Asbestos In Your Area

Asbestos in the State of Georgia

Asbestos Exposure in Georgia

Asbestos products will cease to be manufactured, distributed and used by 2010 thanks to Georgia Senator Johnny Isakson who crossed the aisle to stand with Washington State senator Patty Murray and Barbara Boxer, Environment and Public Works Committee chair, who fought to pass S.742, the Ban Asbestos in America Act.

Asbestos is a major issue in Georgia with naturally occurring asbestos located in the southern Appalachian region. This region dates back 300 million years and provides an ideal condition for forming asbestiform minerals. There are numerous asbestos deposits throughout the northern part of Georgia, most of which are located near the borders of North Carolina and South Carolina. There are others that run south east from the northern part of Georgia, through Atlanta and to the Westpoint Lake area. There is also an asbestos deposit near Milledgeville, 50 miles north east of Macon, Georgia.

At Risk Occupations and Locations in Georgia

Asbestos has been in use in Georgia just as long as everywhere else in the United States and is found in similar places as other states as well - primarily in odler homes and public buildings as well as numerous industrial settings throughout Georgia. However, the power plants in Cartersville, Rome, Macon and Waynesboro, as well as the US Army Base in Fort Benning and the Atlanta Journal building are primary asbestos-laden locations in Georgia. Georgia-Pacific, a major corporation in the state, has been found liable in many court cases for asbestos exposure causing illness. Georgia-Pacific operated paper and pulp mills as well as manufacturing building materials that contained asbestos.

Of course, the towns and areas in Georgia that are near and around the natural asbestiform mineral deposits throughout the state are also at risk for asbestos exposure.

Asbestos-Related Deaths in Georgia

Since 1979, there have been 549 people who have perished with asbestos related diseases in Georgia. 319 of these victims died from mesothelioma - a rare cancer that is only caused by asbestos exposure. The majority of deaths occurred in Fulton County, with 38 deaths from mesothelioma and six from asbestosis. Chatham County experienced 26 deaths from asbestosis and 16 from mesothelioma, and DeKalb County had 15 asbestosis deaths and 18mesothelioma deaths recorded. Though these three counties were the worst hit with mesothelioma and asbestosis victims, not a single county in Georgia was spared from asbestos-exposure related disease deaths.

Since 1979, 3,053 Georgians have filed court cases for asbestos exposure related injuries, illnesses and deaths.

Legal Resources for Georgia Residents

The statute of limitations in the state of Georgia for personal injury cases and wrongful death cases is two years. This time limit begins when the problem was discovered or should have been discovered. Wrongful death cases time limit begins with the date of death. Until 2005, Georgia had no specific laws or statutes regarding asbestos. Legislation was passed in 2005 that limited the mesothelioma lawsuits that would be seen by the court system. The legislation limits the mesothelioma and asbestos related lawsuits only to victims who suffered or are suffering physical ailments or diseases that are the result of asbestos exposure. What this means for the people of Georgia is that exposure to asbestos alone is not adequate grounds for filing a lawsuit against a company - it means that the victims must be physically ill from asbestos exposure (such as having mesothelioma or asbestosis). This law only applies to new mesothelioma and asbestos cases and does not affect those cases already filed with the courts.

To date, the courts in Georgia have been divided on the consensus of wtherh they are pro victim or not in mesothelioma and asbestos lawsuits. Cases that arise from asbestos related diseases such as mesothelioma can be consolidated to speed the court process up for the victims seeking damages. However, even with the new legislation that prevents someone from filing a lawsuit until the damage has been proven, there are safeguards in place in the Georgia law that extend the statute of limitations to account for the legislation, meaning that victims time limit does not start from when they are sick and diagnosed with mesothelioma, but rather when they can prove that asbestos exposure was the cause of their disease and ailments.

A 1982 ruling in Savannah granted the consolidation of four asbestos victims into one trial, in order to speed up the court process. However this pro-victim ruling is balanced out with a 2005 case of CSX Transportation Inc. versus Williams et al, where the courts decision was the CSX Transportation was only responsible for the damages to people who were employed by the company. This meant that CSX was not responsible for damages to the family members who were exposed to asbestos secondarily. In many cases, family members are exposed to asbestos because the fibers cling to the hair, clothing, skin and shoes of workers. This court ruling set the stage for family members of employees who have contracted asbestosis or mesothelioma as the result of second hand asbestos exposure from their loved ones who did work for CSX Transportation - they are not eligible to receive compensation for damages due to their secondary exposure.

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