A federal jury in Phoenix found an industrial products company liable for asbestos contamination. Through September of this year, the company has resolved, by settlement or dismissal, approximately 130,000 claims. The case has implications and findings nationwide.

Crane Company, based in Connecticut, was found directly liable for $1.8 million and awarded $5 million in punitive damages in an Arizona case in 2016. Crane’s appeals say that the work was done for the U.S. Navy as part of government contracts, which required government-specific parts that contained asbestos.

Matt Mauney is with the Mesothelioma Center. He says damage from exposure can take years, “... typically decades ... as many as twenty to fifty years between someone’s first exposure and the onset of symptoms from asbestos related illnesses,namely mesothelioma, which is a rare cancer related, overwhelmingly related, to asbestos."

The Arizona appeal is now with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court. According to its quarterly financial filing, Crane remains a defendant in over 30,000 claims alleging exposure to asbestos. Costs incurred by the company and its insurance carriers now total approximately $530 million.