Product Description

Wm. Harvey Company (and the Black Knight brand of plumbing-trade chemicals) manufactured through the asbestos era a major U.S. line of asbestos-loaded pipe joint compound (pipe dope), asbestos-loaded plumber’s putty, and related plumbing-trade thread sealants and gasket-grade pipe fitting compounds. Harvey’s products were standard inventory at plumbing wholesalers and hardware stores nationally and were specified by plumbers for sealing threaded steel pipe joints, brass fittings, and drain assemblies through the documented asbestos era.

Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that Harvey’s Black Knight pipe joint compound, plumber’s putty, and related thread sealants contained chrysotile asbestos throughout the documented production era. Plumbers and apartment-maintenance workers who hand-applied pipe dope to threaded joints, who scraped dried joint compound during repair work, and who reworked sweat-soldered copper joints in proximity to applied compounds disturbed asbestos fibers as a routine part of the plumbing trade.

Wm. Harvey Company has been named as a Manufacturer Defendant in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation.

Exposure Pathway

  • Hand application of pipe dope to threaded pipe ends — direct skin and respiratory contact with fibered compound
  • Scraping dried joint compound during pipe-rework and leak-repair tasks
  • Sweat-solder copper fitting prep in proximity to applied pipe-dope joints — heating released VOCs and disturbed fibers
  • Plumber’s putty application at drain assemblies and fixture seats

Workers Exposed

  • Plumbers (UA Local members)
  • Pipefitters
  • Apartment and building maintenance workers performing in-place plumbing repair
  • Sprinkler fitters and HVAC piping technicians
  • Refinery and industrial pipefitters working threaded process piping

If You Worked With Harvey’s Black Knight Plumbing Products

If you applied, scraped, or reworked Harvey’s Black Knight pipe joint compound, pipe dope, or plumber’s putty during the asbestos era — including as an apartment-maintenance worker performing routine plumbing repair — and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, lung cancer, or another asbestos-related illness, you may have legal rights.

Free, confidential case evaluation: Speak with O’Brien Law Firm — (314) 936-2956