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LTV Steel

LTV (Ling, Temco and Vough) Steel had its beginnings in 1947 with entrepreneur James Ling, who got his start as the owner of an electrical contracting business in Dallas. In 1960, Ling merged with Temco Aircraft. Soon thereafter, Ling-Temco purchased Chance Vought Aerospace Company, to form Ling-Temco-Vough, later shortened to LTV. The company went on to form one of the largest and most successful conglomerates of the 1960s, reporting sales of $2.7 billion by the end of 1969. Some of the companies acquired by LTV include Okonite Wire and Cable, Wilson and Company, National Car Rental and J&L Steel.

Due to anti-trust laws established in the early 1970s, the company went through a series of divestitures for the next decade and a half. By 1984, what remained of the company existed primarily as a steel producer and the LTV Steel name was officially adopted. However, the bottom would soon fall out of the American steel industry.

In 1986, the company declared bankruptcy for the first time and filed for reorganization. It sold more of its non-steel companies and soon began selling off some of its steel-making entities as well, laying off thousands of employees as a result. By this time, LTV had reduced its steel producing capacity from 24 million tons a year to just 10 million, retaining only the Cleveland (Ohio) Works and the Indiana Harbor Works in Chicago.

Though the company was deemed healthy by 1994, the assumption of more debt prompted another bankruptcy in 2000 and ceased operations in 2001.

LTV Steel and Asbestos

As in all steel mills that operated prior to about 1980, LTV's steel mills made abundant use of asbestos as a form of insulation. Equipment used in the steel-making process often reaches temperatures of about 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit, so protection from this heat was obviously necessary and, during an era that stretched from the 40s through the 70s, asbestos was the insulation of choice.

The ovens, furnaces, and other pieces of machinery inside a steel plant weren't the only things that were insulated with asbestos. Employees were “insulated” as well. Workers at LTV steel wore asbestos suits to protect them from potential burns caused by splashes or other accidents. Unfortunately, the very clothing designed to protect them actually made them sick.

Little regard was given to the health of workers. While the link between lung diseases like mesothelioma and asbestosis was being profiled in medical journals as early as the 1930s, companies like LTV continued using the material until they were made to stop in the late 1970s. The result has been generations of workers suffering from asbestosis, mesothelioma and other lung-related ailments.

LTV Steel and Asbestos Litigation

When a U.S. judge approved a plan in December 2001 that allowed all LTV Steel facilities to close, thousands lost their jobs, pensions, and benefits. Many of those who lost their medical coverage were already suffering from serious lung diseases, including mesothelioma, and others would be diagnosed with the disease in the future. Some were already suing the company for compensation for their injuries.

Part of the reason that LTV filed for bankruptcy in 1986 and again at the turn of the millennium was because the company was facing a never-ending pile of lawsuits filed by those who got sick due to exposure to asbestos and other toxins while working at one of LTV's many steel-making facilities. Once bankruptcy was declared, new lawsuits were forbidden in accordance with automatic stay provisions that are part of the bankruptcy code. Hence, the company was able to avoid further litigation.

Resources for Metal Workers

Anyone who worked at LTV Steel's facilities may have been exposed to asbestos. Families of those who were employed at LTV may have also been subject to second-hand exposure, inhaling asbestos fibers that were brought home on the clothes of those who worked with the mineral.

Those who've already been diagnosed with the disease may need help in finding a doctor who is well-versed in the treatment of mesothelioma. For further assistance in finding a doctor or to speak with a Patient Advocate at the Mesothelioma Center about other related issues, please call (800) 615-2270.

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