Premises Description

Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that Kelly-Springfield Tire Company operated a large tire manufacturing complex in Cumberland, Maryland — a signature Western Maryland industrial employer — producing passenger, truck, and industrial tires through the asbestos era. Allegedly, the plant relied on high-pressure steam and hot-oil systems to run Banbury mixers, roller mills, calenders, extruders, and cure/vulcanizing presses, and this thermal utility network was lagged with asbestos-containing block and pipe covering throughout the process floor and boiler house.

Plaintiffs further alleged that cure presses and platens on the vulcanization floor ran at elevated temperatures that required asbestos-containing gaskets at steam connections, and that operators historically used asbestos-containing heat-resistant gloves, mitts, and pads when handling hot molds and tire carcasses. Plaintiffs alleged that during scheduled turnaround maintenance and press rebuilds, millwrights, pipefitters, and insulators stripped and reinstalled asbestos insulation on steam piping, flanged joints, and cure-press headers while adjacent tire-line workers remained on the floor.

Workers Exposed

  • Tire builders and cure-press operators working next to hot platens with asbestos gaskets and pads
  • Millwrights rebuilding Banbury mixers, mills, calenders, and cure presses
  • Pipefitters unbolting flanged steam piping and scraping old asbestos gaskets
  • Insulators stripping and reinstalling asbestos block and pipe covering during turnarounds
  • Boiler operators and boilerhouse maintenance workers around asbestos-lagged boilers, breechings, and steam headers
  • Electricians and instrument techs working overhead through insulated process runs

If You Worked at the Cumberland MD Plant

Plaintiffs alleged that Kelly-Springfield Cumberland plant workers, particularly maintenance trades and cure-press operators during the asbestos era, experienced daily airborne fiber exposure from disturbed insulation, gaskets, and heat-resistant materials. Plant workers and household family members have alleged mesothelioma, lung cancer, and asbestosis.

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