Consolidated Steel Shipyards, also known as Consolidated Steel Corporation, was located in Texas and California and build ships for the military. It was a heavy user of asbestos-containing products during WWII. Sadly, it left many shipyard workers fighting for their lives with mesothelioma and asbestosis from asbestos exposure. (mesothelioma.net)
Consolidated Steel Shipyards employed approximately 30,000 shipyard workers and related employees at its peak. But the shipyard itself only operated until 1945. But during its operation, many workers were highly exposed to asbestos and did not know it.
Consolidated Steel Shipyards and Asbestos Exposure
The shipyard workers with the highest risk of asbestos exposure were insulation installers. But many other shipyard workers were at risk too:
- Pipefitters
- Construction workers
- General laborers
- Electricians
- Carpenters
For decades, asbestos was used at Consolidated Steel Shipyards for insulation, pipes, wiring, machinery, construction materials and much more. It was difficult to locate materials at this shipyard that did not contain asbestos.
Insulation was the major product that contained asbestos at the shipyard. Insulation full of asbestos was used all over Consolidated Steel Shipyards, including walls and pipes, construction materials, wiring, equipment, machinery, and much more.
After several years of working at the shipyard, a few workers started to develop diseases related to asbestos exposure, such as malignant mesothelioma and lung cancer.
Asbestos fibers, which are usually undetectable to the human eye, are very easy to breathe in or swallow. These fibers then get lodged in delicate body tissues and are impossible to dislodge. Over time, the body is scarred by the billions of asbestos particles, which may eventually turn into cancer.
Shipyard Workers File Asbestos Lawsuits
Many former shipyard workers who wanted financial justice for their asbestos-related illnesses filed the largest mesothelioma lawsuits against the manufacturers who made and sold the asbestos-containing materials to shipyards all over the US.
Asbestos manufacturer John Manville was one of many companies that supplied the toxic substance to Consolidated Steel Shipyards. At first, Johns Manville denied responsibility for making workers ill; it claimed ignorance of asbestos dangers entirely.
SEE ALSO: Compensation Timeline for Asbestos Death Claims Payout
A representative of the company even found scientific data that said there was not enough information to conclude that asbestos was dangerous. Of course, time has proven that data was completely wrong.
Later, Johns Manville lost thousands of asbestos lawsuits to people who developed mesothelioma while working at shipyards. The company had to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Eventually, Johns Manville started an asbestos trust fund to handle all of the asbestos lawsuit after death cases it was facing.
Summary
If you or a loved one worked at the Consolidated Steel Shipyards, you or they could have been exposed to high levels of asbestos. In some cases, such exposure can cause terrible health problems, including mesothelioma, asbestosis, or another asbestos-related health problem. If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma and worked at the Consolidated Steel Shipyards, please consult with a licensed mesothelioma attorney today.
Your lawyer can review your employment history and medical files and determine if you have a strong case. Mesothelioma attorneys have access to databases of companies that provided asbestos-containing materials to various shipyards at various points of time. In most cases, it is possible to track down the companies that exposed you to asbestos. If so, you may be able to obtain compensation for your lost earnings, medical bills, and pain and suffering.