Buffalo Boilermaker Gets $3 Million Mesothelioma Settlement

Buffalo, NY: A settlement of more than $3 million dollars has been awarded to a local union boilermaker for injuries resulting from exposure to asbestos on the job.

Earl W. Tredinnick, III, 61, of Elma, New York, who worked as a Local 7 Union Boilermaker between 1967 and 2002 developed mesothelioma in the fall of 2008, and brought suit against various companies responsible for a variety of asbestos-containing products. Due to the confidential nature of this settlement, the Tredinnicks are not at liberty to disclose the names of the settling parties or the amounts contributed by each of these companies to the award.

Mr. Tredinnick is a third generation boilermaker who worked at large industrial sites throughout the area, including Niagara Mohawk's Huntley and Dunkirk steam stations, Ashland Oil, Hooker Chemical, Bethlehem Steel and DuPont in Niagara Falls.

The case settled two days after a jury was selected and just before Mr. Tredinnick's lawyers were due to make opening statements. Mr. Tredinnick claims that his mesothelioma was caused by exposure to equipment, including pipes, valves and boilers covered with exterior insulation. Mr. Tredinnick was present and participated in numerous shut-downs during which asbestos-containing insulation materials were removed and replaced. This procedure gives rise to a great deal of airborne asbestos contamination.