ASBESTOS EXPOSURE IN SHIPYARDS

Asbestos-injured naval veterans and shipyard workers have a champion in Weitz & Luxenberg.

Between the 1930s and the 1970s, the U.S. Navy used hundreds of asbestos-contaminated products in its vessels, which led to deadly incidences of asbestos exposure among thousands of veterans on warships and in naval shipyards. Ironically, despite its coveted properties, which include resistance to heat and fire, asbestos killed more naval veterans and shipyard workers than it ever saved from fire.

Asbestos exposure was common in shipyards

July 22, 2010 – Asbestos exposure in shipyards is responsible for the deaths of thousands of wartime shipbuilders who contracted diseases like mesothelioma and asbestosis through their daily nautical work activities.

The high rate of asbestos exposure in shipyards is attributed to the maritime industry’s heavy reliance on the toxic mineral for certain intrinsic properties that were useful in the shipbuilding industry during World War II.

Asbestos is resistant to fire, corrosion and electricity, for example, and is extremely durable and inexpensive. It was used everywhere below deck to help prevent the wartime danger of fire at sea.

Asbestos exposure in shipyards was common because of its application as an insulation material on boilers, incinerators and steam pipes; it was also applied in artillery rooms and galleys. Unfortunately, asbestos fibers tended to become airborne in inadequately ventilated areas below deck, which contributed to human exposure.

The mortality statistics among shipyard workers are dire. According to a landmark article published in The Virginian-Pilot a few years ago titled "Shipyards, a Crucible for Tragedy; Part 1: How the war created a monster," about 4.3 million Americans worked in naval shipyards during World War II, and at least 60,000 of these workers died of cancer related to asbestos exposure in shipyards.

"For every thousand wartime shipyard employees," the often-quoted news article states, "about 14 died of asbestos-related cancer, and an unknown number died of an asbestos disease called asbestosis, or complications from it." Such diseases include mesothelioma, known the world over as the signature asbestos-related disease.

Asbestos exposure causes mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is one of the most feared diseases because it has no cure, can be diagnosed in an individual at anytime up to 50 years after asbestos exposure, and is usually discovered in a late stage of development, making effective mesothelioma treatments difficult.

Because of the long mesothelioma latency period, many former shipyard workers are only now being diagnosed with mesothelioma, in their retirement years. Many of our firm's clients are in such a predicament, and are now hoping to recover monetary compensation for the harm caused to them by exposure to asbestos in shipyards.

Lawyer for Navy veterans and shipyard workers

Asbestos-injured naval veterans and shipyard workers may pursue healthcare needs and a disability pension through the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA).

Weitz & Luxenberg can not assist veterans with their VA claims. However, a Weitz & Luxenberg asbestos lawyer can help veterans obtain compensation from the manufacturers of the asbestos products that caused their illnesses.

For nearly 25 years, the Asbestos Litigation Unit at Weitz & Luxenberg has obtained record-setting verdicts and settlements from product manufacturers on behalf of naval veterans and shipyard workers diagnosed with mesothelioma.

The firm’s successful track record is rooted in a landmark case that involved 36 retired Brooklyn Navy Yard workers who were diagnosed with mesothelioma, and other fatal diseases linked to asbestos.

In that case, Weitz & Luxenberg’s mesothelioma lawyers obtained $75 million for their clients, most of whom died from their illnesses. In those circumstances, surviving family members received the financial compensations.

Protect your family’s financial future today by obtaining a free appraisal of your case through the convenient communication form at left.