Babcock and Wilcox

Babcock & Wilcox’s History With Asbestos

Babcock & Wilcox manufactured different types of equipment intended to withstand or contain extreme temperatures. The equipment often included asbestos materials because asbestos was an affordable and widely used fireproofing material.

The company never directly manufactured asbestos products, but it used asbestos products manufactured by other companies to assemble equipment.

Babcock & Wilcox used asbestos-containing insulation, gaskets, heat seals, rope packing, block and millboard. These products were used in power generation equipment, utility boilers, water-tube marine boilers, furnaces, and other high-temperature refractory equipment.

Employees who assembled and installed asbestos products on boilers and other equipment faced high exposure to asbestos. Additionally, the equipment’s end users were exposed during maintenance, repair and removal.

Many of these workers later developed asbestos-related diseases, such as lung cancer and mesothelioma. They filed lawsuits against Babcock & Wilcox seeking compensation for medical bills and lost wages. Mounting lawsuits eventually caused the company to file for bankruptcy and establish a trust fund to handle future claims.

Development of the Babcock & Wilcox Asbestos Trust

Babcock & Wilcox filed for bankruptcy on Feb. 22, 2000. It emerged from bankruptcy protection on Jan. 17, 2006. The reorganization plan created the Babcock & Wilcox Asbestos Personal Injury Settlement Trust, which was funded with $1.85 billion to process asbestos-related claims.

Trust managers created an informational website that included a list of nearly 2,000 occupations facing a risk of asbestos exposure from Babcock & Wilcox’s contaminated equipment.

Two kinds of claims may be filed with the trust: Expedited and individual review. The process is quicker with an expedited review, and payments are fixed regardless of the claimant’s level of exposure or health. Payments vary with individual reviews, and they generally require more time, mainly because expedited claims are reviewed first.

The trust reviews both types of claims annually, but individual claims are more likely to be adjusted, and there is a risk that settlement amounts may be reduced.

The current payment percentage for the trust is 8.8% of the total case value.

Asbestos Litigation Involving Babcock & Wilcox

Babcock & Wilcox first encountered asbestos-related personal injury claims in 1982. The company settled more than 340,000 asbestos claims by 2000, costing it nearly $1.6 billion in awards and court fees. At that point, about 45,000 pending asbestos claims remained unsettled. The company realized it could not afford its asbestos liabilities and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Over several decades of asbestos lawsuits against Babcock & Wilcox, courts awarded numerous summary judgments in favor of plaintiffs harmed or killed by the company’s products.

• In 1996, former U.S. Navy pipefitter Cleo Elmore received more than $2.8 million in compensatory damages after developing mesothelioma. The court determined that Babcock & Wilcox and more than 30 other asbestos companies were liable for Elmore’s disease and eventual death.
• Former Navy worker Martin McPadden was exposed to insulation and other asbestos products while serving as a fireman striker and machinist’s mate aboard the USS Willis A. Lee. After determining asbestos exposure was the cause of McPadden’s death, the court estimated that his family suffered nearly $6 million in damages. Of the defendants in the case, including Babcock & Wilcox, 16 chose to settle with the McPadden estate out of court, awarding nearly $1.6 million in total compensation.
• In a July 2018 case, a UK family was awarded nearly $320,000 after their mother died from secondhand asbestos exposure linked to Babcock & Wilcox. Adrienne Sweeney was diagnosed with mesothelioma and died in 2015. Her husband worked at a Babcock & Wilcox boiler-making factory in Renfrew, Scotland, in the 1960s. He unintentionally brought home asbestos dust on his overalls. The groundbreaking case is believed to be the first in Scotland.

Babcock & Wilcox’s Asbestos Products

Although Babcock & Wilcox never manufactured an asbestos-containing product, it used the following asbestos materials on different types of equipment:

• Asbestos block
• Gaskets
• Heat seals
• Insulation
• Millboard
• Rope packing

Babcock & Wilcox Occupations at Risk

Workers who built, installed or repaired boilers and refractory products for Babcock & Wilcox were exposed to asbestos while on the job. However, the risk of asbestos exposure wasn’t limited to just Babcock & Wilcox employees. The company’s boilers, refractory products, asbestos-lined furnaces, and other equipment were widely used in industries such as Navy ships, power plants and nuclear facilities. This means many other occupations may have faced potential asbestos exposure.

Occupations that may have been exposed to asbestos on Babcock & Wilcox equipment include:

• Boat builders
• Boiler insulators
• Cold storage insulators
• Demolition workers
• Electric welders
• Firefighters
• Lathe operators
• Marine electricians
• Marine machinists
• Millwrights
• Pipefitters
• Plumbers
• Ship inspectors
• Shipyard workers
• Submarine crews and maintenance workers

This list is a sample of the many occupations exposed directly to asbestos. Others who worked in or near asbestos-heavy environments might have also faced exposure.

The risks of asbestos use weren’t fully understood until the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 1973, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants, which classified asbestos as a dangerous airborne pollutant. Soon after, Babcock & Wilcox started removing asbestos from its equipment.

Babcock & Wilcox’s History

George Babcock and Stephen Wilcox founded Babcock, Wilcox & Company in 1867 to build and sell Wilcox’s patented water-tube boiler.

This boiler quickly brought success to the company. In 1881, they created and installed the first utility boiler. Later, in 1902, Babcock & Wilcox made the boilers that powered New York City’s first subway.

The company soon found a strong market in supplying boilers for many government-funded projects. In December 1907, a fleet of 16 U.S. Navy battleships set out on a world tour. Known as Teddy Roosevelt’s “Great White Fleet,” each ship was powered by Babcock & Wilcox boilers.

Over the following decades, the U.S. government continued working with Babcock & Wilcox to improve its boiler designs. Babcock & Wilcox also made parts for the first nuclear submarine, designed and built the first “supercritical pressure” coal-fired boiler and produced components for 10 nuclear-powered Nimitz-class aircraft carriers.

Today, Babcock & Wilcox is still in operation. It provides technology and services for the government and industries like oil, nuclear power, clean energy and construction. In February 2022, the company acquired Fossil Power Systems Inc., a Canadian firm that designs and builds equipment for hydrogen, natural gas and renewable combustion.

The company invests millions in research and development for alternative energy sources. It also manages U.S. Department of Energy national laboratories, including Los Alamos National Laboratory and Idaho National Laboratory.

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