Tacoma Dry Dock Shipyard
Todd Tacoma Dry Dock (center) amidst cluster of Commencement Bay piers.The Tacoma Todd Dry Dock (or more commonly, the Tacoma Dry Dock) was planned primarily as only a repair facility. But when William S. Todd took over operation of the site in 1917, Todd first had to fulfill 15 orders for naval vessels. From the beginning, ship building and construction remained elemental to the site's activities. And regardless of the varied ownership, locals in the area still referred to the location on Blair Waterway as "the Dry Dock." In 1941, Todd sold a half interest in the Tacoma Dry Dock operation, to a wing of Henry Kaiser's shipbuilding operations. Officially, the new company was then named Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding.
Unfortunately, in their rush to build warships, and then to repair and salvage them, there were also heavy costs to Tacoma Dry Dock workers. One of the most telling has been the development of asbestos-related illnesses. Because of the variety of types of asbestos products (more than 3,000 used in shipyards), most workers before 1969 never learned of the many dangers that awaited them decades later by working in the Tacoma Dry Dock. Recent medical studies suggest that, nationally, as many as 11 million sailors and civilians were exposed to dangerous asbestos fibers from 1940 to 1970. The Tacoma Dry Dock (then the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Yard) employed more than 33,000 employees at its peak production during World War II.
With Commencement Bay's designation as a polluted Superfund site, even more attention has focused on these past shipbuilding dangers, including the tremendous amounts of asbestos used throughout the Commencement Bay waterfront.
Navy Mandated Asbestos Use
Virtually all of the ships constructed for the U.S. Navy or designed for commercial use in the 1940s had large amounts of asbestos. Cataloguing the ships manufactured and serviced at the Tacoma Dry Dock helps reveal just how many companies, often refitted under Navy rules, which encouraged the use of certain building practices that relied on asbestos. Tacoma Dry Dock was involved, for example, in manufacturing two ships for the Alaska Steamship Company, in 1921 and 1923 (the Kennecott and Alaska, respectively). The Kennecott wrecked in 1923, but the Alaska was one of 12 steamship boats that were taken by the U.S. Navy for military use during WWII.
Although many of the earlier craft made at the Tacoma shipyard had limited life left by the beginning of World War II, the urgency of the times led to their intense use, and heavy losses, until a few years after the ending of WWII, when many of the Tacoma Dry Dock ships were finally scrapped. This list included the 7,600-ton vessels Omaha, Milwaukee, Cincinnati and Alaska. At their scrapping, little attention was paid to the asbestos these ships contained.
Tacoma Dry Dock and Asbestos Lawsuits
Over the decades, Todd Pacific Shipyards, as owner of the Tacoma Dry Dock and later shipyards in the Tacoma area, has faced dozens of claims for injuries caused by asbestos. One case involved Gerald Black, a Washington state man who worked for Todd as a welder from 1942 through most of 1945. Black filed a claim under the longshore and harbor workers act (LHWCA), for asbestos-related injuries. Todd Shipyards argued that Black's later jobs, and not his shipyard work, probably caused Black's injury. A judge disagreed, and ordered LHWCA payments to Black.
Gerald Black testified that the asbestos in the 1940s yard "was all over. You had to wallow in it to do your welding, everything." Black reported that asbestos material was tossed around the shipyard "like snowballs," indicating the prevalence and lack of safety measures taken in Todd shipyards.
Past Occupational and Safety Issues
Although it took the Occupational and Health Safety Administration (OSHA) until 1971 to regulate workplace asbestos, the effects of asbestos exposure were well known long before then. For example, insurance companies in America refused to insure shipyard workers for asbestos-related illnesses after 1918.
In 1999, the Navy again dealt with the particular risks of handling asbestos on retired ships, so common to many of the ships from the Tacoma Dry Dock era:
050-7.2.7 Handling and Removal of Asbestos Materials. Past naval shipbuilding programs have included extensive use of asbestos materials for shipboard installations such as thermal insulation and deck tile. Occasionally, shipboard stores and consumable supplies left on inactivated ships include asbestos materials. It is incumbent on all personnel to familiarize themselves with the hazards of asbestos materials and safety procedures as cited herein. Commanding Officers will ensure that all hands are indoctrinated in safe handling procedures for asbestos materials.
Tacoma Dry Dock's Superfund Designation
EPA-provided aerial view of Commencement Bay and its inland waterways.Despite its reputation as a polluted site, some civic leaders resisted the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) 1983 Superfund designation, and worked for more local controls. Many local leaders viewed the Superfund designation as a significant blow to the area's economy, because it might have discouraged private investment. The extent of the Bay's pollution, however, was impossible to ignore: Commencement Bay was placed on the National Priorities List, meaning it was among the nation's most polluted sites. Contaminated sediment was found throughout all the waterways, including heavy metals (zinc, lead, mercury, cadmium, copper, nickel), and both high and low PAHs, phthalates, and extensive, cancer-causing PCBs.
Part of the solution to the Superfund listing, as an economic roadblock, however, was met when much of the polluted area, including the historic Tacoma Dry Dock, was acquired by the Tacoma Port Authority's Commencement Bay Industrial Development District. So the cleaning up of the remaining asbestos contamination may see some delays, but the Superfund designation should secure eventual cleanup.
If you were exposed to asbestos at Tacoma Dry Dock or any other shipyard, fill out the form on this page to receive a free informational packet. If you've been diagnosed with mesothelioma and would like assistance finding a qualified specialist near you, use the Mesothelioma Center's Doctor Match Program.
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