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News affecting the Injured WorkerConsumer Product Safety Commission investigates crayons made with Talc from the North Country of New York.For the past 24 years the members of Oot & Stratton have been involved in the litigation of Workers' Compensation claims involving occupational illness caused by exposures to talc in the mines owned or operated by R.T. Vanderbilt, owner of the Gouverneur Talc Co. among other mines. For several decades the company has been successful in resisting the efforts of many to categorize the talc mined by the company as an asbestos fiber but has had somewhat less success in defending itself against charges that the talc contained asbestos as a contaminant. The commercial value of the talc mined in Northern NY lies mainly in the fact that unlike talc ore mined in other parts of the world, it is fibrous. In the case of Boney v. Gouverneur Talc Co. a chemist directly involved in evaluation of the talc testified that that tests performed on samplings of talc indicate a 2%-5% asbestos content and as high as a 60% content. As a direct result of that testimony, as well as the testimony of two pulmonary specialists, Mr. Boneys lung cancer was found to be related to his exposure to the dust in the mines and to the scarring of his lungs caused by the dust. While we have been litigating claims before the Workers' Compensation Board for the last two decades since the Boney decision, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer has published a series of articles that have revived the national controversy about the content of the mineral especially as it relates to crayons manufactured here in the United States. The crayons are reportedly manufactured using talc mined by Gouverneur Talc and it is reported that testing conducted by the Seattle P-I, ABC News and the Consumer Product Safety Commission confirms the presence of asbestos in the crayons. You should be aware that the Consumer Product Safety Commission concluded that they consider the risk of exposure to the asbestos in crayons to be minimal to none, for two reasons: because they only found trace amounts of asbestos, an amount they considered to be scientifically insignificant and because the material is encased in wax. Despite the conclusion that the crayons pose little or no risk, the continuing finding of asbestos in the talc remains significant in litigation over occupational illness arising from work in the mines. Press Release Regarding Talc Verdict (Issued 11/16/06 by Levy Phillips & Konigsberg, LLPNation's First Industrial Talc/Asbestos Verdict
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After a four-week trial the four-woman, two-man jury rejected claims by R.T. Vanderbilt, Incorporated ("Vanderbilt") that talc from its New York State mines contained fibers that may have looked similar to but were not a lethal form of asbestos, a position that the company has maintained for decades. Hammill & Gillespie, Inc., which sold the industrial talc, was also found liable.
In the next phase of the trial, punitive damages will be sought against the defendants. It is scheduled to begin November 28 before the Hon. Ann G. McCormick, according to Attorney Moshe Maimon, Esq., of Levy Phillips & Konigsberg, LLP who represents the estate of pottery artisan Peter Stanley Hirsch.
An active outdoorsman who enjoyed rock climbing, mountain climbing, hiking, sailing and skiing before contracting mesothelioma, Hirsch attended Princeton High School before graduating from Harvard University in 1972 with a degree in Engineering and Applied Physics. Hirsch built the first pottery kiln at Harvard in 1970, as part of an extra-curricular program.
After three years of marketing for a high-tech Princeton-based company, Hirsch started "Rock Brook Pottery," first in Lawrenceville, then in Skillman and finally at the Lace Works on N.J. Route 29 in Lambertville. After Hirsch closed the Lambertville studio in 1982 he worked in marketing/sales for three other Princeton-area high-tech firms, then as a self-employed organizational and marketing consultant until he was no longer able work, according to court documents and testimony.
Hirsch's exposure to asbestos-contaminated industrial talc occurred during the seven years he operated pottery studios, personally mixing glazes containing Vanderbilt's NYTAL® 100 industrial talc purchased from Hammill & Gillespie, Inc., Livingston, New Jersey, among other sources. Hirsch purchased NYTAL® 100 talc in 50-to-100-pound bags during this period. Each time he opened a bag of Vanderbilt talc, scooped or poured out contents it generated very fine dust that was suspended in the air until it landed on the floor or Hirsch's clothes, Maimon said.
"This first-ever U.S. verdict finally -- and decisively -- proves that industrial talc from Vanderbilt's New York State mines contains lethal asbestos fibers. New Jersey jurors have sent out a powerful, clear message to Vanderbilt and other companies that mine, mill or market industrial talc. Not only must their own workers be protected from lung disease, end users and others who come into contact with the product must be warned properly of the carcinogenic fibers lurking in this dusty powder used in so many manufacturing applications," Maimon said.
"Vanderbilt should immediately edit its Web site and printed materials to eliminate its claim that New York State industrial talc is safe and has no carcinogenic effects," Maimon added.
In addition to Maimon, Carmen Victoria St. George, Esq., of Levy Phillips & Konigsberg, LLP, and Arnold Lakind, Esq., of Szaferman, Lakind, Blumstein, Blader & Lehmann, P.C., Lawrenceville, New Jersey, represent the plaintiff.
SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY - LAW DIVISION: MIDDLESEX COUNTY
DOCKET NO : MID-L-2706-03AS; BONNIE L. PARKER, individually and as
Executrix and the Executrix ad Prosequendum of the ESTATE OF PETER STANLEY
HIRSCH VS R.T. VANDERBILT COMPANY, INC, ET AL.
In a study designed to compare the relationship between the benefit provided and the reality of the financial circumstances in each of the states, New York finished dead last, providing only 50% of the State's average earnings in benefits when the Federal Occupational Health and Safety Commission recommended that the ratio be 200% of the state's average earnings. Idaho finished first of all states and is the only state in the country that meets the recommendations of the commission.
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