Nicolet Industries, headquartered in Ambler, Pennsylvania, was a successor to Keasbey & Mattison and one of the historic American manufacturers of asbestos-cement pipe supplied to municipal water utilities, sewer authorities, and industrial process pipeline projects. Plaintiffs have alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that workers who cut, tapped, and broke Nicolet asbestos-cement pipe during installation, repair, and demolition were exposed to respirable chrysotile fibers released from the cement matrix.

Product Description

Nicolet asbestos-cement pipe was allegedly manufactured by combining Portland cement with chrysotile asbestos fiber under pressure to produce a dense, corrosion-resistant pressure pipe used for potable water distribution, sanitary and storm sewer lines, and industrial process piping. Nicolet’s pipe line traced its industrial lineage to the Keasbey & Mattison operations at Ambler, Pennsylvania, one of the country’s earliest and largest asbestos-cement production sites.

The Nicolet pipe product line allegedly included:

  • Pressure pipe for municipal potable water mains
  • Non-pressure gravity sewer pipe for sanitary and storm systems
  • Industrial process pipe for chemical and utility installations
  • Couplings, sleeves, and fittings machined from asbestos-cement stock

Distribution was national in scope through water-works supply houses, utility contractors, and municipal purchasing programs. Nicolet asbestos-cement pipe remained in the U.S. market until the company’s asbestos-cement operations wound down in the mid-1980s.

Workers Exposed

Plaintiffs have alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that the following trades encountered respirable asbestos dust from Nicolet asbestos-cement pipe:

  • Pipefitters and plumbers who cut asbestos-cement pipe with abrasive saws, hand-held cut-off wheels, or scoring tools to fit specific run lengths on job sites.
  • Water and sewer utility workers who tapped Nicolet pipe for lateral service connections, drilling into pressurized mains and releasing dry cement-and-fiber dust at the tap.
  • Utility laborers and equipment operators who lowered pipe into open trenches, and who broke damaged sections with sledges when pipe cracked or was hit by excavation equipment.
  • Municipal maintenance crews who repaired aging Nicolet mains — cutting out failed sections, exposing cement joints, and machining new couplings from asbestos-cement stock.
  • Demolition workers and abatement contractors who removed abandoned asbestos-cement pipe during utility replacement projects, generating airborne fiber during pipe breakage and handling.
  • Bystander trades in trenches or excavations — including electricians on adjacent conduit runs and gas fitters — who allegedly inhaled cutting and tapping dust generated by nearby pipe crews.

Plaintiffs have alleged that cutting asbestos-cement pipe in confined trench conditions produced particularly concentrated exposures because the enclosed workspace prevented dust from dispersing.