Crane Co. Pumps with Asbestos Stuffing Box Packing

Product Description

Crane Co. is an American industrial manufacturer with origins dating to 1855, producing a broad range of fluid-handling equipment including valves, pumps, fittings, and related piping components. Among its product lines, Crane Co. manufactured and distributed pumps equipped with stuffing box assemblies — mechanical sealing systems designed to prevent fluid leakage along the rotating shaft of a pump. These stuffing boxes were packed with compressed sealing material to create a tight barrier between the pump housing and its rotating shaft.

For much of the twentieth century, asbestos-containing packing was the industry standard material used in stuffing box assemblies. Asbestos offered properties that made it highly attractive for this application: it was heat-resistant, chemically stable across a wide range of industrial fluids, compressible under mechanical force, and capable of withstanding the friction generated by a continuously rotating shaft. Crane Co. pumps incorporating asbestos stuffing box packing were deployed across an extensive range of industries, including petrochemical refining, power generation, marine applications, paper and pulp mills, chemical processing plants, and heavy manufacturing facilities.

The use of asbestos packing in pump stuffing boxes was not incidental — it was a deliberate engineering choice suited to the demanding thermal and mechanical conditions present in industrial pump installations. These products remained in service at facilities throughout the United States for decades, with some installations persisting well into the 1980s and beyond.

Asbestos Content

Stuffing box packing used in Crane Co. pumps during the mid-to-late twentieth century was manufactured using asbestos fiber — typically chrysotile (white asbestos), and in some formulations, amphibole varieties such as amosite. The packing material was generally produced in braided, woven, or compressed rope form, with asbestos fibers bonded with lubricants, graphite, or other reinforcing materials to improve sealing performance and reduce shaft wear.

Litigation records document that Crane Co. pumps were supplied with asbestos-containing packing either as original equipment or as specified replacement components. Internal and third-party packing products compatible with Crane Co. pump designs were widely available and routinely used during pump maintenance and repair operations throughout the industrial sector.

The compressed and braided nature of asbestos packing meant that the fibers were mechanically embedded within the material under normal operating conditions. However, cutting, trimming, removing, and replacing this packing — activities inherent to routine pump maintenance — released asbestos fibers into the surrounding work environment.

How Workers Were Exposed

Industrial workers across a wide variety of trades and facilities encountered asbestos stuffing box packing during the installation, operation, maintenance, and repair of Crane Co. pumps. Litigation records document that exposure occurred most intensively during routine maintenance tasks, where workers were required to extract worn packing from the stuffing box and install new material.

The removal of spent asbestos packing involved scraping, picking, and pulling compressed asbestos rope from the stuffing box gland — a process that physically disrupted the asbestos matrix and released fibers into the breathing zone of the worker performing the task, as well as nearby personnel. Cutting new packing material to the appropriate length and fitting it into the stuffing box created additional fiber release. These tasks were performed repeatedly over the course of a maintenance worker’s career, often in enclosed mechanical rooms, bilges, or poorly ventilated equipment spaces where fiber concentrations could accumulate.

Plaintiffs alleged that workers were not adequately warned about the hazards associated with asbestos packing despite the manufacturer’s ability to foresee these exposures. Pump operators, millwrights, pipefitters, machinists, maintenance mechanics, and general industrial laborers all potentially encountered these materials during the normal scope of their duties. Workers in power plants, oil refineries, chemical facilities, and shipyards have been prominently represented in litigation arising from asbestos packing exposure.

Beyond the individual performing maintenance, bystander exposure was also documented. Workers in adjacent areas — performing unrelated tasks within the same facility space — could inhale asbestos fibers released during packing removal and installation activities performed by others. In industrial settings where multiple pumps required periodic repacking on a rotating maintenance schedule, background asbestos fiber levels in the environment could remain persistently elevated.

OSHA established permissible exposure limits for asbestos beginning in 1972, with subsequent reductions reflecting growing evidence of harm from lower levels of exposure. However, many industrial workers using asbestos packing materials had accumulated significant exposure histories long before regulatory protections were in place.

Diseases associated with occupational asbestos exposure include mesothelioma, asbestosis, lung cancer, and other asbestos-related conditions. Mesothelioma — a malignancy of the pleural and peritoneal linings — is considered a signature disease of asbestos exposure and has been a central diagnosis in litigation involving Crane Co. pump packing.

Litigation Against Crane Co.

Crane Co. has been a defendant in asbestos personal injury litigation for several decades. Litigation records document that plaintiffs have pursued claims against Crane Co. alleging that asbestos-containing packing materials used in the company’s pumps and valves caused serious and fatal asbestos-related diseases. Plaintiffs alleged that Crane Co. knew or should have known of the hazards associated with asbestos packing and failed to provide adequate warnings to workers who would foreseeably encounter these materials.

Litigation records further document that plaintiffs alleged Crane Co. bore liability not only for packing supplied as original equipment with its pumps, but also in connection with its role as a component manufacturer whose products required the use of asbestos-containing replacement parts. This theory — sometimes referred to in litigation as the “component manufacturer” doctrine — has been the subject of significant legal dispute across multiple jurisdictions.

Crane Co. has litigated asbestos claims in state and federal courts across the United States and has not established an asbestos bankruptcy trust fund, as the company has continued to operate as a solvent entity. Claims against Crane Co. are pursued through direct civil litigation rather than through a trust fund claims process.

Pursuing a Claim

Individuals diagnosed with mesothelioma, lung cancer, asbestosis, or other asbestos-related diseases following occupational exposure to asbestos pump packing may have legal remedies available. Claims may be filed against Crane Co. directly through personal injury or wrongful death litigation, depending on the circumstances of exposure and applicable state statutes of limitations.

Additionally, if a claimant’s exposure history involved asbestos products from manufacturers who have since established asbestos bankruptcy trusts, concurrent trust fund claims may be available alongside litigation. An attorney experienced in asbestos litigation can evaluate an individual’s full work history to identify all potentially responsible parties.

Documentation of employment history, job duties, pump and valve identification, and medical diagnosis records is typically central to building a claim involving asbestos stuffing box packing exposure.