Buffalo Pumps, Inc. Asbestos and Navy Mesothelioma Claims

By David Meldofsky, California-licensed attorney · Founder, Lawsuit Informer

Last updated: August 9, 2026

Buffalo Pumps, Inc. built centrifugal pumps sealed with asbestos gaskets and shaft packing, and supplied them to the United States Navy for decades. There is no Buffalo Pumps bankruptcy and no asbestos trust to file against. A claim today is an ordinary lawsuit brought against the successor, Air & Liquid Systems Corporation, a subsidiary of Ampco-Pittsburgh, and the Supreme Court's 2019 DeVries decision came out of exactly this litigation.

Buffalo Pumps of Buffalo, New York grew out of the Buffalo Forge Company, founded in 1878, and became a major supplier of centrifugal pumps to the United States Navy from the World War II era onward, alongside a large industrial business ashore. Its shipboard pumps were sealed with asbestos-containing gaskets and packing, and sailors and workers who maintained them later brought asbestos claims that continue today against its successor, Air & Liquid Systems Corporation. One of those cases produced the Supreme Court's 2019 decision on the bare-metal defense.

Company Background

Buffalo Forge began in 1878 as a maker of forges and blacksmithing equipment and expanded into fans, blowers, and pumps. The Buffalo Pumps line supplied centrifugal pumps for condensate, feedwater, fire main, and general service aboard Navy vessels, and the same equipment ran in power plants and factories. Through later corporate changes, responsibility for the pump line passed to Air & Liquid Systems Corporation, a subsidiary of Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation, which is the entity that appears as the defendant in Buffalo Pumps asbestos cases today.

That succession is more than trivia. A sailor exposed aboard a destroyer in the 1960s is suing a differently named company today, and establishing the chain from Buffalo Pumps to the present defendant is a standard part of how these claims are built.

Buffalo Forge and Buffalo Pumps Are Not the Same Claim

Buffalo Forge and Buffalo Pumps come up together, and people who worked around either one often search for the wrong name. Buffalo Forge, founded in 1878, made forges and blacksmithing equipment before expanding into fans, blowers, and air handling equipment; the pump line grew out of it and became the business that carries the asbestos claims today. Someone exposed around Buffalo Forge fans and blowers in a plant or aboard ship has a real exposure history, but it is not automatically the same defendant, and it is not automatically the same corporate successor.

If you are not certain which equipment you worked on, that is normal and it is not a reason to wait. Product identification is worked out from service records, job assignments, and coworker testimony rather than from memory alone, and it is one of the first things a case review sorts out. See asbestos exposure from industrial valves, pumps, and gaskets for how these equipment claims are separated in practice.

How Asbestos Exposure Happened Around Buffalo Pumps

The pumps were metal; the asbestos was in the sealing components. Buffalo pumps handling hot water and steam condensate used heat-resistant gaskets at casing joints and packing rings around the rotating shaft, and for decades those parts commonly contained asbestos, whether delivered with the pump or installed during later maintenance.

Exposure allegations center on that maintenance: scraping baked gaskets off flanges, digging worn packing out of the stuffing box, and cutting replacements. Aboard ship the work happened in confined, poorly ventilated machinery spaces, and it was repeated across a vessel's many pumps for the length of a deployment. For the broader picture of this exposure pathway, see asbestos exposure from industrial valves, pumps, and gaskets.

Jobs and Sites Often Involved

• Navy machinist's mates and boiler technicians maintaining shipboard pumps
• Shipyard workers overhauling pumps during availabilities and refits
• Merchant marine engine room crews
• Power plant and industrial maintenance workers ashore
• Pump repair shop machinists
• Millwrights servicing pumps during plant outages

Related occupational pages include asbestos exposure in shipyards and naval service, asbestos exposure in millwright and machinist work, asbestos exposure in power plants and refineries, and asbestos exposure during industrial shutdowns and turnarounds.

Buffalo Pumps in Asbestos Litigation

Buffalo Pumps claims, brought against Air & Liquid Systems, have been a steady feature of asbestos litigation for decades, with a heavy concentration of Navy and maritime cases. There has been no bankruptcy and there is no trust fund, so claims proceed as ordinary lawsuits paid through settlements and, at times, verdicts.

The litigation's most visible product is Air & Liquid Systems Corp. v. DeVries, decided by the United States Supreme Court in 2019. The families of two Navy veterans alleged shipboard exposure from equipment, including pumps, that required asbestos components to function. The manufacturers argued the bare-metal defense: they shipped metal equipment and should not answer for asbestos parts added later by others. The Court disagreed for maritime cases, holding that a manufacturer has a duty to warn when its product requires incorporation of a part it knows will make the integrated product dangerous and it has no reason to think users will realize the danger. That standard now frames Navy equipment claims generally.

A Buffalo Pumps lawsuit also does not exclude other recoveries. Most veterans and workers were exposed to many products over a career, and claims against bankrupt manufacturers are often pursued through asbestos trust funds in parallel with a lawsuit against solvent defendants. For claims arising from New York exposure — Buffalo Pumps' home state — Lawsuit Center's guide to New York asbestos lawyers covers venues and deadlines.

Illnesses Discussed in These Cases

• Mesothelioma
• Asbestos-related lung cancer
• Asbestosis
• Other asbestos-related conditions examined in litigation

Asbestos diseases have long latency periods, often 10 to 50 years between exposure and diagnosis, which is why claims today frequently involve service or work performed decades ago. See how asbestos exposure is proven decades later and asbestos claim deadlines after symptoms appear.

Records That Help Support a Buffalo Pumps Claim

Because these claims are litigated rather than handled through a trust process, the evidentiary record carries the case. Service records and ship assignments, machinery histories, shipyard and plant records placing Buffalo equipment at a site, shipmate and co-worker testimony, and medical records connecting the diagnosis all play a role. Our guide to asbestos records that help support a claim walks through this in detail.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a Buffalo Pumps asbestos trust fund?

No. Buffalo Pumps never went through an asbestos bankruptcy, and there is no Buffalo Pumps trust fund. Claims involving Buffalo equipment are pursued through the court system as lawsuits, with successor Air & Liquid Systems Corporation appearing as the named defendant.

Who is Air & Liquid Systems?

Air & Liquid Systems Corporation is the corporate successor responsible for the Buffalo Pumps product line and is a subsidiary of Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation. It is the entity named in Buffalo Pumps asbestos litigation, including the case that reached the United States Supreme Court in 2019.

Who do I actually sue for a Buffalo Pumps claim?

Air & Liquid Systems Corporation, as successor to the Buffalo Pumps line. Because there is no trust and no claim form, a resolved case is paid through a settlement or a verdict in that lawsuit. Establishing the chain from Buffalo Pumps to the present defendant is a routine part of building the claim rather than an obstacle to it.

I served in the Navy decades ago. What records help?

Service records that place you on a specific ship during a specific period do most of the work, because the equipment aboard a given class of vessel is well documented in these cases. Your rate, your assignments, and any shipyard availabilities or overhauls you worked matter more than remembering a manufacturer's name on a pump casing. Filing an asbestos claim is also separate from any VA benefit and does not replace it.

Can I still bring a claim if the exposure happened decades ago?

Often yes. In most states the filing clock for an asbestos claim runs from diagnosis rather than from the date of exposure, because mesothelioma and other asbestos diseases take decades to appear. The exact deadline depends on the state, the disease, and whether the claim is brought by the injured person or by surviving family. See asbestos claim deadlines after symptoms appear.

What if I was exposed to other manufacturers' equipment too?

That is the normal pattern rather than a problem. Shipboard and plant maintenance work rarely involved one company's equipment, and asbestos claims routinely name several manufacturers. Each defendant is evaluated on the exposure attributable to its own product, so identifying every source generally increases the available recovery rather than complicating it. Related equipment defendants include Goulds Pumps, Warren Pumps, and Crane Co.

What did the Supreme Court decide in the DeVries case?

In Air & Liquid Systems Corp. v. DeVries, decided in 2019, the Supreme Court held that in maritime tort cases an equipment manufacturer has a duty to warn when its product requires incorporation of a part, such as asbestos insulation, gaskets, or packing, the manufacturer knows the integrated product is likely to be dangerous, and it has no reason to believe users will realize that danger. The ruling rejected the strict bare-metal defense in the maritime context.

Related Asbestos Guides

About the Author

David Meldofsky is a California-licensed attorney and the founder of Lawsuit Informer, an educational platform focused on helping people understand lawsuits, consumer safety issues, and legal rights related to defective products and toxic exposures.

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Last Updated: August 9, 2026

Educational information only. Not legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is formed.