankruptcy free of asbestos liabilities," Reuters reported.

"Bankruptcy protection cannot be bought and sold. Federal-Mogul's and Honeywell's unprecedented attempt to do so would violate federal and state law, be unfair to thousands of asbestos claimants and inappropriately shift litigation costs to the automakers," David Sykes, attorney with Duane Morris, which is representing the carmakers, said in a statement.


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Former Western Minerals Site Employees Exposed to Asbestos

Source: ATSDR - Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
Published: September 17, 2003

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) concludes that former employees of Western Minerals Products Company facility in Denver were exposed to elevated levels of asbestos.

ATSDR, a public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, recommends that former employees of this facility and those who lived in their households learn more about asbestos and see a physician regarding potentially adverse health effects.

"Because of the elevated health risk, ATSDR believes former Western Minerals employees and members of their households should seek medical follow-up," stated Vikas Kapil, M.D., a specialist in occupational and environmental medicine with ATSDR. "We encourage them to consult with a physician with expertise in the evaluation and management of asbestos-related lung disease."

Until it closed in 1990, the plant, located at 111 South Navajo Street, processed tons of asbestos-contaminated vermiculite ore mined in Libby, Mont.

Adjacent properties, including a baseball field, were free of asbestos contamination. Asbestos was not detected in any of the air samples taken from inside the former facility.

ATSDR found that onsite exposure to asbestos-contaminated soils does not appear to pose a public health hazard to those now employed at the site or living or working in the surrounding area.

The Denver site is part of ATSDR's National Asbestos Exposure Review (NAER), being conducted in two phases with other federal, state and local environmental and public health agencies. NAER is an examination of more than 200 sites around the U.S. that received asbestos-contaminated vermiculite ore mined in Libby from the early 1920s until 1990. ATSDR is working closely with EPA and state health partners to determine if a hazard to public health exists at any of the sites.

Phase One of NAER includes an examination of 28 sites chosen because either they were on the EPA "further action" list or they were an exfoliation facility that processed over 100,000 tons of vermiculite from the Libby mine. The Phase One sites received 80 percent of the total tonnage of vermiculite ore shipped from Libby from 1964 to 1990.

The public health consultation and fact sheet for the Denver site are available on the Internet at the following address: http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/naer/denverco.


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Support for Asbestos Bill on Capitol Hill is Thin

Source: Reuters
Published: August 31, 2003

Asbestos bill, which would eliminate all asbestos litigation and instead pay asbestos cancer victims from a set schedule based on their disease, is struggling to stay alive on Capitol Hill, according to some people.

"This asbestos bill is not dead. It's not on life support. But it's in a hospice," said David Austern, general counsel to the Manville Trust.

Reuters reported that, "The bill was scarcely out of committee before support eroded among Republicans, who questioned whether insurers were being asked to pay too much of the cost."

The bill has also failed to win support from labor unions. They have said the scheduled payouts to asbestos victims were insufficient and "corporations facing asbestos liabilities, like Halliburton Co., were getting too much of a break", reported Reuters.

"If the business and insurance community is determined to get a bill like the one coming out of committee, I'd be pessimistic. But if they are willing to make it more fair to victims, I still think there's a chance," Jonathan Hiatt, general counsel for the AFL-CIO labor federation said.

Senator Orrin G. Hatch, a Utah Republican who is the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, is the driving force behind the Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act of 2003.


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Asbestos Trust Fund Gets Additional $45 Billion in Financing

Source: New York Times Published: June 27, 2003 The proposed asbestos trust fund, which would eliminate all asbestos litigation and instead pay asbestos cancer victims from a set schedule based on their disease, has increased in size to $153 billion. Senators agreed to the additional $45 billion in financing in an effort to win support from Democrats and increase the likelihood the trust will be created. The New York Times reported that, "a major obstacle to the creation of the trust remained last night, as senators continued to disagree over the size of payments to victims." Democratic lawmakers claim that asbestos victims would receive less compensation under the proposed bill than they do now from the courts. The creation of the trust is unlikely without bipartisan support. The trust should pay asbestos victims with mesothelioma and lung cancer as much as $1.1 million, said Senator Patrick J. Leahy, a Vermont Democrat who is a member of the Judiciary Committee. "The companies are getting what they want in this draft bill, but so far the victims do not get what they need," Mr. Leahy said. "We've painstakingly made this a better bill, but the key to whether this effort succeeds or fails now is whether it offers fair values to the victims."
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U.S. Considers Trust Fund to Settle Asbestos Injury Lawsuits

Source: Reuters
Published: April 17, 2003

Senate Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican, is leading an effort that would take asbestos lawsuits out of ordinary courts and establish a national system, which some call a trust fund, to compensate victims. The fund would have between $90 billion and $100 billion, people involved in the effort say.

Skyrocketing asbestos injury lawsuits are blamed for clogging U.S. courts and driving over 60 companies into bankruptcy. Hatch wants a bipartisan asbestos reform bill passed as soon as possible.

"There's a lot of good faith conversations going on about the idea of a trust fund," said Mike Baroody, executive vice president of the National Association of Manufacturers and chairman of the steering committee of the Asbestos Alliance, a coalition of business and insurers.

"We're in the process of writing a bill, under the direction of Senator Hatch, and working with (Democrat) Senator (Patrick) Leahy, insurers, the business community and the AFL-CIO (labor union umbrella group)," said Joel Johnson, spokesman for the Asbestos Study Group, comprised of Fortune 500 companies that are defendants in asbestos suits.

"The negotiations are centered on making a trust fund work," Johnson said.


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U.S. Steel Settles Asbestos Related Mesothelioma Lawsuit

Source: The National Law Journal
Published: April 10, 2003

U.S. Steel offered to settle after an Illinois jury awarded $250 million to Roby Whittington, 70, who suffers from mesothelioma attributed to asbestos exposure during 31 years of working in the company's mill in Gary, Ind. Mesothelioma is an incurable and fatal cancer caused by asbestos inhalation.

The verdict in Illinois is the latest against corporations that did not mine asbestos or use it as a raw material, but did expose workers by using asbestos-containing products. Whittington v. U.S. Steel, No. 02-L1113 (Madison Co., Ill., Cir. Ct.).

U.S. Steel spokesman Mike Dixon said the case should have been handled as a workers' compensation claim in Indiana. Dixon said the settlement amount was "a fraction of the verdict." The settlement amount was not disclosed.

Plaintiff's attorney Randall A. Bono, of counsel with the Simmons Law Firm of East Alton, Ill., said the settlement was substantially more than what Whittington would have settled for prior to the verdict.


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Halliburton Attempts to Settle Asbestos Lawsuits

Source: New York Times
Published: December 31, 2002

Halliburton, a pipeline services company based in Huston, is trying to resolve tens of thousands of asbestos-related health claims without having the whole company file for bankruptcy. Halliburton inherited the Asbestos liabilities when it bought Dresser Industries in 1998, when Vice President Cheney was the chief executive of Halliburton. Attorneys for both Halliburton and plaintiffs outlined the strategy for settlement.

Three factors driving the Halliburton settlement are: the growing fear of asbestos liability; the interests of claimants to receive compensation quickly, ideally from solvent companies; the fear by lawyers for claimants that legislation might be enacted limiting corporate liability. The Halliburton settlement will almost certainly be subject to legal challenges.

The total cost of resolving asbestos claims has already reached $54 billion and could rise to as much as $260 billion, according to the Rand Institute for Civil Justice.


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New Asbestos Lawsuits Target Makers of Plastics

Source: Bloomberg News
Published: December 31, 2002

JACKSON, Miss. -- Dupont Co., Eastman Chemical Co. and other plastics manufactures are targets of new asbestos suits that claim makers of plastic industrial products containing asbestos are also to blame for workers health problems. The recent suits claim that such plastics, after becoming worn from use, may release health-threatening asbestos dust.

Many of the new asbestos suits have been filed in Mississippi, by attorneys acting before a new state law takes into effect capping punitive damages at $20 million for the largest corporations. The new suits extend the legal attacks on the cancer-causing substance beyond the makers of building materials.


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Warning: Asbestos Might Be Inside Your Attics and Walls

Source: Boston Globe
Published: December 29, 2002

WASHINGTON -- The Environmental Protection Agency was expected to warn Americans in April that their attics and walls might contain a brand of insulation known as Zonolite, which contains a lethal form of asbestos known as tremolite. But at the last minute the White House prevented such announcement. Zonolite insulation was sold throughout North America from the 1940s through the 1990s.

Former EPA administrator William Ruckelshaus called the decision not to notify homeowners of the dangers posed by Zonolite insulation ''the wrong thing to do.''

''When the government comes across this kind of information and doesn't tell people about it, I just think it's wrong, unconscionable, not to do that,'' he said. ''Your first obligation is to tell the people ... of the possible danger."


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ABB to Make Formal U.S. Asbestos Settlement offer

Source: Reuters
Published: December 27, 2002

ZURICH, Switzerland -- ABB, an industrial engineering group based in Switzerland, is trying to resolve a key asbestos liability case for a U.S. subsidiary, Combustion Engineering Inc. by offering to pay plaintiffs $300 million over several years on top of the unit's assets of some $800 million. The plaintiffs are former workers and clients who claim they became ill by inhaling asbestos particles released in the manufacturing of boilers and insulation material.

"We are working to send out a written proposal to the claimants before the end of this year,'' an ABB spokesman told Reuters. "This keeps the plan for a pre-packed Chapter 11 filing on track,'' he added.


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Halliburton Settles Asbestos Lawsuits for $4B

Source: The Associated Press
Published: December 19, 2002

PITTSBURGH -- Halliburton, a pipeline services company, announced Wednesday that it has agreed to pay about $4 billion in cash and stock to settle about 300,000 current and future asbestos cases nationwide. The Huston-based industrial giant once led by Vice President Dick Cheney inherited the asbestos liabilities when it bought Dresser Industries in 1998.

Asbestos a threadlike mineral is used for insulation and building materials. Inhaling asbestos fibers can cause lung cancer, Mesothelioma, and other deadly respiratory ailments, sometimes decades later. More than 75 percent of the plaintiffs agreed to the deal, which was required for a settlement


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Asbestos found at Mattison Avenue Elementary

Source: The Times Herald
Published: December 14, 2002

AMBLER, PA -- An EPA test has discovered asbestos at the Mattison Avenue Elementary School in Ambler, Montgomery County. The school will remain closed to students and staff, pending further testing. Wissahickon School District officials said the square-inch piece of asbestos was not airborne but collected in a corner in the maintenance garage, attached to the elementary school. Further test results will be available Tuesday, said Superintendent Stanley Durtan.

"We're taking an abundance of caution to ensure the health, safety and welfare of students and teachers," Durtan said. "Keep in mind the EPA has not closed Mattison Avenue. The EPA did not advise the district to close the school Tuesday or Friday."


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Sealed Air Settles Asbestos Lawsuits for $838M

Source: The Deal
Published: December 01, 2002

Sealed Air Corp, maker of bubble wrap, Friday offered $838 million to settle its fraudulent conveyance case with asbestos plaintiffs, who charged that W.R. Grace sold Cryovac to Sealed Air for less than its market value to shield the unit from asbestos claims. The company was scheduled to go on trial next week. The Cryovac acquisition was worth about $5 billion.

The settlement package Sealed Air offered to asbestos plaintiffs is the largest in a fraudulent conveyance lawsuit connected to a company facing massive asbestos liabilities.


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$5.1M Awarded in Asbestos Mesothelioma Cancer Case

Source: The National Law Journal
Published: December 01, 2002

MISSOURI -- A St. Louis jury has ordered Aerojet General Corp to pay $5.1 million to the family of a 42-year-old woman who died of asbestos-related cancer after apparently being exposed to fibers while a toddler. The verdict came after Judge Robert Dierker sanctioned Aerojet and barred defense attorneys from presenting key evidence that the company had never used asbestos in its products. The evidence was found to be false.

"We repeatedly asked Aerojet about the use of asbestos and they said no, no, no," said Randall Bono of the Simmons Firm in St. Louis, a lawyer for the family of the deceased, Stephanie Foster. "But we found evidence otherwise."


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Supreme Courts Hears Appeal On Asbestos Damages

Source: Reuters
Published: November 06, 2002

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Supreme Court revisited a 1997 ruling referred to the asbestos litigation crisis on Wednesday questioning whether the law governing railroad employee suits, allows damages for fear of developing cancer, even when the plaintiff does not have the disease or any systems.

The justices heard arguments by Carter Phillips, a lawyer for Norfolk Southern Corp., who challenged the $5.8 million award to six retired railway workers with asbestosis, a potentially deadly lung disease. He said 5,500 cases involving asbestosis have been filed under the law in West Virginia, and warned that more suits would be brought if the damages were upheld for those who fear they may develop cancer.

"That is the essence of unpredictable and unlimited damages," Phillips said. He urged the court to adopt a more restrictive view of the federal law to prevent "unlimited liability.


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Union Carbide Guilty of Exposing workers to Asbestos

Source: Reuters
Published: October 24, 2002

Charleston, W.V. -- A West Virginia jury on Thursday found Union Carbide guilty of exposing workers to asbestos poisoning over a 35-year period, the company faces millions of dollars in potential damages. The verdict makes it possible for about a thousand plaintiffs to pursue cases against Union Carbide for injuries suffered or health problems due to asbestos exposure like Mesothelioma, a form of lung cancer, at company facilities. Nationwide, there are 200,000 pending asbestos claims.

The second part of the trial is set to begin in December, a jury will be asked to determine if the plaintiffs were injured because of exposure to asbestos.


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ExxonMobil Agrees to Pay $264,000 to Settle Asbestos Cases

Source: The Associated Press
Published: October 10, 2002

Charleston, W. Va.--ExxonMobil will pay 132 people about $2000 each to settle asbestos claims against it, leaving Union Carbide the single defendant in what was a mass trial of asbestos claims here.

The case once involved nearly 8,000 claims against more than 250 corporations whittled down to three defendants after settlements. Union Carbide, which is now owned by Dow Chemical, ExxonMobil, and Amchem--which was dismissed from the case Tuesday.

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court said it would not hear or review arguments from ExxonMobil and other large companies that the trial was unconstitutional. Attorneys for Union Carbide said settlement talks would continue.


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