Goulds Pumps Mesothelioma and Asbestos Exposure Claims

Q: Why is Goulds Pumps named in mesothelioma lawsuits?

For decades, many Goulds pumps were manufactured or maintained with asbestos-containing components such as gaskets and packing. Workers who repaired, rebuilt, or maintained these pumps allege that removing and replacing those components released asbestos fibers they later connect to mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases.

Q: Who owns Goulds Pumps now, and is it still in business?

Yes, the operating pump business is still active and still sold under the Goulds Pumps name, as an ITT brand following ITT's 1997 acquisition. The historical asbestos liabilities travelled a different path: they were placed into InTelCo Management LLC in 2016, and ITT sold InTelCo to Delticus, a liability acquisition vehicle backed by Warburg Pincus, effective July 1, 2021. A claim today is brought against the legacy entities, not against the pump business you can buy from today.

Q: Who actually pays a successful Goulds Pumps claim?

Because there is no Goulds asbestos trust, a resolved claim is paid out of the legacy liabilities and insurance assets held by InTelCo Management LLC, which ITT sold to Delticus effective July 1, 2021. Payment comes through a settlement or a verdict in the lawsuit itself, not through a trust claim form.

Q: 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.

Q: What if I worked around Goulds pumps but also other equipment?

That is the normal pattern rather than a problem. Asbestos claims routinely name multiple manufacturers, because a maintenance worker was rarely exposed to only one company's product. Each defendant is evaluated on the exposure attributable to its own equipment, and identifying every source usually increases rather than complicates the available recovery.

Q: Do I need to remember the exact pump models I worked on?

No. Product identification in asbestos cases is normally reconstructed from site and purchase records, maintenance logs, equipment histories, and co-worker testimony rather than a claimant's memory of model numbers. Establishing which manufacturers' equipment was present at a work site is a routine part of how counsel builds these claims.

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

Last updated: August 9, 2026

Goulds Pumps, Inc. made asbestos-containing gaskets and packing a routine part of its industrial pumps for most of the twentieth century. Unlike most asbestos defendants, Goulds never filed for bankruptcy and never created an asbestos trust fund. A Goulds claim is an ordinary lawsuit, and a resolved claim is paid by InTelCo Management LLC, the entity that now holds the legacy liabilities and their insurance, under Delticus ownership since July 2021.

Goulds Pumps is one of the oldest pump manufacturers in the United States, and its industrial pumps ran for decades in power plants, refineries, paper mills, chemical plants, ships, and municipal water systems. For much of the twentieth century, many of those pumps were built or maintained with asbestos-containing gaskets and packing. Workers who repaired and rebuilt them, and who were later diagnosed with mesothelioma or another asbestos-related disease, have named Goulds Pumps in asbestos lawsuits for decades, and those cases continue today.

Important:

This page provides general educational information about Goulds Pumps asbestos litigation and does not constitute medical or legal advice. Allegations described here reflect claims made in litigation.

Key Takeaways:

Goulds Pumps has never filed for bankruptcy or set up an asbestos trust fund. Claims are pursued through the court system and paid through verdicts and settlements.
The exposure allegations usually involve asbestos gaskets and packing that had to be scraped, cut, or wire-brushed out during pump maintenance and rebuilds.
Millwrights, machinists, pipefitters, boiler operators, Navy machinist's mates, and plant maintenance workers appear most often in these cases.
Goulds was acquired by ITT in 1997, and corporate restructuring since then makes naming the correct defendant a real issue in these claims.

Company Background

Goulds Pumps was founded in Seneca Falls, New York in 1848 and produced its first all-metal pump in 1849. Over the following century it became one of the dominant manufacturers of industrial centrifugal pumps in the country. ITT acquired the company in 1997, and Goulds continues to operate today as an ITT brand. In 2011, ITT spun off its water technology business into Xylem Inc. In 2016, a corporate reorganization placed the legacy asbestos liabilities of ITT LLC and Goulds Pumps LLC, along with the insurance assets that cover them, into a dedicated holding entity called InTelCo Management LLC. Then, effective July 1, 2021, ITT sold InTelCo outright to Delticus, a liability acquisition vehicle backed by the private equity firm Warburg Pincus, contributing $398 million in cash to the entity at closing. The operating pump business remains an ITT brand, but the historical entities that answer for asbestos claims now sit under Delticus ownership.

That corporate history matters in litigation. A worker exposed in 1975 was working around equipment from a company whose ownership and liability structure has changed several times since. Identifying the correct present-day defendant for a decades-old exposure is a routine but important part of how these claims are built.

Worked around Goulds pumps and later diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestos lung cancer, or asbestosis? Because there is no Goulds trust to file against, a claim here runs on court deadlines, and in most states that clock starts at diagnosis.

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The Goulds Pumps Plant in Seneca Falls, New York

Most Goulds claims come from people who worked around Goulds equipment somewhere else. A separate group worked at Goulds, inside the Seneca Falls, New York foundry and manufacturing complex where the pumps were cast, machined, and assembled. Production workers there describe a different exposure history from field maintenance workers: raw material handling, foundry work, and the cutting and fitting of gasket and packing stock during assembly rather than during teardown.

That distinction matters to the proof. A maintenance worker generally has to identify the equipment he serviced and connect it to a manufacturer. A plant worker's exposure happened on the employer's own premises, which changes both the evidence available and, in most states, the interaction with workers' compensation. Household members of Seneca Falls plant workers have also brought claims based on fibers carried home on work clothing, which is discussed further in our guide to secondhand asbestos exposure.

How Asbestos Exposure Happened Around Goulds Pumps

The pumps themselves were metal. The asbestos was in the components that sealed them. Industrial pumps moving hot or corrosive fluids needed heat-resistant gaskets where the casing halves met and rope-like packing around the rotating shaft, and for decades those components commonly contained asbestos, whether supplied with the pump or installed during later maintenance.

Exposure allegations in these cases usually focus on maintenance and repair rather than normal operation. Old gaskets baked onto flanges had to be scraped, chiseled, or wire-brushed off. Worn shaft packing had to be dug out of the stuffing box with picks and hooks. New gaskets were sometimes cut from asbestos sheet material. Each of those steps could release fibers into the worker's breathing zone, and the work was repeated across hundreds of pumps over a career.

For the broader picture of this exposure pathway, see asbestos exposure from industrial valves, pumps, and gaskets.

Jobs and Sites Often Involved

Millwrights and industrial machinery mechanics who rebuilt pumps in place
Machinists and pump repair shop workers
Pipefitters and steamfitters working on connected piping systems
Boiler operators and powerhouse workers in plants that ran banks of pumps
Navy machinist's mates and shipyard workers, since Goulds pumps served aboard vessels
Paper mill, chemical plant, refinery, and power plant maintenance crews

Recognize your own job on that list? That is the single most useful thing you can bring to a case review. You do not need model numbers or paperwork to start, just the plants or ships you worked in and roughly when.

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Goulds Pumps in Asbestos Litigation

Goulds Pumps has been a regular defendant in asbestos litigation since around the time of the ITT acquisition, and it remains an active one. Unlike many asbestos defendants, Goulds has never declared bankruptcy or established an asbestos trust fund. Claims involving its equipment proceed as ordinary lawsuits, and resolved cases are paid through InTelCo, the entity that holds the Goulds legacy liabilities and insurance assets, in settlements and, occasionally, trial verdicts.

Reported cases illustrate the pattern. In one South Carolina case, a paper mill worker employed from the 1950s to 2000 as a laborer, boiler operator, and evaporator operator developed mesothelioma; his claim was initially dismissed, and an appellate court revived it in 2015. In another, the family of a millwright who developed mesothelioma after years of work with gaskets and packing took their wrongful death case to trial, where a jury assigned Goulds a share of the liability before the case resolved.

A recurring legal issue in pump cases is responsibility for asbestos components made by someone else. Defendants in this position have argued they should not be liable for gaskets and packing supplied by third parties, while courts in several jurisdictions, including the United States Supreme Court in Air and Liquid Systems Corp. v. DeVries, a 2019 maritime case involving Navy pump and blower equipment, have held that an equipment manufacturer can have a duty to warn when its product requires asbestos-containing parts to function as intended. The lead defendant in DeVries was the corporate successor to Buffalo Pumps, another manufacturer that appears in the same exposure histories as Goulds. How that issue plays out depends on the jurisdiction and the facts, and it is one reason exposure details and product identification matter so much in these claims.

A Goulds lawsuit also does not exclude other recoveries. Because most workers were exposed to many products over a career, claims against bankrupt manufacturers are often pursued through asbestos trust funds at the same time a lawsuit proceeds against solvent defendants like Goulds. Coordinating the two tracks is standard practice in asbestos cases.

Other Equipment Manufacturers Named Alongside Goulds

Goulds rarely appears alone on a complaint. The same maintenance work that put men around Goulds pumps usually involved valves, other pump brands, and gasket materials from different companies, and asbestos claims typically name every identifiable source of exposure. Other frequently named equipment manufacturers with dedicated guides include Crane Co. valves and Cranite gaskets, Warren Pumps, and Buffalo Pumps.

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 work performed decades ago. See how asbestos exposure is proven decades later and asbestos claim deadlines after symptoms appear.

Records That Help Support a Goulds Pumps Claim

Because Goulds claims are litigated rather than handled through a trust process, the evidentiary record carries the case. Work history records, union records, Social Security earnings statements, ship or plant records placing specific equipment at a site, 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 Goulds Pumps asbestos trust fund?

No. Goulds Pumps has never filed for bankruptcy or established a trust fund. Claims are pursued through the court system, which generally means working with counsel experienced in asbestos litigation rather than filing a trust claim form.

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

Often yes. Filing deadlines for asbestos claims generally run from the date of diagnosis rather than the date of exposure, though the rules vary by state. See asbestos claim deadlines after symptoms appear.

What if I worked around Goulds pumps but also other equipment?

That is typical. Most asbestos claims name multiple defendants because workers were exposed to many products over a career. Identifying each source of exposure, including pumps, valves, insulation, and gaskets from different manufacturers, is part of how these cases are normally built.

Who actually pays a successful Goulds Pumps claim?

Since July 1, 2021, the entities that answer for Goulds asbestos claims, ITT LLC and Goulds Pumps LLC, sit inside InTelCo Management LLC, which ITT sold to the Warburg Pincus backed vehicle Delticus. InTelCo administers and pays claims using the funding ITT contributed at closing and decades of legacy insurance coverage. For claimants the process looks the same, an ordinary lawsuit rather than a trust claim, but identifying the correct defendant entity remains part of the work counsel performs.

Why is Goulds Pumps named in mesothelioma lawsuits?

For decades, many Goulds pumps were built or serviced with asbestos-containing gaskets and packing. Workers who repaired, rebuilt, or maintained those pumps allege that scraping, cutting, and wire-brushing those components released asbestos fibers they later connect to mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases.

Who owns Goulds Pumps now, and is it still in business?

Yes. The operating pump business is still active and still sold under the Goulds Pumps name, as an ITT brand following ITT's 1997 acquisition. The historical asbestos liabilities travelled a different path: they were placed into InTelCo Management LLC in 2016, and ITT sold InTelCo to Delticus, a liability acquisition vehicle backed by Warburg Pincus, effective July 1, 2021. A claim today is brought against the legacy entities, not against the pump business you can buy from today.

Do I need to remember the exact pump models I worked on?

No. Product identification is normally reconstructed from site and purchase records, maintenance logs, equipment histories, and co-worker testimony rather than a claimant's memory of model numbers. Establishing which manufacturers' equipment was present at a site is a routine part of how these claims are built.

Can family members bring a claim after a loved one has died?

Often yes. Wrongful death claims can be brought by the estate or surviving family, and deadlines for those claims generally run from the date of death rather than diagnosis. The rules vary by state. See asbestos claim deadlines after symptoms appear.

A Goulds claim has no trust to file against. There is no claim form and no scheduled payout amount. It is a lawsuit against the legacy entities, which means it runs on your state's filing deadline, and in most states that deadline starts at diagnosis rather than exposure.

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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.