Asbestos in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania has the third-highest asbestos exposure rating in the U.S. Asbestos is a naturally occurring, fibrous, silicate mineral in rock and soil. Asbestos is odorless, insoluble, and noncombustible. Various materials manufactured in Pennsylvania used asbestos for building construction, auto parts, and other products because of its fiber strength and heat resistance. Asbestos is listed as a severe health risk on the EPA Special Health Hazard Substance List.
How Prevalent is Asbestos in Pennsylvania?
Nearly every worksite, factory, and production process relied on asbestos due to its fire resistance and indestructible properties. Since the early 1930s, Pennsylvania was dependent on mining, construction, shipyards, steel mills, and power plants for revenue and employment.
The Human Cost of Asbestos Exposure in Pennsylvania
According to CDC reports, Pennsylvania’s annual mesothelioma death rate is 13 people per million. Since 1999, 3,092 residents have passed from mesothelioma. Repeated exposure to asbestos has been proven to cause malignant mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is cancer caused by asbestos exposure that affects the smooth lining of the chest, lungs, heart, and stomach. Mesothelioma is aggressive, and the surgery and chemotherapy treatment are both painful and expensive.
Symptoms of mesothelioma may not present until 20 to 50 years after asbestos exposure. Once diagnosed, the average life expectancy of someone diagnosed with mesothelioma is only about one year.
Other diseases believed to be caused by asbestos exposure are:
- Lung cancer
- Cancer of the gastrointestinal tract
- Throat and esophageal cancer
- Scarring of the lung, known as Asbestosis
According to the World Health Organization, asbestos-related diseases have high fatality rates and do not respond well to medical treatment.
Reasons for high asbestos exposure in Pennsylvania
Vermiculite Mining
Mining is the profession with the most significant potential for asbestos exposure. Asbestos Mining in the U.S. ended in 2002. Since then, many miners have been exposed because certain minerals such as talc and vermiculite were contaminated with asbestos.
Until 1993, W. R. Grace shipped almost 450,000 tons of asbestos-contaminated vermiculite from its Libby, MT mine to seven towns in Pennsylvania for processing into products. Due to the volume of material processed, the Ambler site is located in Ambler, Pennsylvania. became known as the “asbestos-manufacturing capital of the world.”
Dumping of asbestos-containing waste on the site began in the early 1930s and continued until 1974. The total volume of asbestos-contaminated waste in the piles is estimated to exceed 1½ million cubic yards. The EPA added the Ambler Asbestos Superfund Site to its list of most hazardous waste sites in 1986. Cleanup efforts were completed in 2018 by placing the contaminated waste under a dome. The site remains on the EPA National Priorities List list for long-term maintenance and assessment.
Shipyards
Research conducted by the pathology departments of Georgetown University and Duke University revealed that shipbuilding had the most mesothelioma cases among workers.
Employees that assembled and installed asbestos products on boilers and other equipment faced high levels of asbestos exposure. Additionally, the equipment end-users were exposed during maintenance, repair, and removal.
The following are shipyards in Pennsylvania that may have contained asbestos:
- Cramps Shipyard
- Dravo Shipyard(s)
- E.E. Austin Shipyards
- Leetsdale Shipard
- Neville Island Shipyard(s)
- Philadelphia Naval Shipyard
- Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company
Steel Mills
Employees who worked in a steel mill were exposed to asbestos through various asbestos products, including construction products, machinery and equipment insulation, and protective clothing. Asbestos insulation material was used in steel mills until the mid-1900s.
See our extensive list of PA Steel Mills on our job sites page.
Power Plants
Equipment was often cared for with asbestos materials because asbestos was fire retardant. Power generation equipment, furnaces, utility boilers, water-tube marine boilers, and other high-temperature refractory equipment used asbestos-containing products. Workers would spray or apply asbestos on boilers, pipes, and other equipment in the course of their duties. Any workers who did these tasks and spent time in tight quarters with poor ventilation would have inhaled the asbestos fibers floating in the air.
Asbestos was incorporated into the masks, mitts, aprons, and other protective gear worn by workers to protect them from heat and fire.
Environmental exposure occurred from asbestos released into the air and soil around facilities such as factories handling asbestos, power plants, shipyards, steel mills, and vermiculite mines.
See our extensive list of PA Power Plants/Power Stations on our job sites page.
If you or a loved one worked in a company where asbestos or asbestos-containing materials were produced or used, you might have been exposed to asbestos. Suppose you developed mesothelioma or another asbestos-related disease. In that case, you might be eligible to receive financial compensation.
Over the last 30 years, GPW has built a reputation as a leading asbestos law firm, not only in the states in which we have offices but throughout the country. We have grown into one of the largest law firms in Pennsylvania representing injured workers, specifically those injured by asbestos. Contact us today!
Article first appeared on gpwlaw.com/news