DENVER -- In the third and largest suit so far, the Johns-Manville Corp. is seeking $36 million in damages from the federal government because the company said the Navy knew the use of asbestos in shipyards was hazardous.
The suit was filed Tuesday in U.S. Claims Court in Washington D.C.
The Manville Corp., the parent company of Johns-Manville, itself faces more than 16,500 asbestos-related lawsuits brought by workers employed in government-owned or controlled shipyards, or in other asbestos-related industries.
Manville filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1982 because of the suits.
Johns-Manville used to be the nation's largest manufacturer of asbestos, which was widely used as insulation until it was discovered to be potentially cancer causing.
A Johns-Manville spokesman said the latest suit charges the government knew through its own shipyard audits that it was derelict in meeting Navy safety and health guidelines for asbestos exposure.
Among the documents filed with the suit was a report by the Naval Regional Medical Center which said the average asbestos exposure of pipe coverers and insulators working on board ship at Long Beach, Calif., from 1946 to 1960 was equivalent to 18 million particles per cubic foot, compared to the Public Health Service recommended level of 5 million particles, the spokesman said.
The company previously filed suits in July and November 1983 charging the government with liability in asbestos exposure claims during World War II and for the years following 1964. Tuesday's suit covers the time period between the other two suits.
