Environmental Litigation GroupA Professional Corporation · Est. 1990
Company / Manufacturer

Wheelabrator Frye Inc.

The business was founded in the late 1960s by virtue of the merger of Wheelabrator with Frye Industries, a print ink, and copy paper manufacturer. It is currently headquartered in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Previously, in 1932, Wheelabrator developed the airless centrifugal wheel, a rapidly spinning wheel meant to hurl abrasives at steel, concrete, and other industrial surfaces where cleaning was necessary. In 1987, the company, under a new name – Wheelabrator Technologies – emerged as a publicly traded business providing leading waste-to-energy services such as diverse manufacturing capabilities and independent power plant development. Sadly, Wheelabrator Frye exposed workers to asbestos during the last century, as the manufacturing of paper and metal required a lot of asbestos to fireproof the equipment. If you had a job at this company and now suffer from a disease related to asbestos exposure, you should not hesitate to contact our legal team, as you may be entitled to compensation.

Wheelabrator Frye Inc. employees exposed to asbestos

At the moment, the company is the second-largest waste-to-energy business in the U.S. It currently operates 26 strategically located facilities across the country and also recovers metals for recycling into commercial products. Despite the amazing and innovative achievements of Wheelabrator Frye, the company is responsible for having exposed workers to asbestos before the 1980s, when the carcinogenic mineral was banned in most industries.

The primary occupational groups that experienced significant asbestos exposure on the job were paper mill workers and metal workers. While the former mostly inhaled and ingested asbestos fibers by handling dryer felts, gaskets, and insulation, the latter would come in direct contact with asbestos by cutting and sawing various materials, releasing toxic dust.

These are the workers Wheelabrator Frye exposed to asbestos during the last century, whether directly or indirectly:

Paper mill workers encountered asbestos products in the equipment they had to operate and in the building materials present in the structure of the facility. The heaviest asbestos exposure in paper mills would occur through equipment maintenance. Since pulping, paper making, and boiler work involved intense heat, asbestos was perfect for insulating pipes and vessels, which the employees in charge of maintenance would often encounter.

A very common way metal workers were exposed to asbestos on the job was through asbestos pipes and walls that contained asbestos insulation. The activities that would loosen these products released asbestos fibers in the air workers inhaled. Welding metal sheets, installing metal studs, and drilling into cement would often create more asbestos dust.

Asbestos related cancer eligible for filing a claim

If you developed one of the following cancers as a result of occupational exposure, you are eligible for compensation. If you are too ill, a family member can help you with the legal process. In the unfortunate event that you pass away before recovering compensation, your surviving family members will receive compensation on your behalf.

If, however, you struggle with non-cancerous pleural diseases such as asbestosis, pulmonary fibrosis, pleural plaques, pleural effusion, diffuse pleural thickening, COPD (emphysema & chronic bronchitis), pleurisy, lung nodules, lung spots, asthma, pneumonitis, tuberculosis, rounded atelectasis or lung scarring, please seek a second or even a third opinion as the rate of misdiagnosis is very high among the victims of asbestos exposure.

Legal assistance in wrongful death asbestos exposure cases for family members

The family members of a victim of asbestos exposure have the right to file a wrongful death claim if their departed loved one had not taken legal action. Filing a wrongful death claim is relatively easy for clients, as you just have to describe your situation in detail and send our legal experts the employment and medical records of your family member and their death certificate. Our attorneys will review your case, and if they determine that you meet the criteria for filing a claim, they will soon begin working on it.

It is important to know that working with our law firm is free of charge unless we obtain financial compensation for you. If we fail to help you, you will not owe us anything, as we work on a contingency fee basis. Another essential aspect you should be mindful of is that wrongful death cases have a statute of limitations. This means that you can only file your claim within a certain timeframe. It is usually 2 years from the moment of death in most states, but it could be shorter, which is why we advise you to contact us as soon as you can.

Asbestos products workers at Wheelabrator Frye Inc. would manufacture or encounter

During the last century, the employees of Wheelabrator Frye were paper mill workers and metal workers, which means that they were mostly exposed to asbestos from the machinery and equipment they had to operate. They would not manufacture asbestos products, but they would encounter a lot of asbestos dust in the facilities they were working in. Some of the products they were exposed to were insulation, pipes, floor tiles, gaskets, and ceiling tiles. The following are the most usual asbestos products the workers of this company came in contact with.

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