Bloodworth Bond Shipyard
B. L. Bludworth built his first shipyard in Rockport, Texas in the 1870s. By 1905, the operation moved to Houston and the company's name became "Bludworth Bond" in honor of the founder's two grandsons, Harold Bludworth and L. M. Bond. The Texas City facility was acquired in 1986.
At the peak of their operations, the two shipyards employed roughly 300 people and earned combined revenues of $25 million per year. The Houston facility had three drydocks, wingwalls with lifting capacities of 1,200 tons and cranes and cherry pickers that could lift from 26,000 pounds to 70,000 pounds. The Texas City shipyard also had three drydocks which could perform repairs on vessels up to 425 feet long. Dockside repairs and conversions were performed at its 350-foot bulkhead in 28 feet of water.
Bloodworth Bond Shipyards (or Bludworth Bond Shipyards) were operated in both Houston and Texas City. These facilities specialized in vessel repair and conversion. In 1997, Harold Bludworth sold the two shipyards to Halter Marine Inc., a subsidiary of Halter Marine Group, Inc. Three years later, the shipyards were sold again to Bollinger Shipyards for $80 million. Harold Bludworth eventually opened a new marine repair facility, which he named Bludworth Bond since the name was no longer being used to designate the original shipyards.
Asbestos Exposure at the Bloodworth Bond Shipyard
Asbestos products were widely used in shipbuilding prior to the 1980s. Of all the occupations associated with shipyards and shipbuilding, ship maintenance may be the most hazardous in terms of asbestos exposure. When the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) began regulating asbestos use in the mid-1970s, the regulations only applied to new ships. However, there was no requirement to make older ships comply with the new asbestos standards. Consequently, well into the 1980s and 1990s, workers who overhauled older vessels could have been exposed to dangerous levels of asbestos.
Asbestos has many unique properties that make it seem like an ideal insulator. Asbestos is lightweight, resistant to fire and chemical corrosion, and a very poor conductor of electricity. Asbestos is also extremely hazardous to human health, linked to a variety of diseases such as malignant mesothelioma.
As shipyard employees took older vessels apart, Bloodworth Bond workers may have come into contact with large amounts of asbestos. Asbestos-containing insulation covered boilers, pumps, turbines and other engine-room equipment. Asbestos was also mixed as a reinforcing agent with cement, asphalt, plaster and other surfacing materials. Gaskets throughout the ship incorporated asbestos as well.
As these materials aged, asbestos fibers became increasingly friable; crumbling into a fine dust that workers might inadvertently inhale. Although current employees who work around toxic materials are likely to be issued facemasks and other protective gear, the risk of asbestos exposure still remains. Determining which products contain asbestos is difficult and often requires a professional and a testing lab.
Once asbestos dust is inhaled, the fibers that make up asbestos can become lodged in the lining of their pleural cavities. These microfibers cause changes that eventually develop into mesothelioma tumors and other asbestos-related diseases. Symptoms related to asbestos exposure typically have a very long latency period. There may be an interval as long as 50 years between the initial asbestos exposure and diagnosis of mesothelioma cancer.
Resources for Bloodworth Bond Shipyard Workers
If you have a history of occupational asbestos exposure, you should schedule regular visits with your physician and obtain chest X-rays, lung function tests or other pulmonary function examinations. Your doctor needs to know all the details of you asbestos exposure, no matter how brief.
While some asbestos-related diseases are dose-dependent, malignant mesothelioma has been known to develop in individuals whose initial asbestos exposure was very limited. Visit our Doctor Match Program page for assistance in finding a doctor near you. Those diagnosed with mesothelioma or lung cancer can request cancer support resources by filling out this form.
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© 2012 The Mesothelioma Center |
Last Modified Thursday, February 9th, 2012 | Disclaimer | Privacy Policy |
The information provided by The Mesothelioma Center is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
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