John Crane Mechanical Seals with Asbestos Components

Product Description

John Crane, Inc. is a global manufacturer of mechanical seals, seal support systems, and related industrial components. Founded in the early twentieth century and operating under various corporate names throughout its history, the company became one of the most widely recognized suppliers of mechanical sealing technology to refineries, chemical plants, power generation facilities, and heavy manufacturing operations across the United States and internationally.

Mechanical seals are precision-engineered devices installed in rotating equipment — most commonly pumps, compressors, mixers, and agitators — to prevent process fluids from leaking along the rotating shaft. Unlike traditional packing materials that rely on compression to create a seal, mechanical seals use a pair of flat, lapped sealing faces held together by spring force and hydraulic pressure. The stationary face is mounted in the equipment housing; the rotating face turns with the shaft. Together, the two faces form a barrier that contains fluids ranging from water and light hydrocarbons to caustic chemicals and high-temperature steam.

Throughout much of the twentieth century, John Crane manufactured mechanical seals that incorporated asbestos as a functional component. Asbestos was used in secondary sealing elements — including elastomeric or compressed-fiber packing rings, wedges, and other flexible components seated behind or around the primary seal faces. These secondary elements prevented leakage along the shaft bore and accommodated slight misalignments or thermal expansion in the equipment. Asbestos-containing secondary seals appeared in numerous John Crane product lines sold under a variety of part numbers and catalog designations.

John Crane seals were standard equipment in the petroleum refining, petrochemical, pulp and paper, marine, and power generation industries. Because rotating pumps and compressors are fundamental to nearly every continuous-process industrial operation, John Crane products achieved extremely wide distribution, appearing in virtually every large industrial facility in the country during the mid-to-late twentieth century.

Asbestos Content

Litigation records document that John Crane mechanical seals contained asbestos fiber in their secondary sealing components. Plaintiffs alleged that the asbestos-containing elements within these seals included compressed non-asbestos (CNA) fiber packing and woven or braided packing rings, as well as molded elastomeric components reinforced with asbestos fiber — all designed to withstand the elevated temperatures, pressures, and chemical exposures encountered in industrial process equipment.

Plaintiffs further alleged that John Crane was aware for decades that asbestos fibers were present in these sealing components and that disturbance of those components during installation, maintenance, and removal could release respirable asbestos dust. Court and deposition records introduced in litigation reference internal company documents related to product composition and the transition away from asbestos-containing materials in certain product lines during the 1980s and 1990s.

Because John Crane mechanical seals were sold to equipment manufacturers as original components and also distributed as replacement parts through industrial supply channels, asbestos-containing versions of these seals were in circulation and active service well after their initial manufacture date, extending potential exposure timelines for workers who performed maintenance on aging equipment.

How Workers Were Exposed

Industrial workers in a broad range of trades encountered asbestos-containing John Crane mechanical seals during the normal course of their work. Litigation records document that exposure occurred primarily during three types of activities: initial installation of new seals, routine preventive maintenance, and emergency repair or replacement of failed seals.

Installation. When new seals were fitted to pumps and other rotating equipment, workers handled the asbestos-containing secondary sealing components directly. Fitting the seal to the shaft required positioning and sometimes trimming or adjusting the secondary elements, activities that plaintiffs alleged could release asbestos fibers into the breathing zone of the installer.

Maintenance and inspection. Mechanical seals in process service have finite service lives and require periodic inspection. Workers who opened pump housings to inspect seal condition disturbed accumulated residue on and around the seal faces. Plaintiffs alleged that dried process fluid residue mixed with deteriorating asbestos fiber from secondary elements created friable material that was dislodged and aerosolized during these routine inspection tasks.

Seal removal and replacement. When a mechanical seal failed — indicated by visible leakage or elevated vibration — the pump had to be isolated, drained, and disassembled. Removing a worn or failed seal required extracting the secondary elements from their fitted positions in the shaft bore or housing. Litigation records document plaintiffs’ accounts of these components being scraped, pulled, or cut out, generating visible dust in poorly ventilated equipment rooms, pits, and confined spaces. Replacement seals were then fitted using the same handling procedures described above.

Workers most frequently identified in litigation as having been exposed include pump mechanics, millwrights, pipefitters, maintenance machinists, and general industrial maintenance workers employed at oil refineries, chemical plants, power stations, paper mills, and shipyards. Plaintiffs alleged that bystander workers — those in the vicinity of seal installation or removal activities but not performing the task directly — also sustained exposure through ambient fiber release.

The frequency of exposure is a significant factor raised in litigation. In facilities where large numbers of pumps were in service, seal maintenance was a recurring, high-volume task. Workers whose careers centered on pump maintenance could have performed hundreds or thousands of seal-related work cycles over decades of employment, potentially resulting in cumulative asbestos exposures that plaintiffs have connected to diagnoses of mesothelioma, asbestosis, and lung cancer.

John Crane, Inc. is a Tier 2 litigated defendant. There is no John Crane asbestos bankruptcy trust fund. Claims against John Crane are pursued through direct civil litigation in state and federal courts rather than through a trust fund claims process.

Litigation records document that John Crane has been named as a defendant in a substantial volume of asbestos personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits filed by industrial workers and their families. Plaintiffs in these cases have alleged that the company knew or should have known that asbestos-containing components in its mechanical seals posed a health hazard to the workers who installed and maintained them, and that the company failed to provide adequate warnings or to remove asbestos from its products in a timely manner.

Who may have a claim. Industrial workers — and surviving family members of deceased workers — who were diagnosed with mesothelioma, lung cancer, asbestosis, or other asbestos-related disease after working with or around John Crane mechanical seals may have grounds to pursue a civil lawsuit. Relevant occupational histories include employment at petroleum refineries, chemical processing plants, power generation facilities, paper mills, marine installations, and any heavy industrial site where rotating process equipment was routinely maintained.

Steps to take.

  • Preserve all available employment and medical records documenting occupational history and diagnosis.
  • Consult an attorney experienced in asbestos litigation to evaluate the viability of a claim under applicable state law.
  • Be aware that statutes of limitations for asbestos claims vary by state and generally begin running from the date of diagnosis or discovery of the asbestos-related condition.

Because John Crane remains a solvent operating company, successful plaintiffs may seek compensatory and, where applicable, punitive damages through the court system. Individuals with relevant exposure histories are encouraged to seek qualified legal counsel promptly to protect their rights.