Asbestos Exposure and Mesothelioma in Kentucky
The Bluegrass State has a proud tradition of industry, particularly in mining, oil, and manufacturing. During much of the 20th century, businesses within these industries, which often operated in a high-heat environment, used massive quantities of asbestos throughout their facilities and equipment. For decades, corporations in Kentucky and across the United States ignored the information about the health hazards of asbestos and placed profits before the health of workers. In time, it became impossible to ignore the clear evidence that asbestos causes mesothelioma and other potentially fatal and debilitating illnesses.
MesoLawyersCare attorneys have been able to recover money awards, including large jury verdicts and settlements, for workers and their families who have been harmed (often fatally) by jobsite exposure to asbestos throughout Kentucky. Mesothelioma is a cancer caused by asbestos exposure and the mission of MesoLawyersCare is to help families affected by this disease. Some of the more notable asbestos exposure sites in Kentucky are detailed below.
1. Armco Steel – Ashland, KY
In 1920, Armco steel announced the construction of a steel mill in Ashland, Kentucky. Three years later, the steel mill opened and was the first mill to feature a continuous rolling method which produced steel sheets. Throughout the century Armco spent millions of dollars expanding the Ashland mill, employing over 7,000 people at its peak. In 1994 the steel mill was sold and became AK Steel. Asbestos and asbestos-containing materials were regularly incorporated into steel mill machinery as it was required to run as very high temperatures. Asbestos insulation covered furnaces, ovens, generators, and other equipment. Armco Steel workers also wore aprons, masks, and other equipment that sometimes consisted of asbestos. Since the 1980s or earlier, Armco Steel has faced litigation from current and former workers who developed asbestosis, mesothelioma, and other asbestos-related illnesses while working at their steel mill.
2. Marathon Oil Refinery – Catlettsburg, KY
Marathon Oil owns and operates a large oil refinery in Catlettsburg, Kentucky that produces 277,000 barrels a day. The refinery — which produces gasoline, distillates, asphalt, aromatics, heavy fuel oil and propane — was built in 1916. At the time, refineries relied on asbestos insulation to line piping and equipment that was necessary to the refining process. Oil plant workers at the Marathon Oil refinery as well as numerous other oil refineries throughout the country, were likely exposed to toxic asbestos materials that have been proven to cause deadly cancer, like mesothelioma, and other terrible health conditions.
3. Allied Chemical – Ashland, KY
The Allied Chemical plant in Ashland, KY was built in 1912. The Allied Chemical plant in Ashland produced coke, a purified form of coal, and sold it to other companies. The coke plant originally had 54 coke ovens, and added another 54 ovens just a few years after it opened. This Allied Chemical plant provided coke for the Armco steel mill in Ashland, and was eventually purchased by Armco. Over the years, the coke mill was criticized because of its pollution and harm to the environment, and also for the harm done to the employees due to asbestos exposure. Because the symptoms of asbestos related diseases take years to show, Allied Chemical Ashland plant employees, and their family members, may still be at risk of developing these deadly diseases.
4. B.F. Goodrich – Calvert City, KY
B.F. Goodrich is most well known as an American tire company. In Calvert City, Kentucky B.F. Goodrich had a large integrated plastics facility where products such as PVC were produced. Asbestos was used throughout the facility insulating equipment that reached high temperatures. Asbestos fibers were also included in some types of plastics, like PVC. In large manufacturing facilities like the B.F. Goodrich plant in Calvert City, workers may have been endangered by working with and near asbestos, including potentially breathing asbestos dust which became airborne when asbestos used in the facility deteriorated. Like other manufacturing companies that used asbestos during the 20th century, B.F. Goodrich failed to adequately warn workers about the life-threatening dangers of asbestos so the workplace could be kept safe. B.F. Goodrich also used industrial talc that contained asbestos in its manufacturing process, which caused high exposures to airborne asbestos fibers.
5. DuPont – Louisville, KY
DuPont is one of the largest chemical companies in the world. DuPont began its operations in Louisville, Kentucky in 1941 to make synthetic rubber to be used in the war efforts. In 2015, DuPont announced a merger with Dow, becoming DowDuPont. Today the Louisville chemical plant specializes in making vinyl fluoride, a material used for manufacturing Tedlar. Tedlar is used to coat the interior of aircraft, architectural structures, decorative awnings and solar cell backing. Asbestos was commonly used as pipe insulation in chemical manufacturing prior to the late 1980s due to its heat resistant properties. DuPont knew that asbestos could cause serious health problems, but failed to tell its employees. As a result, workers and their family members, who were exposed to asbestos dust either in person or secondhand, were put at risk of asbestos illnesses, including mesothelioma cancer.
The attorneys from MesoLawyersCare have recovered more than $10 billion dollars for people diagnosed with mesothelioma. Our firms have successfully represented workers exposed to asbestos in Kentucky and throughout the United States. MesoLawyersCare firms have obtained some of the largest jury verdicts and settlements in the history of asbestos litigation in Kentucky. For more information or a free consultation, fill out the form on this page, have a live chat now with one of our representatives, or call our offices.
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