Halliburton Co. to pay $30 million to asbestos victims

February 4, 2005

About 120 families of people exposed to deadly asbestos while working in shipyards, construction sites and industrial plants in the Pacific Northwest or serving on Navy ships serviced in Seattle will be paid $30 million by the Halliburton Co. as part of a recent $4.3 billion national settlement to wrap up asbestos liabilities.

The national settlement includes Halliburton's liabilities for people who are ailing, have died or will die in upcoming years because of asbestos exposure. Halliburton agreed to pay $2.78 billion and put up 59.5 million shares of its stock to form a trust for future victims of asbestos, or silica related health problems across the country.

The Pacific Northwest's shipbuilding industry Halliburton acquired Dresser Industries Inc. in 1998 and inherited the asbestos and silica claims, most of which were filed against the Pittsburgh based subsidiary of Dresser, Harbison-Walker Refractories Co. Because people were unaware of the asbestos dangers, workers brought home toxic fibers on their clothing and shoes, where the family would also be exposed. According to one of the lawyers representing asbestos exposed victims, Dresser officials knew their products were harmful to workers as early as the 1930s, but the company continued distributing them through the mid-1970s.