Product Description
Ohio Brass, a longstanding supplier of porcelain suspension and post insulators to U.S. utilities, allegedly produced high-voltage transmission-line insulators whose porcelain shells were bonded to iron caps and steel pins with a Portland-cement mortar that allegedly contained asbestos fiber, according to publicly filed asbestos litigation records. In suspension-string service, dozens of Ohio Brass bell-shaped units were strung together to support 69 kV, 138 kV, 230 kV, and 345 kV conductors. The cap-and-pin cement was allegedly reinforced with asbestos fiber to resist cracking under mechanical load and electrical thermal cycling. When linemen changed out failed strings, replaced storm-damaged insulators, or drilled into old cement to salvage caps, the allegedly asbestos-containing mortar was cut, chipped, and pulverized in the open air on tower platforms and in substation yards.
Workers Exposed
IBEW utility linemen, transmission line construction crews, substation electricians, tower riggers, and helicopter change-out crews allegedly encountered airborne fibers when handling, breaking, or drilling weathered Ohio Brass suspension-string cement. Ground crews stringing new lines, salvage crews recovering caps from decommissioned strings, and warehouse workers handling stockpiled bells allegedly faced secondary exposure from cement dust.