Asbestos in Mississippi

Occupations and Environmental Areas at Risk

Because Mississippi borders the Gulf of Mexico, a number of state residents historically parlayed that location into employment as oil refinery workers and as shipyard workers. Both occupations are traditionally high-risk ones for exposure to asbestos, a known cause of mesothelioma cancer. Other riskier occupations for exposure include:

• Boiler operators
• Carpenters
• Chemical workers
• Demolition workers
• Dock workers
• Electrical plant operators
• Electricians
• Gas fitters
• Oil refinery workers
• Plumbers
• Shipyard workers
• Welders

Jobsites with Known Asbestos Exposure

• Armstrong Cork Company
• Ingalls Shipbuilding

Asbestos, Mississippi and Hurricane Katrina

Mississippi was one of two states affected dramatically and directly by Hurricane Katrina. On Aug. 29, 2005, The Category 5 storm wiped out coastal areas of the gulf town of Biloxi, Mississippi, washing away some casino boats and repositioning others. Flood waters erased entire homes and wrecked others to the point that cleanup was a concern.

Because of the age of some of the homes and buildings that were damaged, asbestos was a concern during the cleanup. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) monitored asbestos levels found in some debris and in dust particles after the storm. Both levels were well below levels deemed as hazardous. NIOSH did identify asbestos shingles in the debris as a possible contaminant, but it did not measure the concentration of it.

The aftermath of the storm, however, prompted officials to say that information about asbestos and other toxic substances needed to be more widely circulated among local homeowners, business owners, volunteers and rescue and relief personnel.

Mississippi Asbestos Lawsuits

Mississippi was home to the largest U.S. jury award in an asbestos-related case. A record $322 million was awarded to Thomas "Tony" Brown of Brookhaven, Mississippi.

Brown worked as a roughneck mixing mud on oil drilling rigs from 1979 to the mid-1980s. From there, he said he inhaled asbestos dust while mixing the mud manufactured by Union Carbide Corp. and sold by Chevron Phillips Chemicals. At 30 years old, Brown contracted asbestosis, scarring of the lungs, forcing him to breath with an oxygen tank 24 hours a day.

Attorneys for Chevron Phillips and Union Carbide claimed that Brown could not prove negligence or a harmful amount of exposure. It was a winning argument in many previous cases in the state related to asbestos. But the jury found otherwise and awarded $22 million in actual damages and $300 million in punitive damages. However, the judge in the case was removed following the landmark verdict because he failed to disclose that his parents had been involved in asbestos litigation that also involved Union Carbide. In December 2011, a new judge threw out the record verdict and ordered a new trial for mid-2012.

In another case, a federal jury awarded more than $1 million in damages to one plaintiff – former Ingalls Shipbuilding worker James Jackson.

One of the earliest cases that named Ingalls as a defendant in an asbestos related case was Overly, et al., v. Ingalls Shipbuilding. Former Westinghouse employee Robert Overly, who spent time repairing ships at Ingalls while traveling to Pascagoula, Mississippi, won $465,000 in economic damages and $400,000 in non-economic damages in the case. The damages were later reduced, but Ingalls acknowledged liability in the case and was assigned fault.