Richard Franklin Bartee has filed a lawsuit against the companies on January 12 in Kanawha Circuit Court. According to the suit, Bartee was diagnosed with asbestos-related lung cancer on April 4, 2011.

Bartee says he was regularly exposed to asbestos and asbestos-containing products during his employment from 1957 until 1994.

The companies failed to warn Bartee regarding the hazards of asbestos and to protect him from the carcinogen, the suit states.

The companies are blamed for contaminating buildings, violation of warranty, intentional tort, misrepresentation and failure to warn.

Bartee is seeking a jury trial to get the issues involved in the lawsuit resolved. A visiting judge has been assigned the case.

A.K. Steel Corporation, A.W. Chesterton Company, Ajax Magnethermic Corporation, Bechtel Corporation, Borg-Warner Corporation, Bucyrus International, Inc., Caterpillar Inc., Certainteed Corporation, Clark Equipment Company, Cleaver-Brooks Company, Inc., Columbus McKinnon Corporation, Crane Co., Dravo Corporation, Eaton Electrical, Inc., Exxon Mobil Corporation, Flowserve FSD Corporation, FMC Corporation, Ford Motor Company, Foseco, Inc., Foster Wheeler Energy Corporation, General Electric Company, Goulds Pumps, Inc., Honeywell International, IMO Industries, Inc., Industrial Holdings Corporation, Ingersoll-Rand Company, Insul Company, Inc., ITT Corporation, J.H. France Refractories, McJunkin Red Man Corporation, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, Morgan Engineering, Inc., NACCO Materials Handling Group, Inc., Nagle Pumps, Nitro Industrial Coverings, Inc., Oglebay Norton Company, Ohio Valley Insulating Company, Inc., Owens-Illinois, Inc., Pettibone/Traverse Lift, LLC, Premier Refractories, Inc., Rapid American Corporation, Riley Power Inc., Rockwell Automations, Inc., Rust Constructors, Inc., Rust Engineering & Construction, Inc., Rust International, Inc., Schneider Electric USA, Inc., Standard Oil Company, Inc., State Electric Supply Company, Sterling Fluid Systems (US) LLC, Stockham Valves & Fittings, Surface Combustion, Inc., Tasco Insulations, Inc., The Alliance Machine Company, The F.D. Lawrence Electric Company, UB West Virginia, Inc., United Engineers & Constructors and Washington Group International, Viacom, Inc., Vimasco Corporation, West Virginia State Electric Supply Company, WT/HRC Corporation, and Yale Materials Handling Corporation are the 62 companies named as defendants in the case.

Dolores Kerns Davis has filed a lawsuit against the companies on January 12 in Kanawha Circuit Court. According to the suit, the plaintiff’s husband Glenn Randolph Davis died from asbestos-related lung cancer on August 1, 2011.

Dolores Kerns says the defendants exposed her husband to toxic asbestos fibers throughout his employment from 1969 until 2010.

The complaint says the companies failed to warn Glenn Randolph Davis regarding the hazards of asbestos and to prevent him from being exposed to the carcinogen.

The plaintiff is seeking a jury trial to get the issues involved in the case resolved. A visiting judge will preside over the case.

The suit filed by Danny L. Coombs on January 12 in Kanawha Circuit Court says he was diagnosed with mesothelioma on October 25, 2011.

Coombs says he was exposed to the asbestos products of the defendants from 1950s until 1977.

Coombs argues the companies failed to warn him of the hazards of asbestos and to protect him from being exposed to the cancer-causing material.

The plaintiff is seeking a jury trial to get the issues involved in the case resolved.

3M Company, A.O. Smith Corporation, A.W. Chesterton Company, Ajax Magnethermic Corporation, Allied Glove Corporation, Aurora Pump Company, Borg-Warner Corporation, Burlington Industries, Inc., Carrier Corporation, Catalytic Construction Company, Certainteed Corporation, Cleaver-Brooks Company, Inc., Crane Company, Dravo Corporation, Eaton Electrical, Inc., Erie City Iron Works, Flowserve US, Inc., FMC Corporation, Ford Motor Company, Foster Wheeler Energy Corporation, General Electric Company, Inc., Genuine Parts Company, Goulds Pumps, Inc., Greene Tweed & Company, Grinnell, LLC, Hercules, Inc., Hinchcliff Products Company, Honeywell International, Honeywell, Inc., IMO Industries, Inc., Industrial Holdings Corporation, Ingersoll-Rand Company, ITT Corporation, Keisey-Hayes Company, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Maremont Corporation, McJunkin Corporation, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, Modern Tool & Die Company, Nagle Pumps, Nitro Industrial Coverings, Inc., Oakfabco, Inc., Ohio Valley Insulating Company, Inc., Owens-Illnois, Inc., Pneumo Abex Corp., Premiere Refractories, Inc., Rapid American Corporation, Riley Power, Inc., Rust Constructors, Inc., Rust Engineering & Construction, Inc., Rust International, Inc., Sager Corporation, Schneider Electric USA, Inc., Sterling Fluid Systems (USA) LLC, Sunbeam Corporation, Surface Combustion, Inc., Swindell Dressier International Corporation, Tasco Insulations, Inc., The William Powell Company, Trumbull Asphalt, UB West Virginia, Inc., Uniroyal, Inc., United Conveyor Corporation, URS Energy & Construction, Inc., Vermont American Corporation, Viacom, Inc., Vimasco Corporation, Yarway Corporation, and Zurn Industries, Inc. are the companies named as defendants in the lawsuit.

The case will be presided over by a visiting judge.

Justice Richard Goepel sentenced Arthur Moore of AM Environmental on January 24 for keeping on employing unprotected workers to get rid of asbestos during building demolitions. Some of these workers were as young as 14 years.

“We are very disappointed because anyone, who acts in such atrocious manner, in this day and age is indeed a criminal,” said Lee Loftus, the president of the B.C. and Yukon Territory Building and Construction Trades Council. Loftus is also the business manager of the Insulators Union Local 118.

Loftus said the contractor’s behaviour was wrong on several levels. Moore was using teenagers and exposing them to carcinogens such as asbestos. In addition, he was using recovering alcoholics and drug addicts living in recovery houses, Loftus said.

“Residents are really angry. Asbestos is a lethal material,” said Zoe Pappas, the president of the Chelsea Hotel Tenant Association.

The asbestos fight is the latest conflict at the historic hotel.

A group of 34 permanent residents sued Chetrit last December, stating that the dust and airborne debris created by the widespread repairs at 222 W. 23rd St. were dangerous to their health.

The court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and ordered the ongoing demolition to abide by the safety regulations.

In addition to the asbestos fight, a tenant group has come against Chetrit’s move to evict long-term residents.

Betty Ruth Rhodes has filed a lawsuit against the companies on January 6 in St. Clair County Circuit Court. The suit does not specify where Rhodes resides.

According to the complaint, the companies caused Rhodes to develop lung cancer by exposing her to asbestos-containing products throughout her career.

Rhodes worked as a laborer from 1958 until 1990 at Borg Warner in Illinois, at Speedway Manufacturing in Illinois and at Rhodes Camper Sale, the suit states.

Rhodes says she was also secondarily exposed to asbestos fibers through the work clothes of her father and husband. Her father worked as a laborer at International Harvester in Illinois and her husband worked as a millwright from 1956 until 1970 at Reynolds Metal Company, as a millwright at ITT from 1970 until 1972 and as a millwright at Alcoa from 1972 until 1992, the complaint states.

As a result of her asbestos-related illness, Rhodes became disabled and disfigured, incurred medical expenses and suffered immense physical pain and mental anguish, according to the lawsuit. Additionally, she lost large amounts of money that would have accrued to her, the plaintiff argues.

The nine-count lawsuit is seeking a judgment of more than $50,000, compensatory damages of more than $100,000, economic damages of more than $150,000 and punitive and exemplary damages of more than $150,000, plus other relief to which she might be entitled.

Doris Marze, the wife of late Robert Marze and her children have filed a lawsuit against the companies on 17th January in Jefferson County District Court.

According to the suit, Robert Marze was employed in the Port Arthur facility of Texaco, where he was allegedly exposed to asbestos, a known cancer-causing substance.

The dates of Marze’s employment are not specified in the lawsuit. It doesn’t specify his occupation either.

As a result of frequent exposure to asbestos, Marze developed pulmonary asbestosis and died from it on August 20.

The plaintiffs argue the companies knew for decades that asbestos can cause cancer, but still exposed their employees to the dangerous substance without warning them.

Marze’s family is seeking exemplary damages. Judge Milton Shuffield, 136th District Court, will preside over the case.

David Einis, 57, of Weston and Nicholas Pasquantonio, 41, were each indicted Thursday on two counts of violating the Massachusetts Clean Air Act. Einis is the owner of the single-family rental home. Pasquantonio is a Plainville-based heating contractor. These two allegedly failed to file a notice of asbestos removal with the state Department of Environmental Protection and to prevent asbestos emissions.

Pasquantonio was hired by Einis in early December 2010 to replace the boiler in the Medway home. Pasquantonio has no license to handle asbestos, according to the attorney general’s office. A press release from the office says Pasquantonio replaced the boiler without sealing off the basement.

After receiving a notification from the Medway Board of Health, the state Department of Environmental Protection inspected the home and discovered that asbestos had been improperly removed, causing asbestos fibers to be released into the air.

Airborne asbestos fibers can be easily breathed in. Inhalation of these fibers can result in severe respiratory problems and terminal diseases including cancer.

Segments of the southeast and southwest sections of the nursing home’s basement including the maintenance shop, break room and carpentry shop were closed by the County this month.

Asbestos fibers were detected at the surface level of those portions. However, the fibers were not airborne, according to Tom Harp, the Director of Administration.

The county is in anticipation of a final testing report to decide the scope of an asbestos abatement project.

47-year-old Larraine Kirk died ten months after she was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma.

Mrs. Kirk felt stomach problems in January last year. In June, a tumor was found in her bowel.

Kirk worked as a machinist in the Gainsborough factory between 1980 and 1984, where she performed repairs on asbestos-lagged heating pipes. Deputy coroner Paul Smith concluded this must have been the source of Kirk’s disease.
 
Mesothelioma is a rare but deadly cancer. The only known reason for the development of the disease is asbestos exposure.

Mr. Paul Smith returned a verdict of death by industrial disease.