A.W. Chesterton Company, based in Woburn, Massachusetts, was a manufacturer of mechanical packing, fluid sealing products, and maintenance chemicals for industrial and marine applications. Chesterton’s packing product line included braided asbestos packing used in the stuffing boxes of centrifugal pumps, positive displacement pumps, and in the gland packing of steam valves in Navy ship engineering plants. Chesterton braided asbestos packing appeared in pump and valve maintenance throughout the surface ship fleet as one of the standard packing brands in the Navy’s supply system.

Chesterton Asbestos Packing in Navy Engineering Plants

Chesterton manufactured asbestos packing used in pumps and valves:

  • Braided asbestos packing — Chesterton’s braided asbestos packing was cut into ring segments and packed into pump stuffing boxes and valve glands to seal the rotating shaft or valve stem against leakage. The packing replacement operation — removing the old hardened packing rings and cutting and installing new packing rings — generated asbestos dust from the manipulation of the braided asbestos packing material
  • Pump stuffing box packing — centrifugal pumps and positive displacement pumps throughout the Navy engineering plant used asbestos packing in the stuffing box to seal the rotating pump shaft against leakage of the pumped fluid. MM ratings performing pump packing replacement replaced Chesterton and other brand asbestos packing as a routine pump maintenance task
  • Valve stem packing — steam valves throughout the main steam system, auxiliary steam system, and ship’s service steam distribution used asbestos packing in the valve gland to seal the valve stem against steam leakage. BT and MM ratings performing valve maintenance removed and replaced the valve stem packing at each valve maintenance interval

Packing Maintenance Asbestos Exposure

MM and BT ratings performing packing replacement accumulated asbestos exposure:

  • The packing replacement operation was one of the most routine — and most asbestos-exposing — maintenance tasks in the Navy engineering plant. The removal of old hardened asbestos packing from pump stuffing boxes and valve glands, and the cutting and installation of new braided asbestos packing, were performed repeatedly throughout each engineering rating’s career by every MM and BT in the Navy’s surface ship engineering community

VA Claims for Veterans Exposed to A.W. Chesterton Company Products

VA evaluates asbestos-related disability claims on a case-by-case basis. Veterans generally need evidence of in-service asbestos exposure, a current asbestos-related diagnosis, and a medical link between them. MM and BT ratings who performed packing maintenance using Chesterton and other brand asbestos packing and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.