Triangle Insulation and Mesothelioma (Podcast)

In this podcast, Paul Kelley talks with John Maher about asbestos in Triangle insulation. He explains who was exposed, how exposure causes mesothelioma, and what to do if you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma.

John Maher: Hi, I am John Maher. I’m here today with Paul Kelley. Paul is a partner with the Kentucky personal injury law firm, Satterley and Kelley, which has over 45 years of collective experience in litigating mesothelioma and asbestos claims. Today we’re talking about Triangle Insulation and mesothelioma. Welcome, Paul.

Paul Kelley: Hey, John. How are you doing today?

John: Good, thanks. How are you

Paul: Doing fantastic, thank you.

What Is Triangle Insulation?

John: Good. So Paul, what is Triangle insulation? Where are they located?

Paul: Triangle Insulation, they’re an insulation company that is based out of Paducah, McCracken County, Kentucky. I think Triangle came into existence in the mid to late 1950s.

John: Okay. And did they manufacture insulation or install insulation or both?

Paul: Triangle did not manufacture insulation. It was basically an installer and I also consider it a distributor. I mean, it supplied the insulation that it installed in these facilities, so both sold the actual insulation and then it provided the service of installing it at numerous facilities throughout Kentucky.

Asbestos in Triangle Insulation

John: Okay. And how are they related to mesothelioma cancer cases?

Paul: Well, the short answer is that it sold and installed a lot of asbestos insulation throughout Kentucky, particularly in the central and western Kentucky areas probably from the 50s through the mid 70s or 80s. People who worked for Triangle, people that worked in the facilities where it insulated, and, in some instances, family members of both employees of Triangle and those facilities have all developed mesothelioma.

I mean, that asbestos insulation was probably the most predominant way that people were exposed occupationally to asbestos. Insulation contained a lot of asbestos, and quite frankly, there wasn’t a real good way to keep people from getting exposed except to not use it. And Triangle decided even after it became clear that asbestos was a carcinogen, it was going to cause people cancer, Triangle continued to use this product for a lot of years.

Asbestos Exposure Due to Triangle Insulation

John: And so were employees at Triangle Insulation exposed to asbestos? What about other construction workers who might’ve used Triangle insulation products?

Paul: Absolutely. Triangle employees were exposed. I mean, there’s no question about that. We’ve represented probably more than a dozen employees who worked for Triangle in some capacity over the years that have developed either mesothelioma, lung cancer, or asbestosis.

I mean, there was no way that they couldn’t be exposed. They used products from some of your bigger asbestos insulation manufacturers, Johns Manville and Owens Corning over the years. And they went into various power plants and factories and industrial plants, and then they installed asbestos on steam lines and equipment. And they did that for decades.

So certainly many employees that worked at Triangle were exposed, and in fact, every employee that worked for Triangle was exposed during the years that they used asbestos insulation. In addition to the Triangle employees, everybody that worked at the places that Triangle installed asbestos at were also exposed. We’ve represented people that worked at power plants, Triangle supplied asbestos there, installed it.

We have represented people that worked at various types of manufacturing plants where Triangle sold and installed asbestos. The kinds of people that were exposed, I mean predominantly it’s going to be people that were directly associated with the construction, electricians, pipe fitters, millwrights… Millwrights did a lot of work on the turbines and boilers that were at power plants, for example. Carpenters, tile workers, anybody who was involved in maintenance.

So you might have somebody that wasn’t exactly a carpenter or wasn’t exactly a plumber or pipefitter, but they’d still work with the steam lines of the plant, maybe people that weren’t necessarily electricians by trade, but they did electrical work and they were exposed during the construction of various of these plants. They were exposed during maintenance activities that occurred at various of these plants. They were exposed during overhauls of turbines and boilers.

Sometimes they were exposed when Triangle came in and performed asbestos removal later on in the 80s and 90s. So people who worked in those plants just as assembly workers or worked in those plants as operators of equipment, plant managers, engineers, professionals, I mean, asbestos insulation was 40, 50, 60% asbestos.

And I mean, they go into these plants and if you’re installing brand new, it didn’t just come out of a box in some sweet, nice, clean, easy to apply. It had to be cut, it had to be sawed. And so that’s going to produce a lot of dust. We hear all the time about asbestos that had deteriorated, that was on a steam line, and it just fell off. The pipe fell off onto a piece of equipment that somebody was working on. Lots of times when they came in and they did some work, they just tore it off of the pipe, hundreds of feet into the air and threw it down into a bin that may or may not have made it to the bin. And all that dust just proliferates everywhere.

The asbestos insulation trade and people involved in it, and people who were exposed to it probably since the 1960s have been some of the people most commonly diagnosed with cancer over the years because there’s just heavy exposure and there was a lot of asbestos.

The last group that we haven’t discussed is the family members of insulators. And that’s particularly tragic because a lot of insulators, they didn’t have special clothing, they didn’t have special protective equipment. A company like Triangle did not launder clothing. It didn’t provide lockers and showers and ways for people to change out of their contaminated clothing. So these poor guys, and it is usually men, but these poor guys, they work in it all day, every day, five days a week, sometimes more for years. They get done from a job site, get in their cars, contaminate their cars with asbestos, go home, contaminate their homes, expose their spouses, expose their children.

And then years later, those folks, the family members who never worked in an occupational setting with asbestos started developing mesothelioma. And it’s produced a lot of tragic situations over the years. And this company in particular is one that we’ve had a lot of experience with.

And not only did it expose all of these various types of people to asbestos, but it knew many years prior to stopping to install and distribute asbestos, it knew that it was a cancer causing substance. And they knew that a certain number of people would get sick in the future. And for financial purposes, for expediency purposes, convenience, they chose to continue to sell, distribute, install it, and they didn’t warn and they didn’t take good safeguards.

And in 2023, I still get calls from people who either worked for Triangle, had a loved one that worked for Triangle, or worked at a place that Triangle worked, who developed mesothelioma. And we know that a good significant amount of the exposure that that person had was a direct result of Triangle’s conduct and failure to take adequate safeguards to protect people.

Did Triangle Know About the Risks of Asbestos?

John: And a lot of those employees, and then obviously the other people that work at the companies where Triangle Insulation was installed, those people had no idea that the insulation contained asbestos in a lot of cases, right?

Paul: Most folks didn’t. I mean, it really wasn’t something that mainstream media discussed in the 60s. In 1971, the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) was enacted, and that was the first national legislation that was enacted, particularly as it related to the asbestic emergency.

Today, OSHA regulates so many things in the workplace, but it really, really was created and existed because of the asbestos crisis. And a lot of employers knew, your bigger employers certainly knew, but a lot of places didn’t know. And certainly people didn’t know. I mean, these poor insulators had no clue. You know, these poor people, I mean, they were just trying to earn an honest living and they had no knowledge whatsoever that any of this contained asbestos or what asbestos was.

And they were just trying to provide for their families and show up to work every day. And a lot of these people, I mean, they worked out of a union hall that was in Owensboro or Evansville, but they traveled all over the state. So I mean they were 3, 4, 5 hours away from their home for some of these projects and were heavily exposed to asbestos, unknowingly.

And now to the extent that they’re still alive and to the extent that they haven’t already unfortunately developed a disease, I mean, most of them are just, I mean, they’re paralyzed. They’re scared to death that that cough is not an allergy or not a winter cold, but it’s the beginning of cancer. And that’s a terrible thing for people to have to live with.

The good news is most people still aren’t going to develop it because of the rarity of the disease. But I assure you that insulators that worked prior to probably 1990, maybe even after 1990, are at a much, much higher risk of developing this cancer than virtually any other population of people in the United States.

And companies who manufacture the products are certainly culpable, but right there with them are companies like Triangle that could have chosen alternative products to sell, could have required and implemented safeguards for the protection of employees, for the protection of other companies’ employees, for the protection of family members of employees.

I mean, a lot could have been done. We’ll never know how effective those safeguards would’ve been because they were never taken. But I think the science and the evidence strongly indicates that we would’ve not lost so many people as a result of this tragic use of this product over the years if companies like Triangle had at least tried.

What to Do If You Have Mesothelioma Due to Asbestos Exposure From Triangle Insulation

John: So if you worked at Triangle Insulation or maybe worked at one of the companies where Triangle Insulation came and installed the insulation and now you have mesothelioma or asbestosis or lung cancer, what should you do next?

Paul: I think it’s important to do two things. One, of course, the medical care is really important. Mesothelioma has an unfortunately tragic outcome. There is no known cure for it. Some people have had a really good outcome, but for the most part, the average life expectancy is less than 18 months from the date of diagnosis. But the earlier it is detected and the earlier the treatment has started, the better the outcome for people.

So it’s very important that people obviously address their medical situation and try to develop the best plan for them and their family. But right alongside with that, I think it’s important to reach out and talk to a lawyer. We’ve been doing this for a long time and there’s lots of avenues of recovery for people who worked for Triangle and worked in this industry and worked in some of the places that a company like Triangle did.

People are in a significant time of need, depending on their age, they may still be working and can’t work any longer. So it’s important to talk to a lawyer to try to figure out how to make up the income that’s being lost. Medical expenses rack up, and people have lots and lots of out-of-pocket expenses that they have to deal with. Travel expenses can be significant.

Unfortunately, we have a lot of terrific doctors in Kentucky, oncologists, pulmonologists, people that can treat this disease. But some of your most prominent experts are located in places like where you’re at in Boston and Philadelphia and New York and all over. And we’ve had people who have had to go spend three months in a city that they don’t want to be in. That’s really expensive. And I think it’s important that they’re able to be compensated for that.

And so the best thing to do is to find a lawyer that can hit the ground running and take immediate action. Time is of the essence. It’s very, very important to determine what your rights are and to develop a plan. And there are a lot of options out there. There’s certainly no question about that.

But in Kentucky, our law firm is the only firm that has an office right here that has practiced mesothelioma and asbestos cases all over the state and has dealt with Triangle and has dealt with the places that it worked at and a lot of the people that were also exposed. But regardless of what you choose and who you choose to go with, it is just really important to not waste time and to determine what your rights are.

And I think that you’ll be pleased that you do have some options. It’s horrible to be in this situation. It’s horrible to have to deal with this. But the good news is I think there’s a lot of options of recovery, and to the extent that it’s for the victim, the patient themselves, there’s ways to obtain a quick resolution with some folks that might assist their immediate needs. And then there’s also the peace of mind that you can leave your family in a much better situation despite this terrible tragedy.

So I tell everybody, you’ve got to do both and you’ve got to take care of your medical care, and that’s your focus. And then you contact and if you decide to pursue a case, you hire a lawyer and the lawyer’s focus is on the case, and then that’s what you have people like us for so that we can focus on those things while you focus on your time with your family and doing everything you can do to fight this terrible cancer.

Time Limits for Filing Mesothelioma Lawsuits

John: Right. And you mentioned that time is of the essence, and part of that is that there’s a one year statute of limitations on filing a claim in a mesothelioma case like this. Is that correct?

Paul: That’s absolutely right. And it’s harsh. The judges don’t really have any discretion to allow you to pursue your case and be filed beyond the statute of limitations. There are some rules that may allow you to pursue your claim or maintain your claim if you file it greater than a year from the date of diagnosis. But by and large, you should get that case filed within one year of the date of diagnosis. Otherwise, there’s no guarantee, no matter how good your case may be.

And it’s not the judge’s fault. They can’t legally, even if they want to, they can’t let you pursue your claim if they feel like it was filed beyond the statute of limitations. So when you’re diagnosed, pursue those options and make sure that if you have a case that it doesn’t get filed too late. And if you hire us, assuming that we decide that we can file a case for you, it’s going to be filed awfully quick. We’re not going to waste any time because we want to get you the recovery that you need as quickly as we possibly can, and we certainly want to protect you from any unfortunate statute issues.

Contact Satterley and Kelley for a Free Consultation

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

Paul: Thank you, John. I appreciate your time.

John: And for more information about mesothelioma and asbestos exposure, you can visit the law firm of Satterley and Kelley at satterleylaw.com or call 855-385-9532.