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Did you work with Bird Machine Company pulp dryer asbestos-fabric dryer-roll wrap and asbestos-block dryer-hood insulation used across U.S. pulp mills? According to publicly filed asbestos litigation records, it allegedly contained asbestos. Here is what it was, who was exposed, and who is responsible. Bird Machine Company pulp dryer asbestos-fabric dryer-roll wrap and asbestos-block dryer-hood insulation used across U.S. pulp mills, sold from the 1940s until the 1980s. Plaintiffs allegedly identified Bird Machine Company pulp dryers as a source of asbestos-fabric roll-wrap and asbestos-block hood-insulation exposure across U.S. pulp mills. Plaintiffs allegedly encountered chrysotile asbestos-fabric wrap material applied to the surface of Bird pulp-dryer rolls and molded asbestos-block insulation lining the pulp-dryer hood enclosure, released as airborne fiber when paper mill millwrights and insulators cut, tore, or replaced the roll wrap and block panels during dryer rebuilds and hood-panel change-outs. Workers allegedly exposed around this product included Paper mill millwrights, Pulp-dryer operators, Insulators and pipe coverers, and Pulp mill maintenance mechanics. Asbestos claims are brought against the companies that made the products. If you worked with or around Bird Machine Company pulp dryer asbestos-fabric dryer-roll wrap and asbestos-block dryer-hood insulation used across U.S. pulp mills and were later diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or another asbestos-related disease, you may have a legal claim against the manufacturer. This is educational information from an independent publisher — not a law firm — and is not legal advice.
Product Description
Bird Machine Company, the industrial equipment division of Bird & Son / Bird Incorporated of East Walpole, Massachusetts, was a long-standing supplier of pulp dryers, centrifuges, and mechanical separation equipment to U.S. pulp and paper mills. Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that Bird pulp dryers were supplied with, and serviced using, chrysotile asbestos-fabric wrap material applied to the pulp-dryer roll surface as a release-and-thermal layer, and that the pulp-dryer hood enclosure was insulated with molded asbestos-block panels to retain steam temperature and cut condensate losses.
According to publicly filed allegations, this asbestos configuration was carried forward across Bird’s pulp-dryer product line from the 1940s through the early 1980s and appeared in kraft, sulfite, and market-pulp mills throughout the U.S. Northeast, Southeast, and Pacific Northwest.
Workers Exposed
Publicly filed asbestos complaints have allegedly identified the following trades as exposed to Bird pulp-dryer materials:
- Paper mill millwrights unwrapping and rewrapping asbestos-fabric roll wrap during rebuilds
- Pulp-dryer operators working the machine face during hood-panel change-outs
- Insulators and pipe coverers cutting and fitting asbestos-block hood panels
- Pulp mill maintenance mechanics performing bearing and doctor-blade overhauls
- Paper mill electricians pulling drives adjacent to hood insulation
- Kraft mill helpers cleaning debris after hood-panel and roll-wrap tear-out