Asbestos In Shipyards

Groton - US Naval Submarine Base

The US Naval Submarine Base located on the Thames River in Groton and New London Connecticut is known as "The Submarine Capital Of The World", serving as home port for 17 attack submarines and as home base for over 21,000 active duty and civilian personnel and their dependents.

The land upon which the base is situated was first given to the Navy in 1868, although the first facilities weren't built there until 1872 with the creation of a coal fueling station for small vessels of the Atlantic Fleet. In 1915, during the run up to WWI, the Navy began to base submarines at the station; and it became a major training center for the submarine service following WWI. The first diesel powered submarine was commissioned at Groton in 1912, and the first nuclear powered submarine, the "Nautilus", was commissioned in 1954; it is stationed at the base to this day and is open to the public for tours as a National Historic Landmark.

Currently, the base includes 687 acres and is home port for a number of Los Angeles, Seawolf, and Virginia class ships, totaling 21 in all; the New London facility also serves as home port for the navy's deep sea nuclear research submersible, the NR-1. Submarine service training schools serving the bulk of the Navy's training needs are located on the base. Personnel in the Submarine Service take routine training runs from Groton, and longer tours of duty are based from here as well.

The adjacent shipyard operated by Electric Boat is a principal builder of submarines for the Navy and works closely with the base on research and development. In common with many shipyards operating prior to the introduction of modern safety standards, workers at the Electric Boat facility were routinely exposed to asbestos, which was commonly used as fireproofing and insulation material for the boilers and steam pipes on their submarines. The enclosed quarters on submarines increased the risk to workers (and later sailors from the base ) breathing asbestos fibers; in addition, structures on the base itself have also included asbestos as an insulating material. Workers were rarely issued protective equipment such as gloves and respirators to protect them from asbestos fibers. Exposure to asbestos fibers has been established as a strong precursor to the development of lung cancer, asbestosis ( a crippling inflammation of the lungs), and mesothelioma, a virulent cancer of the pleural membranes of the chest and abdomen.

Despite research dating from the late 1800s that showed a link between asbestos and various illnesses, and despite legislation and legal actions resulting from that research that date from the 1920s, industries were slow to change working conditions at their facilities and exposure to asbestos continued. Tens of thousands of deaths and illnesses of former shipyard workers and sailors have been attributed to asbestosis, mesothelioma, and other conditions related to asbestos exposure. Over the last thirty years, legal actions related to these damages have resulted in many hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of jury awards and settlements.

The facilities in Groton have been at the center of a number of asbestos and mesothelioma related legal actions. Anecdotal evidence from workers indicate that lung cancers, mesothelioma, and respiratory ailments were common among those who worked in areas of high asbestos exposure, and medical evidence supports that. Although the company stopped using asbestos-based products in the 1970s, suits relating to past exposure are still being filed, and settlements and judgments totaling millions of dollars have been awarded over the years, both to past employees, service members and their heirs.

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