A Seattle jury has delivered a $242,500 verdict in favor of a 75-year-old Port Hadlock man who lost part of a lung as the result of asbestos exposure at the former Crown Zellerbach mill in Port Townsend.
The verdict in the lawsuit, filed in King County Superior Court against ACandS Inc., states that Ernest Coulter, a millworker for 45 years, and his wife, LeRose, were entitled to the award.
Coulter worked at the then-Crown Zellerbach paper mill from 1946 through 1992. During that time, he was exposed to various asbestos dryer felts, which he helped change on paper machines.
Asten Johnson manufactured and distributed the dryer felts, which were used inside large paper machines during the paper-making process. The dryer felts were made from woven asbestos yarn.
Today, dryer felts are made with synthetic yarns and fabrics.
Huge rolls of felts are run through paper machines daily.
Dryer felt machine records showed that the mill then used Asten asbestos dryer felts during the years Coulter worked there.
Coulter, contacted Friday, said the lawsuit was merely to seek a claim against the company responsible for the asbestos dryer felts.
Neither Crown Zellerbach, nor Port Townsend Paper Corp., which acquired the mill in 1997, are parties in the lawsuit, said Coulter.