Product Description
The Okonite Company of Passaic and Ramsey NJ allegedly supplied medium-voltage underground power cable — 5 kV, 15 kV, 25 kV, and 35 kV class — to municipal utilities, industrial plants, and switchgear vaults across the U.S., according to publicly filed asbestos litigation records. In the paper-insulated lead-covered (PILC) and rubber-insulated designs, the outermost protective jacket over the lead sheath or metallic tape shield allegedly contained asbestos-fiber-loaded compound or an asbestos-fiber-braided saturated tape, chosen for heat resistance in duct-bank service and to resist splice-torch flame during pothead terminations. Conductor separators between the phases in three-conductor belted designs allegedly used asbestos braid. IBEW cable splicers cutting back the jacket to expose the lead sheath during pothead work, or performing hot splices in a manhole vault, allegedly generated airborne fibers in confined-space conditions.
Workers Exposed
IBEW underground cable splicers, cable pullers, manhole crews, substation electricians terminating cable into potheads, and cable-testing technicians conducting hi-pot and VLF testing allegedly encountered airborne fibers when cutting, stripping, or torch-heating Okonite jacket compound and conductor braid. Utility warehouse workers handling drums of Okonite cable and cable-splice trainees at IBEW apprenticeship schools allegedly faced secondary exposure.