159 companies named in five asbestos suits

CHARLESTON -- Five separate lawsuits involving asbestos named 159 companies as defendants.

Ronald W. Cloherty and Debra L. Cloherty; David Edgell and Loretta Edgell; Betty I. Kucera; Livio M. Miller and Linda K. Miller; and Nathan Shrewsbury claim the 159 defendants are responsible for asbestosis and lung cancer diagnoses, according to five complaints filed March 25 in Kanawha Circuit Court.

Mr. Cloherty, Mr. Edgell, Kucera and Shrewsbury were diagnosed with asbestosis and lung cancer, while Mr. Miller was diagnosed with asbestosis.

The plaintiffs claim they were exposed to products that contained asbestos and/or asbestos fibers. They claim the defendants failed to remove the asbestos materials and/or other dangerous ingredients and products.

The plaintiffs are seeking jury trials to resolve all issues involved. They are being represented by David P. Chervenick, Bruce E. Mattock and Scott S. Segal.

The cases have been assigned to a visiting judge.

The 159 companies named as defendants in the suit are 20th Century Glove Corporation; 4520 Corp., Inc.; Ajax Magnethermic Corporation; Alliance Machine Company; Allied Glove Corporation; Allis-Chalmers Corporation Product Liability Trust; American Optical Corporation; Anderson Greenwood & Co.; Andritz, Inc.; Armstrong International, Inc.; Atlas Industries, Inc.; Aurora Pump Company; Bayer Corporation; Bayer Cropscience, LP; Beazer East, Inc.; Bechtel Corporation; Brand Insulations, Inc.; Buffalo Pumps, Inc.; Burnham Holdings, Inc.; Cameron International Corporation; Cashco, Inc.; Catalytic Construction Company; CBS Corporation; Certainteed Corporation; Cleaver-Brooks, Inc.; Columbia Paint Corp.; Cooper Industries, Inc.; Copes-Vulcan, Inc.; Coppus Turbines; Crane Company, Inc.; Dana Corporation; Dow Chemical Company; Dravo Corporation; E.I. Du Pont De Nemours & Company; Eaton Corporation; Eichleay Corporation; F.B. Wright Company; the Fairbanks Company; Fairmont Supply Company; Famous Furnace & Supply Co.; Flowserve U.S., Inc., and its Byron Jackson Pump Division; Flowserve U.S., Inc., f/k/s Flowserve FSD Corporation; Flowserve U.S., Inc., f/k/a Flowserve FSD Corporation; Flowserve U.S. Inc., f/k/a Flowserve FSD Corporation, as successor to Valtek International; Flsmidth Inc.; Flsmidth Dorr-Oliver Eimco, Inc.; Foseco, Inc.; Foster Wheeler, LLC; Fuller Company; the Gage Company; Gardner Denver, Inc.; General Electric Company; General Refractories Company; Gentex Corporation; George V. Hamilton, Inc.; The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company; Goulds Pumps, Inc.; Greene Tweed & Co.; Grinnell Corporation; Hedman Mines, Ltd.; Hinchliffe & Keener, Inc.; Honeywell International, Inc.; Howden Buffalo, Inc.; Hunter Sales Corporation; IU North America, Inc.; IMO Industries, Inc.; Industrial Holdings Corporation; Ingersoll-Rand Company; Insul Company, Inc.; International Systems and Controls Corporation; ITT Corporation; J.H. France Refractories Company; Jabo Supply Corporation; Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc.; Jno J. Disch Company; John Crane, Inc.; Joseph T. Ryerson & Son, Inc.; Joy Technologies, Inc.; Kentile Floors, Inc.; Lockheed Martin Corporation; Mallinckrodt, Inc.; Manitowoc Company, Inc.; McCann Shields Paint Company; Metropolitan Life Insurance Company; Mine Safety Appliance, Inc.; Minnotte Contacting Corporation; Monongahela Power Company; Morgan Engineering Systems, Inc.; Mueller Steam Specialty; Nagle Pumps, Inc.; National Services Industries, Inc.; Nitro Industrial Coverings, Inc.; NL Industries, Inc.; O.C. Keckley Company; Oglebay Norton Company; Owens-Illinois, Inc.; P&H Mining Equipment, Inc.; Peerless Industries, Inc.; Pennzoil-Quaker State Company; Pfaff and Smith Builders Supply Company; Plotkin Brothers Supply, Inc.; Pneumo Abex Corporation; Potomac Edison Company; Power Piping Company; Powermaster Pacific Products; PPG Industries, Inc.; Premiere Refractories, Inc.; Reading Crane; Rhone-Poulenc AG Company, Inc.; Riley Power, Inc.; Rockwell Automation, Inc.; Roper Pump Company; Rust Constructors, Inc.; Rust Engineering & Construction, Inc.; Safety First Industries, Inc.; The Sager Corporation; Saint-Gobain Abrasives, Inc.; Sauer Incorporated; Schneider Electric USA, Inc.; Seegott, Inc.; Selkirk Corp.; S.F. Americas, Inc.; Shell Oil Company; Simakas Company, Inc.; S.P. Kinney Engineers, Inc.; Spirax Sarco, Inc.; SPX Cooling Technologies, Inc.; Sterling Fluid Systems (USA), LLC; Sullair Corporation; Sunbeam Products, Inc.; Sundyne Corporation; SVI Corporation; Tasco Insulation, Inc.; Townsend & Bottum, Inc.; Trans-Pumps, Inc.; Trans-Pumps, Inc. of Pittsburgh; UB West Virginia, Inc.; Unifrax Corporation; Union Carbide Corporation; United Conveyor Corporation; United States Steel Corporation; Universal Refractories Corporation; Viacom, Inc.; Viking Pump, Inc.; Vimasco Corporation; Virginia Electric and Power Company; Waco, Inc.; Warren Pumps, Inc.; Washington Group International; Waste Management, Inc.; Watson McDaniel Company; Weil-McLain Company; West Penn Power Company; Whiting Corporation; The William Powell Company; WTI Rust Holdings, Inc.; Wyeth Holdings Corporation; Yarway Corporation; and Zurn Industries, Inc.

Kanawha Circuit Court case numbers: 11-C-485, 11-C-487, 11-C-488, 11-C-489, 11-C-490