Product Description

General Cable Corporation (Rome NY, Bayonne NJ, Perth Amboy NJ, and other plants) allegedly manufactured underground power cable for U.S. utilities, industrial plants, and shipyards from the 1940s through the 1970s, according to publicly filed asbestos litigation records. Their 5 kV, 15 kV, 25 kV, and 46 kV paper-insulated lead-covered (PILC) and rubber-insulated designs allegedly used an outer jacketing compound loaded with asbestos fiber over the lead sheath or metallic shield for heat and flame resistance in duct-bank and direct-burial installations. Individual conductor phases in three-conductor cable allegedly used asbestos-braid separators between the phase conductors. When IBEW cable splicers cut back the jacket to expose the lead sheath during pothead terminations, or applied torch heat to solder wiped-lead joints, the allegedly asbestos-containing jacket compound and braid was cut, shaved, and heated in the manhole or splice vault.

Workers Exposed

IBEW underground cable splicers, cable pullers, manhole rigging crews, utility power plant electricians terminating station-service cable, and cable-testing technicians allegedly encountered airborne fibers when cutting, stripping, or heating General Cable jacketing and braid. Industrial-plant maintenance electricians handling General Cable duct-bank feeders and shipyard cable-shop workers allegedly faced identical exposure.