Michigan Mesothelioma and Asbestos Exposure Risks

Michigan has several deposits of natural asbestos, most around the towns of Marquette, Negaunee and Ishpeming. Other deposits have been found in the areas of Norway, Niagara and Iron Mountain. From these mines, all forms of asbestos were discovered. Additional deposits in L'Anse, Copper City and Allouez were found to have specific and limited types of asbestos. Miners in the taconite and iron mines of Michigan's Upper Peninsula also likely came in contact with natural asbestos as well.

Michigan workers in five plants processed 206,055 tons of asbestos-contaminated vermiculite from Libby, Montana from 1966 through 1988. The waste was dumped in landfills and placed in piles where children played. Some of the debris was even distributed free to the public for their use in driveways and gardens. The plant often ran day and night, and asbestos continuously spilled from its smoke stacks. The highest concentration was in the Dearborn plant, where employees, as well as their families, were placed in danger of asbestos exposure. It is suspected that the material still can be found in nearby soil.

At Risk Occupations and Locations in Michigan

At one time, Detroit was the center of the country's car manufacturing industry. There are countless parts of the auto-production process that involve asbestos, although gaskets and brake linings are most widely known asbestos-contaminated products. Therefore, Ford Motors ranks high on the list of potentially harmful work locations for all employees directly involved with auto production. Other culprits are the McLeod Steel foundry, Sunoil refinery and Lakeside Refining.

Welders, boilermakers, and steel workers of all classifications could have been placed at risk. Surprisingly, other businesses in the state have been noted with high asbestos containment - those manufacture consumer ingestible products, including the Anheuser-Busch Brewery, Kellogg's and Parke-Davis pharmaceuticals. Within these companies, assembly line workers in all buildings faced asbestos exposure risks.

There are other employers whose asbestos use may have jeopardized their workers as well: Bay City Power, Conventional Powerhouse, Kalamazoo Power, Stevensville Atomic Powerhouse, St. Claire Powerhouse, Palisades Nuclear, Midland Nuclear, Fermi 2 Nuclear, Enrico Nuclear, and Cooks Nuclear are all power plants in the state, and the chemical plant in Muskegon also utilized asbestos.

Shipyards (such as Defoe Shipbuilding Company) which handled the carriers into the Great Lakes were known to employ vast amounts of asbestos. Fibers have appeared in lungs of ship fitters and maintenance workers just as they have in shipbuilding facilities across the world.

Finally, ICMS (Bridgeman), the University of Detroit, and the River Rouge Stadium were also known to have substantial amount of asbestos on premises.

Asbestos Related Deaths in Michigan

In 1999 Michigan reported 69 mesothelioma deaths. Michigan ranks 12th for mesothelioma cases and mortality rank of 38th in the country for the cancer.

Legal Resources for Michigan Residents

In 1986, the Michigan Department of Labor & Economic Growth Asbestos Program was established to ensure proper training and removal methods, compliant with government rules. The state does apply special regulations concerning rules of discovery to engineers, architects, surveyors, and contractors. The Michigan Supreme Court, as of 2006, implemented prohibitions regarding courts "bundling" asbestos-related cases, so every case is now tried separately. In 2003, Michigan crated the "inactive asbestos docket," which increased efficiency in handling the state's lawsuits concerning asbestos cases. It was a national model for assuring trials to the most ill plaintiffs prior to those who did not yet suffer physical symptoms. Another purpose of the establishment was to reduce the number of bankruptcy filings and preserve monetary assets for those who truly suffered.

In 2001 and 2002, there were a flood of asbestos-related lawsuits against Ford Motor, General Motors and Daimler Chrysler. Chrysler's cases reached 3,500 a month, up from the normal 175. At one point, a jury awarded a $53 million verdict against the three companies and several brake makers, and it was considered to be the highest asbestos settlement to one individual. Ford's plaintiffs were seeking $1.7 billion in damages, and GM was paying an annual $10 million to defense lawyers. It was estimated that the big three's 20,000 current lawsuits would cost $320 million to defend, and brake suppliers Delphi Corp., Dana Corp. and Honeywell International Corp. also faced countless lawsuits in the intervening years.

While the Environmental Protection Agency was investigating asbestos exposure in the public areas of Michigan, the Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine of Wayne State University established The National Center for Vermiculite and Asbestos-Related Cancers. (Vermiculite is the ore that has been known to contain asbestos in its natural state.) The Detroit facility is located in the Karmanos Cancer Institute, and serves a need to address public health concerning early diagnosis and treatment. New blood tests await trial which may identify mesothelioma much earlier than present methods allow.

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