Asbestos in West Virginia

Occupations and Areas at Risk

With 117 coal seams in West Virginia, the state's most notable asbestos threat was its mining industry. Many West Virginia mines were owned by Union Carbide, a company that has been heavily involved in asbestos lawsuits. Miners, contractors and refinery workers were all at risk of inhaling asbestos as coal was pulled from the earth and processed. Crushing, grinding, cutting or roughly handling asbestos-containing coal placed workers at risk for inhaling or ingesting fibers that were sent into the air.

Not all coal mines were home to asbestos, but mining equipment posed an additional threat, even where asbestos did not naturally occur with coal. Brake linings, welding blankets, pipe insulation and transit panels from mines have all been found to contain asbestos. Once mined, some of the coal is distributed to in-state power plants, such as Dominion Virginia Power, Allegheny Energy Supply and Monongahela Power Company. These plants once used asbestos-containing equipment to create a fine powder out of coal.

Weirton Steel, now the state's largest industrial employer, utilized asbestos as a thermal insulator for their metalworking machinery and consequently exposed many employees to asbestos. Norfolk Southern Railway, which operated throughout the state, also incorporated asbestos into parts used to build the trains and the railroad tracks. Both Norfolk Southern Railroad and Weirton Steel have been listed as defendants in multiple asbestos lawsuits.

In July 2011, contractors found asbestos under the floor tiles in Clay County's Lizemore Elementary School. The 59-year-old school was inspected in the 1980s, but the asbestos that was found under the floors had been covered over rather than removed. The school eventually paid Dan Hill Construction approximately $9,000 to remove the 1,782 square feet of asbestos-contaminated tile.

Asbestos Removal in West Virginia

Currently, West Virginia's Radiation, Toxics and Indoor Air Division regulates any projects that involve asbestos, including asbestos removal in homes or factories. They also oversee asbestos safety plans in schools through the AHERA program. Additional services conducted within their asbestos program include:

• Investigating reports of asbestos
• Inspecting and authorizing asbestos abatement projects
• Licensing future asbestos abatement workers
• Running public education and asbestos outreach programs

The laws specify that anyone who engineers, supervises or works on an official asbestos abatement project must possess specific licenses distributed by the government. The state's revenue from licensing fees is then used for education and outreach purposes.

Asbestos Litigation in West Virginia

West Virginia courts have received a number of asbestos-related cases. In 2009, the son of a deceased asbestos worker for Allied Chemical named 79 defendants in a wrongful death claim. The companies included 3M Company, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, Union Carbide Chemical and Zenith Pumps, among others.

Another recent asbestos case was filed in 2011 by a mesothelioma patient who was exposed to asbestos in his career as an ironworker and coal miner. He worked with asbestos for 45 years and named more than 120 companies in his lawsuit. As a non-smoker, he attributed his mesothelioma to former asbestos manufacturers, including Allied Chemical Corporation, General Electric Company, UB West Virginia, Inc. and West Virginia Electric Supply.

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