Goulds Pumps, Inc. of Seneca Falls, New York manufactured centrifugal pumps, vertical turbine pumps, and associated equipment that were widely specified for US Navy shipboard and shore installation applications. Goulds pumps served as main feed pumps, auxiliary service pumps, bilge pumps, fire pumps, and general service pumps aboard fleet vessels and in Navy shore facility mechanical systems. Pump maintenance in Navy service required working with asbestos-containing stuffing box packing and flange gaskets throughout the period when such materials were standard.

Pump Stuffing Box Packing

The primary asbestos exposure route for personnel who worked on Goulds centrifugal pumps was the stuffing box packing that sealed the pump shaft:

  • Asbestos rope packing in the Goulds pump stuffing boxes was the standard packing material for high-temperature and high-pressure pump applications in Navy service — including feedwater pumps, condensate pumps, and high-temperature service pumps
  • Repacking the stuffing box required removing old packing by picking it out of the stuffing box with a packing hook, exposing the old, deteriorated asbestos material before installing new rings — a task performed by Machinist’s Mates aboard ships and by mechanics at shore facilities
  • Pump casing and cover gaskets on Goulds centrifugal pumps used asbestos sheet or spiral-wound gaskets at the mating faces

Goulds pumps appeared throughout Navy steam vessel engineering spaces in multiple service roles. Main feed pumps and boiler feed systems used Goulds centrifugal designs in the high-pressure, high-temperature feedwater system. Auxiliary service pumps supplied sea water cooling, lubricating oil service, and other essential fluid systems throughout the engineering plant.

Shore Facility and Drydock Applications

Goulds vertical turbine pumps and large centrifugal designs were installed in Navy drydock dewatering systems, shipyard cooling water systems, and industrial plant mechanical systems at shore facilities. Maintenance workers at Navy shipyards who performed packing replacement and gasket work on Goulds pumps in shore facility applications encountered asbestos in the same materials used aboard ship.

VA Claims for Veterans Exposed to Goulds Equipment

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure aboard Navy vessels and in Navy shore facilities. Veterans who maintained Goulds pumps in Navy engineering service before the early 1980s and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.