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Did you work with Black Clawson Company Hydrapulper asbestos-packed shaft seals and asbestos-fabric drum-couch lagging in pulp and paper mills? According to publicly filed asbestos litigation records, it allegedly contained asbestos. Here is what it was, who was exposed, and who is responsible. Black Clawson Company Hydrapulper asbestos-packed shaft seals and asbestos-fabric drum-couch lagging in pulp and paper mills, sold from the 1940s until the 1980s. Plaintiffs allegedly identified Black Clawson Company Hydrapulpers and drum-couch sections as a source of asbestos-packing and asbestos-fabric lagging exposure across U.S. pulp and paper mills. Plaintiffs allegedly encountered chrysotile braided asbestos packing seated in the Hydrapulper agitator shaft stuffing boxes and asbestos-fabric lagging wrapped around the drum-couch section of Black Clawson paper-machine wet ends, released as airborne fiber when mill millwrights and stock-prep operators repacked shaft seals and tore off drum-couch lagging during scheduled repulper and wet-end shutdowns. Workers allegedly exposed around this product included Pulp mill stock-prep operators, Paper mill millwrights, Paper machine tenders, and Pulp mill maintenance mechanics. Asbestos claims are brought against the companies that made the products. If you worked with or around Black Clawson Company Hydrapulper asbestos-packed shaft seals and asbestos-fabric drum-couch lagging in pulp and paper 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
Black Clawson Company, headquartered in Middletown, Ohio, was a leading U.S. supplier of stock-preparation and paper-machine equipment, best known for the Hydrapulper — a large-diameter open-tank pulper used to slush wood pulp, secondary fiber, and broke back into stock. Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that Black Clawson Hydrapulpers were originally supplied with, and serviced using, chrysotile braided asbestos packing rope in the agitator shaft stuffing boxes, and that Black Clawson drum-couch and forming sections on paper-machine wet ends were fitted with asbestos-fabric lagging around the couch-roll housing.
According to publicly filed allegations, this asbestos configuration was carried forward across Black Clawson’s stock-prep and paper-machine product lines from the 1940s through the early 1980s and appeared in tissue, kraft, and secondary-fiber mills across the U.S.
Workers Exposed
Publicly filed asbestos complaints have allegedly identified the following trades as exposed to Black Clawson Hydrapulper and drum-couch materials:
- Pulp mill stock-prep operators charging, running, and packing Hydrapulper tanks
- Paper mill millwrights repacking Hydrapulper agitator shaft stuffing boxes
- Paper machine tenders working the wet end around the drum-couch housing
- Pulp mill maintenance mechanics tearing off and rewrapping asbestos-fabric couch-roll lagging
- Paper mill electricians pulling agitator motor leads adjacent to shaft packing
- Insulators wrapping stock-prep tanks and adjacent hot lines