California Plant Insulation Company Pays Out Record Asbestos Compensation - Product Negligence & Liability, Former Insulator Testimony, San Francisco Supreme Court

> Beginning the late 1800s, asbestos was mined and used in many different industries all over North America, especially before the World War II. Examples of industry use include:

- Automotive industry uses asbestos in vehicle brakeshoes and clutch pads.
- Building & construction industry uses asbestos for strengthening cement as well as sound absorption, roofing, insulation and fireproofing.
- Shipbuilding industry uses asbestos to insulate hot water pipes, boilers and steampipes... (Read More)

> About 2000 - 4000 Americans are diagnosed with Malignant Mesothelioma each year, and about 66% of those cases are of Pleural Mesothelioma. Pleural Mesothelioma occurs when Cancer hits the lining of the lungs, also known as the 'Pleura.' The Pleura is a Sac which houses the lungs, and consists of a thin membrane called the 'mesothelium.' The mesothelium is a vital part of the lungs because it enables them to expand and contract when breathing by secreting a fluid. This fluid is located in the lungs and inside of the rib cage. If the Pleura or the Pleural fluid becomes damaged with Cancer, it makes it very hard for the patient to breathe, thus shortness of breath is a common symptom of Pleural mesothelioma... (Read More)

(January 24th, 2010)

Plant Insulation Company, of Emeryville, California was ordered to pay out the highest ever Asbestos compensation last week, worth $4.3 million to the families of 3 San Francisco Bay area pipefitters & plumbers who developed Asbestos related cancer known as Mesothelioma and died from it. The compensation money goes to William C. Hearn (former California resident), James Harris (former Sacramento County resident) and George Wetch (former resident of Sebastopol). The Plant Insulation Company of Emeryville, California is a huge insulation products distributor and contractor, and they specialize in drywalls, plastering, acoustical and floor/steel building/foam insulation. The case was heard by the San Francisco Superior Court which decided that the company continued to distribute asbestos-containing products even though the executives knew the harmful effects of Asbestos. The company was found 59% liable for the death of William C. Hearn such that they continued to sell asbestos-containing products in boxes marked "Free of Asbestos" in the early 1970s, together with non-asbestos containing products. The image on the above is of employee of the Plant Insulation Company of California moving asbestos containing products to Tosco's Avon Refinery in Martinez, CA.

The Superior Court ruled terms of product negligence & liability against the Plant Insulation company. A former retired insulator gave testimony that the company had the practice of mislabeling and selling old stock of asbestos containing products, well in to the late 1970s; even after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced its hazards and dangers. Thus, product negligence & liability was ruled as a result of the company ignoring the hazard & danger press release by the EPA. If products containing asbestos are disturbed, tiny asbestos fibers are released into the air. If these fibers are inhaled by humans, they get trapped in the lungs and can work their way into the pleura thus causing pleural mesothelioma, or into the pericardial cavity causing pericardial mesothelioma or into the abdomen (linings of the lungs) causing peritoneal mesothelioma.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1989 issued a final ban on most asbestos-containing products, including specialty paper, flooring felts, roll boards, and other insulation products. However, the EPA has not been able to ban the following products as of yet:

- Asbestos clothes
- Asbestos cement & pipelines
- Automatic transmission components such as clutches, disc brake pads, drum brake linings, gaskets and brake blocks.

The threat of Asbestos in public building structures, automobile components, old schools & homes, ships & steel mills as well as ironworks/metal works still remains.