Delaware is a tiny state that is known for its corporation registry and for being home to the Dupont empire. It is also a densely populated state with an established port and a fair number of refineries that handle the crude oil in the region. It is industrial institutions like refineries and power plants, chemical plants and fertilizer mills that are known for exposing their employees to asbestos during the course of the working day.
The reason for the exposure to asbestos is that many of these facilities were built before 1975 when asbestos was a popular insulation material that served to reduce the heat in structures where heat related processes were carried out. Some Delaware workers probably found themselves wearing asbestos clothing as protection from excessive heat.
Delaware Jobsite Asbestos Exposure
As it turns out, workers needed more protection from the asbestos than from the heat. Asbestos insulation or woven fiber such as clothing material or caulking or any other sort of asbestos product will give off tiny asbestos fibers when the asbestos is worn out or disintegrating. When inhaled those asbestos fibers can wreak havoc on a person's health.
The list of jobsites below is locations in Delaware that probably exposed workers to asbestos during the course of a workday. Many of them have been modernized and cleaned up, but those who once worked there are still in danger of asbestos-related afflictions. The worst of these is malignant mesothelioma, a deadly cancer that impacts the membrane that covers the lungs, the heart, and the abdominal cavity. The disease often takes twenty years or more to appear after the asbestos exposure occurred, which is why so many retired people are now showing symptoms of mesothelioma.
| ATLAS CHEMICAL PROD CORP | ATLAS POINT | DE |
| ATLAS POWDER CO - HYDROGEN PLANT | ATLAS POINT | DE |
| M. W. KELLOGG CO. | ATLAS POINT | DE |
| O A NEWTON & SON CO - FEED MILL | BRIDGEVILLE | DE |
| AIR REDUCTION CO INC | CLAYMONT | DE |
| ALLIED CHEMICAL CORP. | CLAYMONT | DE |
| DELAWARE WORKS | CLAYMONT | DE |
| PHOENIX CITY STEEL | CLAYMONT | DE |
| SUN OIL COMPANY PLANT | CLAYMONT | DE |
| TEXAS COMPANY | CLAYMONT | DE |
| WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC CO. | CLAYMONT | DE |
| DELAWARE POWER & LIGHT CO | DELAWARE CITY | DE |
| GETTY OIL REFINERY | DELAWARE CITY | DE |
| MOTIVA ENTERPRISES | DELAWARE CITY | DE |
| STAUFFER CHEMICAL | DELAWARE CITY | DE |
| STAUFFER CHEMICAL CO | DELAWARE CITY | DE |
| TIDEWATER OIL CO. | DELAWARE CITY | DE |
| DOVER AIR FORCE BASE | DOVER | DE |
| GENERAL FOODS PLANT | DOVER | DE |
| KRAFT FOODS, INC. | DOVER | DE |
| MCKEE RUN ELECTRIC GEN STA | DOVER | DE |
| NEW DOVER HIGH SCHOOL | DOVER | DE |
| DELAWARE POWER & LIGHT CO | EDGEMOOR | DE |
| OCEANOGRAPHIC RESEARCH SITE | LEWES | DE |
| DELAWARE POWER & LIGHT CO | MILLSBORO | DE |
| ATLANTIC OIL | NEW CASTLE | DE |
| AVISUN CORP | NEW CASTLE | DE |
| CHRYSLER CORP | NEW CASTLE | DE |
| SUN OIL CO SUNOCO | NEW CASTLE | DE |
| CONTINENTAL DIAMOND FIBRE | NEWARK | DE |
| E. I. DUPONT DE NEMOURS & CO. | NEWARK | DE |
| ENGINEERING TEST CENTER | NEWARK | DE |
| HASKILL LAB | NEWARK | DE |
| KREBS PLANT | NEWARK | DE |
| NEW CENTRAL OFFICE BLDG | NEWARK | DE |
| UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE | NEWARK | DE |
| E. . DUPONT DE NEMOURS & CO. | NEWPORT | DE |
| KREBS PLANT | NEWPORT | DE |
| SUN OIL CHEMICAL PLANT | NORTH CLAYMONT | DE |
| GETTY OIL CO | REYBOLD | DE |
| OWENS CORNING FIBERGLASS | SAYREVILLE | DE |
| CATERPILLAR TRACTOR CO. | SEAFORD | DE |
| E. I. DUPONT DE NEMOURS & CO. | SEAFORD | DE |
| PFM CONSTRUCTION DIV | SEAFORD | DE |
| STATE CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTE | SMYRNA | DE |
| AMERICAN LIFE INSURANCE CO BLDG | WILMINGTON | DE |
| ATLAS POWDER COMPANY | WILMINGTON | DE |
| DELAWARE INSULATION CO. | WILMINGTON | DE |
| DU PONT | WILMINGTON | DE |
| EDGEMOOR | WILMINGTON | DE |
| FILM LAB. - EXPERIMENTAL STATION | WILMINGTON | DE |
| OLD BRAVO SHIPYARD - TEST CENTER | WILMINGTON | DE |
| TEXACO OIL | WILMINGTON | DE |
| TIDEWATER OIL CO. - BERLIN PLANT | WILMINGTON | DE |
Delaware Mortality Rates due to Asbestos Exposure
Despite its size Delaware has had its share of asbestos related deaths. According to a study released in 2004 Delaware had 169 deaths due to asbestosis, a disease caused when asbestos fibers scar the lungs. The study looked at the period between 1979 and 2000, a period of twenty years. Over that same period the mesothelioma deaths in Delaware fall somewhere in the range of 80 to 126. It is also probable that people who worked in these locations lived in surrounding states and so their deaths were recorded elsewhere.
If you have been employed at any one of these sites you should speak with your doctor about the health impact that asbestos can have. If you are a former employee of one of these businesses and have been diagnosed with mesothelioma or asbestos cancer, speak with an experienced attorney about your rights to compensation.
Cancer treatment in Delaware
The residents of Delaware have access to some excellent cancer treatment and research facilities in neighboring states. The National Cancer Institute has designated sixty four well known and established cancer facilities as cancer control centers; several of them are around Delaware though none is in the state itself:
Greenebaum Cancer Center
University of Maryland
22 South Greene Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21201
Tel: (410) 328-7904
Fax: (410) 328-3018
The Cancer Institute of New Jersey
Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
195 Little Albany Street
New Brunswick, New Jersey 08903-2681
Tel: (732) 235-8064
Fax: (732) 235-8094
Abramson Cancer Center
University of Pennsylvania
16th Floor Penn Tower
3400 Spruce Street
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104
Tel: (215) 662-6065
Fax: (215) 349-5325
Fox Chase Cancer Center
333 Cottman Avenue
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19111
Tel: (215) 728-3636
Fax: (215) 728-2571
The Wistar Institute
3601 Spruce Street
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-4268
Tel: (215) 898-3926
Fx: (215) 573-2097
Kimmel Cancer Center
Thomas Jefferson University
233 South 10th Street
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107-5799
Tel: (215) 503-5692
Fax: (215) 503-9334


