De Laval Steam Turbine was founded in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1890 and quickly became a major manufacturer of steam turbines. The company’s use of asbestos in its products led to serious health consequences for both its employees and those who were exposed to the products. Many were diagnosed with mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases. The company’s successor, IMO Industries, has been named as a defendant in thousands of asbestos lawsuits.
The History of De Laval Steam Turbine
Origins and Early Years
De Laval Steam Turbine has its roots in Stockholm, Sweden. In 1890, Swedish inventor Dr. Carl Gustaf Patrik de Laval invented a single-stage, geared turbine that could power large, automated cream separators. While this was useful for agricultural purposes, the company’s owners quickly realized that the product had much broader, more profitable applications for steam turbine technology.
In 1896, the New York Edison Company purchased, imported, and installed two De Laval turbines. This technology, which was exhibited at the World’s Fair in Chicago, represented the first commercial use of steam turbines for electric power in the United States and led to the construction of the first electric generating stations in New York City. This milestone in American electrical power generation led to the company establishing its first American manufacturing facility, located in Trenton, New Jersey.[1]
By the end of 1902, the facility was operating at full capacity, producing a diverse range of equipment, including steam turbines, gears, compressors, and pumps, and during World War I, De Laval Steam Turbine was integral to the U.S. military effort. The company became one of the primary manufacturers and suppliers of power-generating equipment for over 70 Navy vessels. This wartime production significantly boosted the company’s visibility, reputation, and financial standing, and was the start of a relationship with the military that would last for much of the 20th century.
The Depression, World War II, and Asbestos
When the war ended, so too did military orders, and when this was combined with the economic certainty of the Great Depression, De Laval faced significant financial challenges. Though it was forced to downsize, the 1930s brought new opportunities. The company expanded its product line, selling displacement pumps. Like other manufacturers at the time, it also began incorporating asbestos into many of its products that needed to withstand high heat, fire, and chemical reactions. At the time, including the mineral in the company’s products made perfect sense: Steam turbines generate extreme temperatures, making asbestos insulation essential for temperature control and fire prevention, and the company’s equipment regularly operated in harsh environments aboard ships and in industrial settings, where durability and heat resistance were paramount. This practice lasted from the 1930s through the 1970s and led to many of the company’s employees and those who used or were exposed to their products being diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases.
Once again, military needs boosted De Laval’s operations. In 1939, orders for the company’s pumps grew dramatically as the U.S. Navy anticipated becoming involved in the growing conflict. During World War II, thousands of Navy personnel and shipyard workers were exposed to asbestos that was used in De Laval equipment, especially those who served on destroyers and aircraft carriers where the company’s turbines had been installed.[1]
Product catalogs from this era are frequently available for sale on eBay and similar auction sites and show that many De Laval products included asbestos. Shipyards were major customers for De Laval, and the products they purchased used enormous amounts of asbestos.
Declining Sales and Financial Struggles
As demand for shipbuilding decreased in the 1960s, De Laval again faced significant financial difficulties. In 1962, an investment group led by Lehman Brothers purchased the company, which had recently changed its name to De Laval Turbine Company, and then quickly resold a 70% stake in De Laval to TransAmerica Corporation in 1964. Shortly thereafter, a major reorganization led to TransAmerica merging with General Metals. All of the insurance company’s industrial holdings, including De Laval, were combined into a single manufacturing division under the De Laval name.[1]
Throughout these changes, De Laval continued using asbestos, even as evidence of the health hazards associated with the mineral began to emerge. While the company’s products continued to benefit from the protection and insulation in high-temperature environments, their decision to continue using it ended up costing many workers their health and lives.
Growth and Transformation
In 1971, De Laval was growing, and moved its corporate offices to a different New Jersey location. The company began selling its products globally and established operations in Canada, Mexico, the Netherlands, and other international markets. Buy the mid-1980s, TransAmerica restructured its industrial holdings again, this time spinning off De Laval as an independent company and renaming it IMO Industries to modernize the company’s image and expand beyond the turbine business. IMO began purchasing companies in related industries to diversify its service and product offerings, but this strategy happened at the same time that the public was becoming aware of the dangers of asbestos, and the company began being named in asbestos lawsuits.
When IMO’s earnings fell below expectations in 1992, it sold the DeLaval Turbine and TurboCare divisions. This happened in the same year that the Environmental Protection Agency cited IMO Industries as potentially responsible for hazardous waste at De Laval’s former plant sites, particularly in Washington state, and the company began to be the subject of hundreds of asbestos-related lawsuits. By 1992, De Laval/IMO Industries had been named as a defendant in approximately 7,000 pending asbestos lawsuits and had already settled many claims out of court.[1]
With demand for its products declining and struggling with the costs of asbestos litigation, IMO Industries was close to bankruptcy in the mid-1990s, but in 1997, it was purchased by II Acquisition Corporation. The new owner implemented several cost-reduction programs to manage IMO’s legal liabilities.
The Impact of Mesothelioma and Asbestos Lawsuits
Though De Laval Steam Turbine was purchased, that did not stop asbestos victims from pursuing justice through legal action. Whether named as Deval or as IMO, its successor, the company was a frequent defendant in mesothelioma and asbestos exposure lawsuits. The problem became so overwhelming that the company secured insurance coverage worth over $1.85 billion specifically to cover its asbestos litigation expenses and defense costs.[2]
The financial impact of the asbestos litigation against the company could be seen in documents submitted as evidence during subsequent court battles involving its insurers. Between 1986 and 2014, the company reportedly spent over $72 million on asbestos-related legal costs through its primary insurance provider, TIG Insurance Company. Before 1986, the company had already spent approximately $33 million on similar expenses, and by 2003, insurance provider Aetna reported paying over $15 million for asbestos-related expenses before declaring its policy coverage exhausted. This forced IMO to rely on multiple insurance policies to cover its mounting asbestos litigation costs.[2]
While many asbestos companies facing extensive asbestos litigation established dedicated asbestos trust funds to manage their claims, De Laval/IMO chose not to. The company has chosen to handle lawsuits filed against it directly through its remaining corporate assets and insurance coverage.
De Laval Steam Turbine Products that Contained Asbestos
Through much of its history, De Laval Steam Turbine manufactured many products that contained asbestos or asbestos-containing parts. These included:
- Centrifugal pump packaging
- Steam turbine insulation
- High-speed equipment components
- Various pump and compressor parts
- De Laval Main Feed Booster Pump
The operation of these and many other De Laval products required resistance to extreme heat, and that’s why asbestos was relied upon as an integral part. The company’s products were used in maritime applications, industrial settings, and power generation facilities, exposing thousands of workers across multiple decades.
Occupational and Military Exposure to Asbestos in De Laval Products
De Laval products were popular for many years and were relied upon in both military and industrial settings. This created extensive exposure risks for workers in several categories. At greatest risk were those who worked directly with equipment that contained asbestos, including:
- Factory workers at De Laval facilities
- Machinists who maintained and repaired equipment
- Navy veterans who served on ships equipped with De Laval turbines
- Merchant seamen on vessels equipped with De Laval machines or parts
- Shipyard workers who installed and maintained the products
During the company’s busiest years, De Laval employed more than 2,000 people across its various plants. These workers were at constant risk, and so too were the family members that they returned home to each night, covered with asbestos dust. There have been many cases of spouses being sickened by the secondary exposure risk created by laundering employees’ asbestos-covered work clothes, or from asbestos fibers that permeated furniture, carpeting, and family cars.
Tens of thousands of Navy veterans were exposed to asbestos through De Laval Steam Turbine equipment installed on destroyers and aircraft carriers. The military and shipbuilding industry’s reliance on asbestos exacerbated the risk, as ships contained asbestos throughout their construction—in insulation, pipes, boilers, and countless other components. This created environments where workers faced nearly constant asbestos exposure.
Claims Against De Laval/IMO Industries
The company has been named as a defendant in thousands of lawsuits filed by former workers, Navy veterans, and others who were exposed to De Laval equipment during its asbestos-using years. Some of the notable claims include:
- In September 2015, Ruth Belche May filed a mesothelioma wrongful death lawsuit against IMO and others, accusing them of product liability, failure to warn, strict liability, and negligence in the death of her late husband, Philip Royce May. Mr. May had been a Navy machinist who served aboard multiple ships from 1956 to 1976. The pumps he worked on used asbestos-containing parts as well as asbestos-containing replacement parts. Though the pump manufacturers denied responsibility for his mesothelioma because by the time Mr. May had worked on the pumps, their original asbestos-containing parts had been replaced by others that they had not manufactured, the Maryland Court of Appeals found that the companies duty to warn remained because the company’s products could not operate without asbestos-containing parts.[3]
- Mesothelioma victim William Ankiel, Jr. was a Navy veteran and boiler technician who had been stationed aboard the USS Hollister from October 1975 to 1978. He operated boilers in the vessel’s fire rooms and repaired equipment, including valves, pumps, and boilers. When his family filed a claimagainst manufacturers of the equipment, including IMO Industries, the companies argued that they had not been the cause of his illness and that he had known of the risks associated with servicing the equipment. Upon reviewing De Laval’s specifications that their equipment’s required gaskets and packing be made from asbestos, the court decided that the company had reason to know of the dangers of dust inhalation as early as the 1930s and that neither the Navy nor the victim adequately appreciated the dangers of working with the mineral at the time.[4]
- Navy veteran Arthur Dumas filed a mesothelioma lawsuit against multiple companies, including IMO Industries, over asbestos-containing equipment he’d been exposed to while serving from 1954 to 1974. His duties included working on pumps and valves associated with hot water, cold water, plumbing, and sewage, and the equipment he worked with contained asbestos insulation and packing. His specific exposure to IMO pumps occurred while he served aboard the USS FDR in 1956, aboard the USS Forrestal from 1958 to 1960, and aboard the USS Ogden from 1967 to 1969. He said he had been present during the removal and installation of the insulation applied to De Laval pumps on the Ogden and the USS Tidewater from 1969 to 1971, and had conducted and supervised repair work on 20-25 other ships based out of the repair shop on the Tidewater.[5]
Were You Exposed to Asbestos from De Laval Steam Turbine/IMO Industries Equipment?
If you’ve been diagnosed with an asbestos-related illness like mesothelioma and you believe your exposure came from De Laval Steam Turbine/IMO Industries products, you may be eligible to pursue legal action against the company. Because IMO Industries continues to operate, victims can seek compensation through direct lawsuits filed against the company as well as through claims with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which offers healthcare services and disability benefits to veterans whose asbestos exposure is linked to their military service. This includes access to treatment at designated VA hospitals and specialized cancer centers.
While legal action cannot be taken directly against the military or the federal government, veterans are still able to seek compensation by filing personal injury claims against De Laval and other manufacturers and suppliers of the asbestos products used aboard Navy vessels.
Asbestos attorneys who specialize in mesothelioma cases can help you confirm that you were exposed to De Laval/IMO Industries products, as well as asbestos from other companies that provided asbestos materials to which you were exposed. They will guide you through the legal process, help you file claims with asbestos trust funds established by any companies that went bankrupt due to asbestos-related lawsuits, and help you get the compensation you deserve. Because there are strict deadlines for filing these claims, the most important step is to consult an experienced asbestos lawyer as soon as possible.
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