CHARLESTON – A Barboursville man claims he developed lung cancer as a result of his workspace exposure to asbestos.

Richard Franklin Bartee has filed a lawsuit against 62 companies for allegedly exposing him to asbestos and thus causing him to develop lung cancer. The suit was filed on January 12 in Kanawha Circuit Court.

Bartee’s complaint says he was diagnosed with asbestos-related lung cancer on April 4, 2011.

The plaintiff says he was continuously exposed to asbestos as well as various asbestos-containing products all through his employment from 1957 to 1994.

Bartee argues that the defendants failed to warn him of the dangers of asbestos exposure and to protect him from the cancer-causing substance.

Bartee is asking for a jury trial to fix the issues involved in the case. The case will be presided over by a visiting judge.

CHARLESTON – 42 companies are being sued in an asbestos-related case filed by a Hampton, VA, woman.

Dolores Kerns Davis has filed a lawsuit against the companies for allegedly exposing her husband’s asbestos-related death.

The complaint filed on January 12 in Kanawha Circuit Court says the plaintiff’s husband Glenn Randolph Davis was regularly exposed to asbestos products of the defendants during his employment from 1969 until 2010.

As a result of his asbestos exposure, Mr. Davis developed lung cancer and died from the disease on August 1, 2011, the complaint says.

The plaintiff argues the defendants didn’t warn her husband of the dangers of asbestos exposure.

Dolores Kerns Davis is expecting a jury trial to resolve all the issues involved in the case. The case has been assigned to a visiting judge.

CHARLESTON – A Hacker Valley man has filed a complaint in Kanawha Circuit Court against 69 defendant corporations for exposing him to asbestos and thus causing him to develop mesothelioma.

According to the lawsuit filed by Danny L. Coombs on January 12, he was diagnosed with mesothelioma on October 25, 2011.

Coombs claims that the defendants exposed him to asbestos products from 1950s until 1977.

The complaint says the defendants didn’t warn Coombs regarding the dangers of asbestos. The companies also failed to protect him from asbestos exposure, the suit states.

Coombs is asking for a jury trial. A visiting judge will preside over the case.

A demolition contractor, who allegedly neglected the orders from WorkSafeBC and B.C. Supreme Court to stop exposing workers to dangerous asbestos fibers, has been sentenced to 60 days in jail for contempt of court.

Arthur Moore of AM Environmental has been sentenced by Justice Richard Goepel on January 24 for continuously appointing unprotected workers to get rid of asbestos during home demolitions. According to the court documents, some of the workers were as young as 14 years.

“We are highly disappointed because anyone, who acts in such awful manner, in this day and age is certainly a criminal,” said Lee Loftus, the president of the B.C. and Yukon Territory Building and Construction Trades Council.

Loftus, who is also the business manager of the Insulators Union Local 118, said the contractor’s behaviour was wrong on many levels.

“He was using teenagers and exposing them to cancer-causing materials such as asbestos. Furthermore, he was using recovering alcoholics and drug addicts living in recovery houses for asbestos removal during demolition works,” Loftus said.

A woman is suing 65 companies for allegedly exposing her to asbestos-containing products throughout her career and thus causing her to develop lung cancer.

A complaint has been filed by Betty Ruth Rhodes on January 6 in St. Clair County Circuit Court. It doesn’t specify where the plaintiff resides.

According to the lawsuit, Rhodes worked as a laborer from 1958 until 1990 at Borg Warner in Illinois, at Speedway Manufacturing in Illinois and at Rhodes Camper Sale. Rhodes was exposed to asbestos all through her employment, the complaint says.

The complaint says Rhodes was also secondarily exposed to asbestos fibers through the work clothes of her father, who was a laborer, and husband, who worked as a millwright.

On account of her fatal illness, Rhodes became disabled and disfigured, incurred medical expenses and suffered immense physical pain and mental anguish, according to the lawsuit. Rhodes also claims that she lost large amount amounts of money that would have accrued to her.

In her nine-count lawsuit, the plaintiff is seeking a judgment in excess of $50,000, compensatory damages in excess of $100,000, and financial damages in excess of $150,000. Rhodes is also asking for punitive and exemplary damages of more than $150,000, plus other relief that the court deems just.

The wife and children of a deceased man is suing Chevron and Texaco for allegedly exposing him to deadly asbestos fibers throughout his career.

The family of late Robert Marze has filed a lawsuit against the companies on 17th January in Jefferson County District Court.

The complaint says Robert Marze was exposed to asbestos, a known carcinogen, while working at Texaco’s Port Arthur facility.

The lawsuit doesn’t specify Marze’s occupation or dates of his employment.

The suit states that Marze developed pulmonary asbestosis as a result of his regular exposure to asbestos fibers and died from the disease on August 20.

According to the plaintiffs, the defendant companies knew for decades that asbestos exposure can cause cancer, but still allowed their employees to work with and around asbestos products. They also allege that the companies failed to warn employees of the hazards of asbestos exposure.

The plaintiffs are seeking exemplary damages. The case will be presided over by Judge Milton Shuffield, 136th District Court.

A Norfolk County grand jury indicted two men for allegedly cleaning up asbestos from a Medway rental home without properly following state regulations concerning the process.

David Einis, of Weston, and Nicholas Pasquantonio were each indicted on two counts of violating the Massachusetts Clean Air Act. Einis, 57, is the owner of the single-family rental home and Pasquantonio is a Plainville-based heating contractor hired by Einis. According to the indictment, both the men failed to inform the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) regarding the asbestos removal job and also failed to prevent the release of asbestos fibers into the air.

Einis hired Pasquantonio, who is not an authorized asbestos contractor, to replace the boiler in the Medway home in early December 2010. According to a press release from the attorney general’s office, Pasquantonio replaced the boiler without sealing off the basement.

Inspectors from the state Department of Environmental Protection found that asbestos had been removed improperly, releasing asbestos fibers into the air.

Northampton County shut down part of Gracedale’s basement after asbestos was found at various portions in the building.

Some portions of southeast and southwest sections of the nursing home’s basement were shut down by the County this month. These portions include the maintenance shop, break room and carpentry shop.

Asbestos fibers were found at the surface level of those segments.

Tom Harp, the Director of Administration, said the cancer-causing fibers were not airborne. Inhalation of airborne asbestos fibers can result in severe respiratory problems and fatal diseases including cancer.

The county will determine the scope of an asbestos removal project once the final testing report is obtained.

A woman has filed lawsuit against 50 companies over the asbestos-related death of a man who had worked with and around the products marketed or manufactured by the defendants.

The suit was filed by Denise Viges in Jefferson County District Court on December 14. She filed the case on behalf of John Viges, who died after developing a disease associated with asbestos exposure.

Denise Viges alleges that the companies are responsible for Viges’s disease because they didn’t warn him regarding the dangers associated with asbestos products.

The plaintiff argues that the companies were aware of the hazards of the their products, but failed to remove them from market.

Prior to his death, John Viges suffered from pain, mental anguish, disfigurement and physical impairment due to his fatal disease, the lawsuit says.

Additionally, Denise Viges claims she incurred medical and funeral costs relating to John Viges’s death. She is seeking general, punitive and exemplary damages, and pre- and post-judgment interest.

Judge Donald Floyd, 172 District Court, will preside over the case.

LIHU‘E – Asbestos removal has started at the historic Lihue Sugar Mill on Kauai on Monday. The building has been scheduled to be demolished on February 20.

The same work at Kekaha Sugar Mill is expected to start after the completion of the Lihu‘e mill project. The project is expected to take six months to complete. The original plan was to perform the Kekaha work first.

“This way appears more sensible,” Mill’s co-owner Lynn McCrory said.

The work will be conducted during normal business hours, and any traffic from the project will be scheduled to minimize any disturbance for Kaua‘i residents, according to a news release.

The press release says the county has issued a demolition permit for the Lihu‘e Mill work.