Mesothelioma Cases at Rockwell International (Podcast)

In this podcast, Paul Kelly from the law firm Satterley & Kelley talks with John Maher about Rockwell International. The ovens in this die casting facility had a lot of asbestos, and it’s very likely that anyone who worked at this company prior to 1980 was exposed to asbestos.

John Maher: Hi, I’m John Maher, and I’m here today with Paul Kelley. Paul is a partner with the Kentucky personal injury law firm, Satterley & Kelley which has over 30 years of collective experience in handling cases involving mesothelioma and asbestos exposure. Today we’re talking about mesothelioma cases at Rockwell International. Welcome, Paul.

Paul Kelley: Good morning, John. How are you doing?

What Is Rockwell International?

John: Good, thanks. Paul. What is Rockwell International and where are they located?

Paul: So Rockwell International is a facility in Russellville, Kentucky, which is kind of towards the southwestern part of our state. It was a die casting facility and it made products, aluminum products such as water meters, gas meters, typewriter covers back when typewriters were a thing, and then a lot of automobile parts. And that facility operated for a long time. I think it opened in 1957, operated as Rockwell until 1989. And then it did go through a variety of name changes after that. A company called BTR, British Tyre and Rubber., and then Precision Dye Casting Inc, I think took it over. I believe the facility has since closed, but it was open for 50, 60 years.

Asbestos and Mesothelioma Cancer Cases at Rockwell International

John: Okay. And how is Rockwell related to asbestos and mesothelioma cancer cases?

Paul: Well, so the main way has to do with the types of ovens they had. So the way it worked is they would create parts from molten aluminum. So they had melting furnaces in the facility that created the molten aluminum, and then they transferred that molten aluminum to what’s called a holding furnace. And the holding furnace would essentially let the aluminum harden a little bit, and then they would inject it into a dye cast machine. That’s a simplistic explanation of the process, but it’s those furnaces where the predominant asbestos exposure occurred.

The holding furnaces in particular were lined with firebrick and refractory material that all contained asbestos. These furnaces operated at hundreds of degrees of heat, if not thousands of degrees of heat. And so the fire brick and the refractory material was necessary in order to maintain the integrity of the furnace, make sure it did what it was supposed to do, and that it didn’t break down too quickly. All of those materials… and I believe that, we have discovered that, that plant at one time had as many as 30 of these holding furnaces.

All of those furnaces from the 50s, at least through the early to mid 1970s, contained asbestos, fire brick and other refractory material. And so there were folks who were exposed during the initial installation process. And then after that, usually about once a year, once every couple of years, all of these furnaces had to be relined, the materials broke down and they had to take out all the fire brick and all the refractory, and then they had to put it all back in. And so with 30 furnaces, we have learned from cases we’ve been involved in at that plant, that they pretty much were tearing one down continuously over the course of a year. So there would’ve been exposure pretty much daily for anybody that worked back in that holding furnace area where that kind of work was being done.

In addition to the holding furnaces, the plant was insulated with steam lines or steam pipes, steam pipes that A, carried steam to heat the facility. And B, carried chemical processes that involved hot processes. And so all those steam lines were insulated with asbestos insulation. And that was done in order to protect people from getting burned on the pipes as well as to protect the integrity of the pipes and keep that heat in, so that whatever was flowing through them stayed the temperature that they needed it to stay at. And so the insulators that installed the insulation, pipe fitters that needed to remove some of it in order to work on a pipe, and certainly maintenance mechanics and people that had to tap into those pipes and that piece of equipment would be exposed.

Which Workers Were Exposed to Asbestos at Rockwell?

John: So would it have typically just been the insulators and mechanics and those types of employees at the company that would’ve been exposed to asbestos in this way?

Paul: Well, unfortunately, no. We recently represented someone who essentially was involved in management at the facility. He was really a planner. His job was to make sure that this part was running on this day and that we were manufacturing enough at the rate that we needed to be. And so he wasn’t someone that operated the furnaces, he wasn’t someone who tore the materials out.

His exposure occurred when just on a daily basis he walked through, he went to go check on the guys that were operating, went to go check with his engineers and other people to make sure that things were happening the way they were supposed to be happening.

But the problem is that while he was doing that, there were other folks that were either tearing out the refractory and firebrick from a furnace or they were putting new in. And as I mentioned earlier, that was something that was an ongoing basis. When you have 30 of those furnaces, they of course wanted as many of them to operate at a time, but they certainly had a situation where 28 or 29 are operating and one is being essentially rebuilt. And then that’s what would happen.

Anyone Who Worked at Rockwell International Prior to 1980 Was Likely Exposed to Asbestos

John: So that guy was probably checking on their progress as well, like, “Hey, how’s things going over here? When is this particular furnace going to be back up and running?” And he’s probably in close proximity to that as well.

Paul: Absolutely. And so unfortunately, anybody that worked in the plant, unless they were completely, entirely insulated from having to go out into the facility, and actually be present on the floor where these furnaces were at, or where any of this insulation was being worked on, I mean, nobody could avoid it. So office workers, engineers, planters, and then certainly the maintenance mechanics, the equipment operators, the furnace operators, the insulators, the pipe fitters, the electricians. I mean, all of those folks are going to be exposed. But unfortunately, I don’t think anybody that worked at the facility, at least prior to 1980, I don’t think anybody could have avoided exposure.

Even Very Minimal Asbestos Exposure Can Cause Mesothelioma

John: Like you said, the likelihood of somebody just never going back into that area where those furnaces are is pretty unlikely. Even if it’s just a front desk, a secretary type of person, they might walk back and say, “Hey, you’ve got a phone call, Joe.” Or something like that, and that they would walk through that part of the facility as well. It would just be almost impossible to never go through that area.

Paul: Yeah, I mean, if they hired you to work in the plant, you were there for a reason and the plant existed to make these products. And I don’t think anybody could have really worked there without suffering an exposure at some point in time. What we know, what science knows about asbestos exposure, particularly as it relates to mesothelioma, is it doesn’t take a lot of exposure to cause that disease.

So the person who worked with the equipment day in and day out, or the person who participated and was responsible for the tear out and the installation of the new. I mean, arguably they may be at a higher risk and suffer a higher exposure, but the people that worked in the plant and may have just had some of those fleeting exposures on an intermittent basis, they have a far greater risk of contracting this disease than people that didn’t work at that plant.

And we’re aware of, I believe, John, three or four people that developed mesothelioma that worked at that plant. If you operate a plant and more than one person gets this disease, mesothelioma, that means there’s a problem there. It is a very rare disease, one in a million people is going to get that disease. And if you’ve got a plant that employs a couple thousand people and 2, 3, 4 people develop the disease, it means there’s a problem in that plant.

What to Do If You Were Exposed to Asbestos at Rockwell International

John: Right. Absolutely. So if you were an employee at Rockwell International and now you have lung cancer or asbestosis or mesothelioma, what should you do?

Paul: There’s two things. One, and the most important, is to get your medical situation under control. Mesothelioma is a devastating diagnosis. It can be complicated, and there are a lot of treatment options. The earlier diagnosis there is, the better chance the physicians have of giving you the wide range of treatment options. Unfortunately, the life expectancy with someone diagnosed with mesothelioma is usually 6 to 18 months from the date of diagnosis. Oftentimes, the only person that can really provide information concerning your exposure is you. And so it’s critical that if you’re diagnosed with this disease and you worked at Rockwell, I can virtually guarantee that that’s where you were exposed and you should talk to a lawyer immediately. And you should try to find somebody that has experience with that particular plant and has experience with the jurisdiction in which the case might be filed.

We certainly have had that experience both with that plant as well as with a case against the suppliers of Rockwell’s facility and it is just critical to act because nothing gets better with time. Memories fade. Your health could unfortunately deteriorate. There could be other witnesses that are available today that won’t be available six months from now for various reasons. And so it’s critical to act quickly with the understanding that you have something much more important to worry about, which is your health. But there is a path to obtain compensation for you and your family in this terrible time of need. And moving quickly is really the best way to get there.

Statute of Limitations on Mesothelioma Claims in Kentucky

John: Another time factor involved in bringing a mesothelioma case is the statute of limitations in Kentucky. Can you explain that a little bit?

Paul: Sure. So in Kentucky, we have a one year statute of limitations. What that means is we have one year from the date that we know or should know we have an injury and know or should know the cause of that injury. Those can be different dates. It can be complicated as to how a particular judge may interpret when you knew or should have known anything. We typically try to go by the date of diagnosis, try to get a case filed within the year from the date that the diagnosis occurred. But again, it’s not a hard fast rule.

Someone who worked at that plant infrequently wouldn’t have any clue that they were exposed to asbestos products. And so they developed mesothelioma and the doctor says, “Where were you exposed?” And nobody told you that you were exposed there, they may throw their arms up in the air and say, “I don’t have any clue.” And so the law gives you the opportunity to investigate, to determine how you were injured. And that becomes a particularly important positive aspect of our law with respect to an occupational disease like this.

I mean, as you can imagine, you get into a car crash, you break your leg, you know when you were injured and you know what the cause of your injury was. It gets a little more complicated with Mesothelioma and other occupational diseases. But again, we don’t want to waste time. And if somebody contacted me today and said, “I worked at Rockwell International or some other plant that we’re familiar with.” And said, “I worked there for 30 years and I ran through the furnace area.” I would be able to have a lawsuit filed for you in the next two or three days if that’s what you wanted to do, because we’re familiar with who was there, what they were doing, what the exposures were.

And we want you to have the best chance you can to participate meaningfully in your case and hopefully to obtain justice while you can still enjoy it. But you do have a year, and sometimes it’s not as simple as what I make it sound about acting quickly because you have a lot of other things that you’re concerned about.

Contact Satterley & Kelley If You or a Loved One Has Mesothelioma Due to Asbestos Exposure

John: Absolutely. All right. Well that’s really great information, Paul. Thanks again for speaking with me today.

Paul: Thanks, Sean.

John: And for more information about mesothelioma and asbestos exposure, visit the law firm of Satterley & Kelley, that’s www.satterleylaw.com or call 855-385-9532.