Sepco Corporation, headquartered in Alabaster, Alabama, was a manufacturer of braided and die-formed valve packing products for industrial high-temperature and high-pressure applications — including asbestos-containing braided packing used in Navy steam plant valve maintenance. Sepco’s asbestos braided packing products were used to repack gate valves, globe valves, and throttle valves throughout Navy steam plant systems aboard destroyers, cruisers, carriers, and submarines, with Machinist’s Mates accumulating asbestos exposure during valve repacking operations as they removed deteriorated old packing and installed new Sepco asbestos packing rings in the valve gland.

Asbestos in Sepco Packing Products

Sepco’s valve packing products contained asbestos fiber as the primary functional component:

  • Braided asbestos packing — Sepco’s braided valve packing used asbestos fiber as the primary yarn material in the braided packing construction, providing the packing with heat resistance and sealing capability for high-temperature, high-pressure steam system valves. Machinist’s Mates removing old packing from valve glands using packing hooks created asbestos dust from the deteriorated packing material during removal operations. Installing new Sepco braided asbestos packing required cutting packing rings to length and pressing them into the valve gland with a packing tool, releasing asbestos fiber from the packing material during installation
  • Die-formed packing rings — Sepco’s die-formed asbestos packing rings, pre-formed to fit standard valve gland dimensions, contained asbestos fiber in the formed ring body. Handling die-formed packing rings during valve repacking operations created asbestos exposure from contact with the asbestos-containing ring material
  • Square section packing — the square braided asbestos packing used for large valve glands and pump packing applications required cutting with a knife or shears, releasing asbestos fiber from the cut face of the packing material during every packing preparation operation

Sepco packing products were used throughout Navy steam system valve maintenance:

  • Main steam system valve repacking — the main steam stop valves, throttle valves, and distribution valves in Navy destroyer, cruiser, and carrier steam plants required periodic valve repacking as a routine maintenance evolution. MMs performing main steam valve repacking used Sepco and competitor asbestos packing products as standard repair material throughout the Navy steam plant era
  • Auxiliary valve maintenance — the hundreds of gate valves and globe valves in Navy auxiliary steam systems — feed water, extraction steam, auxiliary boiler, and hotel steam systems — required periodic repacking, with Sepco asbestos packing used in routine engineering maintenance throughout the ship’s service life

VA Claims for Veterans Exposed to Sepco Products

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure from valve packing maintenance in Navy steam plant engineering spaces. Machinist’s Mates and engineering ratings who performed valve repacking operations using Sepco asbestos packing products and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.