Posts Tagged ‘ WR Grace ’
Asbestos News Roundup: 1.19.12
January 20th, 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 Settlements
Manitoba, Canada: Several Manitoba property owners received class action settlement monies this week totalling nearly $5 million. The payments are part of a legal settlement between Pinchin Environmental Ltd. and asbestos manufacturer Federal Mogul that was more than eight years long.
According to the Winnipeg Free Press, the plaintiffs owned buildings that contained a type of asbestos fireproofing material called Limpet. Limpet was used extensively in Canadian buildings in the latter half of the last century. The largest award – $700,000 – went to Winnipeg Airports Authority, which is in the process of demolishing an old terminal. The Canadian Wheat Board was another large award recipient, getting $198,000 as compensation. Its Main Street head offices underwent extensive renovation over the past decade, including expensive asbestos abatement, the Winnipeg Free Press writes. The WFP also states “The Canadian involvement in the U.S. settlement is unique in a few ways. Pinchin officials say the legal claims would likely have failed had they been presented in Canadian court. The Canadian participation was not instigated by the property owners, but by Pinchin’s own efforts. About 70 percent of the $32-million eventual settlement will go to Canadian building owners. And of that Canadian component, about 25 percent will be distributed to Manitoba claimants.” (Winnipegfreepress.com)
Asbestos Hot Spots
Former Workers at the Silico and Southwest Vermiculite Co Plants at Risk for Asbestos-related Diseases.
Albuquerque, NM: Federal contractors began removing asbestos-contaminated soil at two sites in Albuquerque this week, where fireproof insulation was manufactured for decades. Dressed in protective suits and using heavy equipment, the men are scraping up the contaminated soil. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must remove some 5,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil from the former Silico Inc. plant located at 5119 Edith NE. Soil removal is also underway at a smaller site located at 1822 First NE. The site was used by the Southwest Vermiculite Co. The popular fireproof insulation was sold under the brand names Zonalite and Texas Vermiculite, and was distributed across New Mexico to insulate attics and walls.
But along with the soil removal come questions about the health of former employees at the plants, as well as the location of some 68,000 tons of asbestos-tainted vermiculite imported to New Mexico from 1967 to 1988 for use in making the insulation.
The vermiculite came from the W.R. Grace mine in Libby, Montana, which shipped tons of asbestos-contaminated vermiculite by rail to plants across the country. The mine closed in 1990. The employees who worked in the plants and loaded and unloaded the vermiculite ore would have been at greatest risk for asbestos exposure, said Mike McAteer, the EPA’s on-site coordinator. “I have no doubt there would have been fiber getting kicked up during this loading operation,” McAteer said. He recommended anyone who believes he or she may have been exposed to asbestos to contact a health provider.
According to the report in the Albuquerque Journal, Bernalillo County environmental health officials plan to identify employees who worked at the plants and notify them about potential health risks, Kitty Richards, an agency program manager, said at a public meeting Tuesday. (Albuquerquejournal.com)
Week Adjourned: 9.23.11
September 23rd, 2011. By LucyC
Top Class Actions
Engine Trouble for Mercedes-Benz? Well, last week we reported on a proposed settlement between Mercedes Benz and some unhappy customers who allege consumer fraud over Mercedes Benz USA failing to inform buyers of its luxury vehicles with analog Tele Aid communication systems that the company planned to phase out the analogue emergency communications systems altogether on its models from 2003-2006.
This week, Mercedes Benz is back on the books with a defective product class action. The allegations? Premature wear taking place with its M156 engines, specifically the cam shafts. The suit alleges that the premature wear in the M156 V8 (63 AMG) engine leads to engine problems and in some instances engine failure.
The lawsuit states that the camshafts used are made of cast nodular iron but the valve lifters used are made of 9310 grade steel, and that the combination of these metals as designed is contributing to premature wear of the M156 motors. The suit alleges that Mercedes and AMG (Aufrecht Melcher Grossaspach), a division of Mercedes that sells the high-end M156 have known about this issue since 2007. According to the lawsuit, the luxury vehicles sell for between $60K and $200K. OK, for that kind of money I would not be expecting engine problems – ever.
Top Settlements
Libby Montana Asbestos Settlement. This is a biggy and a long time in coming…long-suffering, potentially terminally ill residents of Libby, Montana, suffering from asbestos-related illnesses including asbestosis and mesothelioma have been awarded a $43 million settlement by a judge in that state. The people were made ill as a result of their exposure to asbestos from the infamous W.R. Grace asbestos mine in Libby, Montana. Reports indicate that a large part of the settlement will be paid by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.
The settlement resolves a lawsuit filed against the state and the mine by former miners and their families who accused the state of failing to properly oversee the mine or warn workers of dangers there. Miners had originally sued W.R. Grace but after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2001, they sued the state for failing to adequately protect them, court documents state.
Some 1,400 people are expected to receive payouts from the settlement, which was approved September 8, by Montana District Court Judge Jeffrey M. Sherlock, ending ten years of legal wrangling. However, while the settlement ends numerous cases and claims against Montana it “expressly reserves their claims against all other responsible parties,” according to the agreement.
Many of the people who suffered asbestos exposure from the Libby mine are now over the age of 65, and others have since died of asbestos-related diseases such as asbestosis and cancers such as mesothelioma, records show. It may be a good ending but it’s certainly not a good story.
Snap, Crackle…Pop! Goes the Immunity Claim… Ok—hands up—how many of you actually believe a breakfast cereal could boost your immune system? Really.
But no matter, as long as the claim is made…
Kellogg, finding itself in a position of having to defend such a claim, to a potential class of consumers who filed a consumer fraud lawsuit, has proposed a settlement… cheaper than going to court after all.
In a nutshell, the lawsuit claims the Kellogg Company falsely advertised that Rice Krispies cereal and Cocoa Krispies cereal supported a person’s immunity system despite not having competent clinical evidence to support the claim. Now there’s a surprise.
So—if you purchased Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Cereal or Cocoa Krispies Cereal between June 1, 2009 and March 1, 2010, you may be entitled to a cash refund from a class action settlement.
The only way to get a cash refund: Claim Forms must either be submitted online or postmarked by November 16, 2011. If you wish, you can get out of the lawsuits and the settlement. Get no cash refund. If you wanted to exclude yourself, you must have sent an request postmarked no later than July 30, 2011. The deadline to file an objection to the settlement was July 25, 2011. If you do nothing, you will get no cash refund. However, any leftover money will be donated to one or more charities.
OK. That’s it for this week. See you at the Bar. (I’ve been told a Bloody Mary is also good for the immune system…)
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
Max Did It His Way for Libby
December 29th, 2009. By Hunter West
The final vote on what will be an historic event precluding the passage of President Obama’s health care bill Christmas Eve was preceded by a close vote in the Senate in the wee hours last Monday morning. It passed by the slimmest of margins—and that’s after weeks of lobbying and wrangling individual senators to gain their support.
The Republicans have been crying foul. Other critics say that the bill reeks of political pork and pet projects in exchange for support and precious votes. 
On the surface the criticism seems justified—although defenders point out that a union of states (which is what the United States of America is) remains a democracy and negotiation is just part of the process. True, say the critics—but that kind of stuff just drives the price of health care reform through the roof by advocating for the few, to the detriment of the many.
But dig a little deeper and you suddenly begin to understand…
Senator Max Baucus (D-Montana) is chairman of the Finance Committee and principal author of the health care bill. So one has to wonder if he had anything to do with a cryptic proposal, which The New York Times described on Sunday as ‘inconspicuous’, expanding Medicare to cover certain victims of “environmental health hazards.”
“The intended beneficiaries are identified in a cryptic, mysterious way,” writes Robert Pear in the Read the rest of this entry »
Week Adjourned: 5.15.09
May 15th, 2009. By LucyC
Top Class Actions: The Week of the Biggies
Hotel Costco: You can clock in, but you can never leave? It appears to have been another busy week in law firms and courthouses across North America. Let’s start with Costco—last week Costco was in the news for having settled an unfair business practices class action and this week they’re in the news for “falsely imprisoning” employees in its California warehouses. Whaaat?
When I first read this my mind reeled, “what new business venture is this?”
Turns out it’s yet another unpaid overtime and wages class action centered in California. What is it about California? (I’m referring to the endless labor law violations).
The class action centers on employees who were and are forced to remain in the warehouses after closing while store managers make goods secure and lock up. This has been going on for years, apparently. But now there is a lawsuit, of course, and the lawyers are seeking US $50 million in damages.
O Canada!—who was standing on guard at Guidant? Across the border in Canada, not a land well-known for class action lawsuits—something large is taking place. Earlier this month a national class action was certified against Guidant Corp, alleging that the company knowingly sold defective pacemakers. The class so far represents more than 28,000 people, and the lawyers are seeking CD$525 million in damages.
Highway Robbery? And a class action that’s been getting a lot of media this week is the Massachusetts Turnpike lawsuit, whose plaintiffs are being represented by a lawyer made famous in the 1998 film “A Civil Action“, Jan R. Schlichtmann.
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