
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, July 27, 1995                   TAG: 9507270071
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: F.J. GALLAGHER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

INJURED MAN BLAMES MAKER OF ADHESIVE

Testimony began Wednesday in U.S. District Court in a lawsuit stemming from an accident in which two Salem workers were engulfed in flames after an industrial adhesive they were using in a confined area ignited.

Attorneys for William C. Cadd, an employee of Shenandoah Industrial Rubber Co. in Salem, argued before Judge Jackson Kiser in Roanoke that the chemical's manufacturer, United Technologies Corp. of Hartford, Conn., failed to provide adequate warnings about safety to users of the product.

The suit alleges negligence and breach of warranty and contract on the part of United and seeks damages of $1 million, in addition to medical and legal expenses.

The suit was filed in September 1992 and resulted from an explosion and flash fire that occurred at Shenandoah on Dec. 5, 1990. According to court documents, Cadd and a co-worker, Harry Young, were applying Topcoat, an industrial adhesive, to the interior of a large steel tank manufactured by Shenandoah when the fire broke out. Both were seriously injured. Young settled his suit for an undisclosed amount.

Attorneys for United said warning labels and handling instructions were supplied with Topcoat, but Cadd failed to read them and most likely ignited the chemical when he lit a cigarette.

"Mr. Cadd testified under oath that he never read the warnings," said Donald Dawson, an attorney representing United. "Despite hundreds of opportunities during years of tank lining, he never, not once, stopped to read the label."

Cadd's attorney maintained that even had he read the labels it wouldn't have mattered, because they were inadequate and incomplete.

"This case isn't about where the fire started," attorney Daniel Frankl said. "This case is about a defective warning, a failure to warn that the product was highly flammable, and a failure to warn of potential hazards."

Salem Assistant Fire Chief Chester G. ``Pat'' Counts, who investigated the fire, testified that it was caused by the pilot light of a gas heater suspended from the ceiling behind the tank, rather than the pack of cigarettes or a lighter that were found in the enclosure.

Dawson attempted to cast doubt on Counts' finding by getting him to admit that it was virtually impossible to say for certain what ignited the chemical fumes.

"The possibilities could include smoking or playing with the lighter or even static electricity," Dawson said. "The list could be as long as we wanted to make it."

Testimony resumes at 9:30 a.m. today.

by CNB