Top Five Asbestos Hotspots in the Southeast

From mines in places like Kentucky to large ports and distribution centers closer to the coast, the Southeast has more asbestos hotspots than almost any other region in the country. Anyone who worked or lived at or near these hotspots could have been exposed to asbestos and could be diagnosed with a frightful disease later in life.

20,000 asbestos fibers can fit between Abraham Lincoln’s nose and chin on a penny. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, there is no safe asbestos exposure level. Exposure-related diseases include cancer, like mesothelioma, and lung disease, like asbestosis. These aggressive illnesses are normally fatal.

Because the risk is so high and the injuries are so terrible, an asbestos exposure lawyer can usually obtain substantial compensation for victims. This compensation usually includes money for economic losses, such as medical bills, and noneconomic losses, such as pain and suffering. Additional punitive damages are usually available in these matters as well.

Asbestos does not conduct heat and is corrosion-resistant. So, from an engineering standpoint, this substance was ideal for ships. It prevented boiler rooms and other such areas from becoming too hot, and it warded off the corrosive effects of salt water.

The engineering benefits were so high that companies ignored the health risks, which were mentioned above. These companies had many chances to stop using asbestos and do the right thing. But they refused to change the way they do business, which is why an asbestos exposure lawyer must now get involved.

The heavy equipment at metalworking plants produces temperatures in excess of 3,000 degrees. The companies who built such facilities saw a critical need for asbestos.

Asbestos-laden lagging was wrapped around hot pipes, furnaces, ovens, tanks, generators, rolling mills, cranes, and boilers as insulation in fireproof workspaces. Asbestos was also used in some of the protective clothing (aprons, mitts, coats, pants, or masks) for the people who operated the machines.

Growing cities, like Jacksonville, usually wanted to keep construction costs as low as possible. Cheap asbestos was ideal, once again from an engineering standpoint.

Children are not just small adults. They have underdeveloped lungs and other organs that made them particularly susceptible to asbestos poisoning. Since mesothelioma and other asbestos exposure-related diseases have such long latency periods, these children usually did not know they were sick until they became middle-aged adults, at the earliest.

For some forty years, the Grace Company, which was based in Libby, Montana, provided over 80 percent of the country’s vermiculite. Untainted vermiculite is a safe and effective asbestos substitute.

But, largely due to poor quality control practices, Grace Mine vermiculite was laced with asbestos. The EPA spent almost twenty years cleaning up the site of the former mine, and several Grace Company executives who had direct knowledge of the problem went to federal prison.

Frequently, asbestos hotspots didn’t just infect locals. They shipped asbestos-laced material across the country, where it infected an untold number of people. Even if the responsible company is no longer in business, an asbestos exposure lawyer can still obtain compensation for victims.

Mesothelioma victims need and deserve significant compensation. For a free consultation with an experienced nationwide mesothelioma lawyer, contact the Throneberry Law Group. The sooner you reach out to us, the sooner we start working for you.