Asbestos in Maryland
ranking in U.S. for mesothelioma & asbestosis deaths
Maryland is home to more than 20 naturally occurring asbestos deposits, including four areas that have a history of being mined. The state, which has a border along the Atlantic Ocean, is also home to a handful of shipyards, some of which have known issues with asbestos exposure. And Baltimore, Maryland, thanks in large part to its role as a thriving shipyard and steel mill city during and after World War II, saw many of its residents work for power plants, chemical plants and construction companies in blue-collar jobs regarded as high risk for exposure to asbestos and later the development of mesothelioma cancer. In addition, Maryland courts are considered favorable to plaintiffs in civil actions, even in mass tort cases like asbestos litigation. Although state lawmakers created an inactive docket for asbestos cases in which plaintiffs do not have enough merit to file a claim, the process is streamlined to help valid cases move through the court system.
Treatment Centers In Maryland
Mesothelioma and Asbestosis Deaths, 1999-2008
- 482mesothelioma deaths in Maryland
- 131asbestosis deaths in Maryland
- 613total mesothelioma and asbestosis deaths
Occupations at Risk
Shipyard employees, construction workers, steel mill workers, foundry workers and those employed at sheet-metal related jobs are among the occupations at risk for asbestos exposure in Maryland. In 1983, Maryland was the first state in the country to pass requirements for abatement contractors or demolition contractors involving asbestos. Training and licensing are part of the standards, which lawmakers have not updated significantly since 1990. Other occupations at risk include the following:
- Automobile mechanics
- Chemical plant workers
- Construction workers
- Flooring installers
- Military service personnel
- Power plant workers
- Roofers
- Sheet metal workers
- Shipyard workers
- Steel mill workers
- Tile installers
Jobsites with Known Asbestos Exposure Jobsites- Anchor Packing Company
- Eastern Stainless Steel
- Curtis Bay Shipyard
- Foreign Motors
- Key Highway Shipyard
- Porter Hayden Company
- Bethlehem Steel
- Baltimore Marine Industries
- Fairfield Shipyard
- Maryland Drydock Shipyard
- Patuxent River Naval Air Station
Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center
Maryland is home to one of the country's top cancer centers, the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. Not only is the hospital a hub for research for almost every type of cancer, but it is also one of a few treatment facilities for mesothelioma patients. About 5 percent of the patients of the hospital's Lung and Esophageal Cancer Program have an asbestos-related disease.
Asbestos Lawsuits
A Baltimore jury awarded the family of former automobile mechanic Keith Grewe $8,069,934 following his death from mesothelioma in 1993. Grewe worked at Foreign Motors for 36 years, routinely repairing and replacing brakes and clutches, parts that Ford Motor Co. acknowledged contained asbestos. Ford lost its appeal, in which it argued Grewe was previously exposed to asbestos as a sheet-metal worker in the mid-1950s and while working with asbestos-containing joint compound in the mid- and late 1960s as a home remodeler.
Maryland Shipyards and Asbestos
Shipyards are part of the state fabric of Maryland, but that core industry also delivered workers the chance to be exposed to asbestos fibers known to be prevalent in the shipyard industry. Contractors who supplied parts to the U.S. Navy and built vessels made full use of asbestos-laden parts and products during the World War II era, then considered routine. Boilers and pipes were wrapped with asbestos lagging or covered in asbestos-containing paint to minimize heat. Almost all the insulation on a ship contained asbestos. The Curtis Bay Coast Guard Yard and the Maryland Shipbuilding and Drydock are two yards that contaminated workers with asbestos.
At the Curtis Bay yard, asbestos was confirmed in Fleet Hall, a barracks that was constructed with asbestos shingles on its roof. The yard's salvage lot was an active scrap metal yard since the 1940s and was also found to be a location that was used for dumping asbestos debris.
In addition, a burn pit near the salvage lot that was active from the late 1940s through 1963, was where used batteries, oil, scrap metal, liquids and asbestos-containing materials were disposed of or incinerated. Areas around both sites were used as dumping grounds, and officials fear asbestos materials were disposed of there as well.
The Curtis Bay Coast Guard Yard was designated a Superfund site by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2008, although asbestos was a minor part of that designation.
At Maryland Shipbuilding and Drydock, workers who used asbestos-containing parts from Garlock later won lawsuits against the company after they developed asbestos illnesses. One plaintiff was Paul J. Wilson, an electrician whose work history included stints at Bethlehem Steel's Key Highway Shipyard and Maryland Shipbuilding and Drydock.
Asbestos Litigation in Maryland
For years, Maryland was a wasteland for civil lawsuits. The state's court system was one of the nation's annual leaders in inactive dockets. Courts in Baltimore were assigned all of the state's asbestos cases, and a significant number of them sat and sat. Recently, though, state leaders took advantage of emerging technologies and grew better at case management. And asbestos cases started moving through the docket. Maryland does have a statutory cap on non-economic damages, although it is not retroactive and does not apply in lawsuits that prove exposure to asbestos prior to the enactment of the cap.
Maryland courts tend to lean favorably to those who claim they developed mesothelioma and other asbestos related illnesses after being secondarily exposed to asbestos. The Maryland Court of Appeals upheld a 2002 case (Georgia-Pacific Corp. v. Pransky) in which a woman was awarded $9 million by a jury. The woman got mesothelioma from being exposed to an asbestos joint compound that her father used to make repairs to their home basement. In a second case, Anchor Packing v. Grimshaw, a woman was awarded $3.21 million after she testified she developed an asbestos related disease from asbestos fibers off her stepfather's clothes.
-
05/24/2012 -
One of the biggest asbestos-abatement jobs ever done in Buffalo, New York, is being handled now by a local company with a history of asbestos-related ..
-
05/23/2012 -
A new class of anti-cancer drugs is nearing the clinical trial phase and may eventually be available for treatment of aggressive diseases like pancrea ..
-
05/23/2012 -
School districts all across America have been wrestling in recent years with the task of removing and disposing of toxic asbestos from older buildings ..
© 2012 The Mesothelioma Center |
Last Modified Thursday, February 23rd, 2012 | Disclaimer | Privacy Policy |
The information provided by The Mesothelioma Center is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
Sponsored by a law firm concentrating in asbestos litigation, The Peterson Firm, LLP with offices at 1350 Connecticut Ave, NW, Fifth Floor, Washington DC 20036.
