Court Reopens Case Linking Lawn Fertilizer to Mesothelioma

A New Jersey appeals court has reopened a 2012 lawsuit alleging a man developed mesothelioma from using asbestos-contaminated Scotts lawn fertilizer. The decision comes after the discovery of new evidence the appeals court believes “would probably have changed the result” of the 2014 summary judgment in favor of Scotts. The original plaintiff, Lorenz Brandecker, filed the lawsuit in July 2012. The Wayne, New Jersey, resident claimed his twice-yearly use of Scotts Turf Builder fertilizer from 1967 to 1980 caused him to develop mesothelioma, a terminal cancer. According to a report from the National Asbestos Exposure Review (NAER), a project of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), the Scotts Company used the mineral vermiculite in its consumer products as a carrier and filler until 2001. From 1967 to 1980, Scotts used vermiculite from a mine in Libby, Montana, that contained deadly asbestos. The Scotts facility in Marysville, Ohio, exfoliated approximately 430,000 tons of Libby vermiculite during those years. The site was included in the ATSDR Phase 1 evaluations and was listed as a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) further action site. Brandecker died in October 2012. His wife took over the suit as the executrix of the estate. New Evidence Reveals Vintage Fertilizer Samples In the initial trial, Brandecker’s lawyers asked Scotts to provide samples of its fertilizer products manufactured with vermiculite from Libby. The lawn care company ...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Source Type: news