Derbyshire County Council has reportedly been sued by the families of former council employees who lost their lives after being exposed to asbestos at work.
After previously settling one related case, the council is now facing legal action from the relatives of a man, Arnold Cook, who died from exposure to asbestos at the Raynesway incinerator plant in Derbyshire of which he was manager for more than twenty years.
Mr Cook, who died aged 73 in August of this year, claimed before his death that when he worked at the incinerator facility in the 1970s, there was what he called a big “panic” over asbestos. This apparently resulted in a large amount of asbestos materials being indiscriminately burnt in the incinerator’s furnaces with the rest of the waste.
Coroner Louise Pinder recently stated that Mr Cook’s death was caused by exposure to asbestos dust.
Derbyshire County Council has confirmed that its public liability insurance managers are currently handling a compensation claim from Mr Cook’s family. Council bosses refuted allegations of further claims relating to asbestos-related deaths from the families of former plant workers, although manager John Dowd – who took over the plant from Mr Cook when he retired – has said that he knows of at least three legal claims in connection with asbestos at the incinerator.