> Asbestos Exposure > Asbestos In Your Area > Utah (UT)

Occupations and Environmental Areas at Risk

Mining, one of Utah's most prosperous occupations, placed many workers at risk for inhaling asbestos. Utah's asbestos mines were evenly scattered, with three mines in the southwestern corner and others throughout the remainder of the state.

Miners who directly handled asbestos often used rough techniques to remove the mineral from the earth, releasing the fibers into the air where they could be inhaled. However, even workers who did not come in contact with asbestos in the mines may have inhaled the mineral when they operated asbestos-insulated mining equipment.

Workers at power plants and oil refineries, which were prominent across Utah, were also occupationally exposed to asbestos. These facilities commonly used asbestos insulation on their machinery, and workers risked inhaling the fibers when the operated, installed or repaired equipment.

Jobsites with Known Asbestos Exposure

Tremolite and actinolite asbestos fibers were present in a number of mines in Utah. Short-fiber chrysotile asbestos was also found alongside tremolite at the Big Pass Group mines in Beaver County.

The Tremolite No. 1 Mine was the state's only mine dedicated specifically to asbestos, but the fibers were also found in calcite and marble mines. Asbestos-contaminated mines in Utah included Highland Boy Mine, the Pack Rat Tremolite Prospect and the King David Mine.

Power plants also were significant sources of asbestos exposure. Workers at the following facilities may have inhaled asbestos during their career:

Additionally, four vermiculite refineries processed asbestos-contaminated vermiculite from Libby, Montana. Three of these sites were in Salt Lake City, while the fourth was located in Richfield.

Other locations where asbestos has been found:

• Geneva Steel Mill
• Metropolitan Hall of Justice
• Salt Lake City Circuit Court
• Salt Lake City District Court
• Salt Lake Metro Jail

Vermiculite Intermountain/Intermountain Products

For more than 40 years, asbestos from W.R. Grace's vermiculite mine in Libby, Montana, was processed at adjacent facilities in Salt Lake City. These plants, Vermiculite Intermountain and Intermountain Products, were located right next to Utah Power and Light. Utah Power and Light went on to purchase part of the former Vermiculite Intermountain facility, which ceased operation in 1986. Intermountain Products closed down the following year.

Soil and gravel at the Utah Power and Light facility parcel (now owned by PacifiCorp) was found to contain the asbestos.  In 2004 a 10-week abatement project was launched by the EPA. The station remained open and employees continued to work through the renovations, and no public health hazard remains.

Asbestos Lawsuits in Utah

In 1993 an asbestos lawsuit reached the Utah Supreme Court when judges determined that compensation could only be awarded to plaintiffs who had developed asbestos-related diseases. The lawsuit, which had been filed against Mountain Fuel Supply Company by a group of construction workers, was originally dismissed. Later, the Utah Supreme Court determined that the company was responsible to pay for medical monitoring costs for their former employees.

In 2010 a Salt Lake City jury awarded a mesothelioma patient more than $5.2 million in damages, an amount the lead attorney called "the largest asbestos verdict ever in Utah or the surrounding states." The plaintiff, a woman who was exposed to asbestos while working on home renovation projects with her father, was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2007. The defendants, including Georgia Pacific, Hamilton Materials and Union Carbide, were found to have produced "defectively designed" asbestos-contaminated products.

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