Florida has developed a number of industries that utilize asbestos products in their processing operations. There is also a processing plant in Tampa that manufactured insulation and other products from vermiculite. For years one of the major sources of vermiculite has been a mine in Libby, Montana that is now owned by W.R. Grace. The mineral from this mine has been found to contain substantial amounts of asbestos; over 100,000 tons of it was shipped to Tampa. The mineral is heated to a very high temperature in order to use it for manufacturing: vermiculite from Libby released asbestos fibers in plants across the country for decades.
Tampa’s vermiculite processing plant is not the only source of asbestos exposure in the state. There are a number of chemical plants and power plants that certainly contained asbestos insulation at one time and perhaps still do. There are military installations and shipyards in Florida, as well as NASA’s facility for launching rockets for satellites and the manned spaceflight program. Florida has an extensive collection of power plants that provide electricity to the state and to the multistate grid in the area. The state has a wide assortment of potential asbestos contamination sites: as a result, Florida has one of the highest death rates from mesothelioma in the United States.
Florida Asbestos Exposure Jobsites
- Tampa Electric Power Plant - Apollo Beach, FL
- Armour Chemical Plant - Bartow, FL
- W.R. Grace Phosphate Plant - Bartow, FL
- Florida Power Corporation (Progress Energy) - Bayboro, FL
- Florida Crushed Stone Company - Brooksville, FL
- St Regis Paper Company - Cantonment, FL
- Florida Power & Light - Cape Canaveral, FL
- Kennedy Space Center - Cape Canaveral, FL
- Florida Power Corporation (Progress Energy) - Crystal River, FL
- Patrick Air Force Base - Cocoa Beach, FL
- Georgia Pacific - Cross City,FL
- FPL Power Plant - Cutler, FL
- FPL Power Plant - Deltona, FL
- Eglin Air Force Base - Eglin, FL
- Gulf Power Company - Escambia, FL
- American Container Paper Mill - Fernandina Beach, FL
- Rayonier Paper Mill - Fernandina Beach, FL
- FPL Turkey Pt. Nuclear Power Plant - Florida City, FL
- FPL Power Plant - Fort Myers, FL
- FPL Power Plant - Fort Lauderdale
- FPL St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant - Fort Pierce, FL
- Chemstrand Company - Gonzales, FL
- White Springs Agricultural Chemical - Hamilton, FL
- Florida Power Corporation (Progress Energy) - Higgins, FL
- CF Industries - Hillsborough, FL
- Tampa Electric - Hillsborough, FL
- Homestead Air Force Base - Homestead, FL
- Reliant Energy - Indian River, FL
- Bellinger Shipyard - Jacksonville, FL
- Gibbs Shipyard - Jacksonville, FL
- Keene Corporation - Jacksonville, FL
- St Regis Paper Mill - Jacksonville, FL
- U.S. Gypsum - Jacksonville, FL
- Exxon Oil Refinery - Jay, FL
- Hess Oil - Jay, FL
- Florida Power Corp. (Progress Energy) - Live Oak, FL (Suwannee Plant)
- FPL Power Plant - Martin, FL
- U.S. Naval Station - Mayport, FL
- Reliant Energy - Osceola, FL
- American Cyamid - Pace, FL
- Georgia Pacific Paper Mill - Palatka, FL
- Wainwright Shipyard - Palatka, FL
- Arizona Chemical - Panama City, FL
- International Paper - Panama City, FL
- Smurfit Stone Container Company - Panama City, FL
- Tyndall Airforce Base - Panama City, FL
- Ashland Chemical - Pensacola, FL
- Gulf Power Plant - Pensacola, FL
- Monsanto Textiles - Pensacola, FL
- National Cork Company - Pensacola, FL
- Newport Chemical Plant - Pensacola, FL
- Pensacola Naval Air Station - Pensacola, FL
- Pensacola Naval Shipyard - Pensacola, FL
- Tenneco - Pensacola, FL
- Calpine Auburn Power Plant - Polk, FL
- Florida Power Corp. (Progress Energy) - Polk, FL
- IMC Phosphates - Polk, FL
- Mosaic Company (Cargill Fertilizer) - Polk, FL
- FPL Power Plant - Port Everglades, FL
- Arizona Chemical - Port St Joe, FL
- St. Regis Paper Mill - Port St Joe, FL
- FPL Power Plant - Putnam, FL
- FPL Power Plant - Sanford, FL
- Gulf Power - Santa Rosa
- CPV Cana Ltd. - St. Lucie, FL
- Duke Energy - St. Lucie, FL
- Pratt & Whitney Aircraft - West Palm Beach, FL
Mesothelioma & Asbestos Related Deaths in Florida
The government has made data available that provides the number of asbestosis and mesothelioma cancer deaths from 1979 to the year 2000. Over that period, there were 1,095 deaths from asbestosis and between 1,976 to 3,432 mesothelioma deaths in the state. The range of deaths for mesothelioma represents the figure of recorded deaths and a higher estimate of deaths that include both mesothelioma and deaths that may have been attributed to another type of cancer.
The federal government began tracking mesothelioma deaths carefully in 1998. From that time through 2004 there were 1,095 deaths in Florida due to mesothelioma. Florida trails only California in having the most residents succumb to asbestos related diseases.
Florida Mesothelioma Cancer Treatment
The National Cancer Institute has designated forty one facilities around the country as Comprehensive Cancer Centers, where both treatment and research are ongoing, supported partially by the Institute. The designated facility in Florida is:
H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute
www.moffitt.org/
University of South Florida
12902 Magnolia Drive
Tampa, Florida 33612-9497
Tel: (813) 615-4261
Fax: (813) 615-4258
William S. Dalton, Ph.D., M.D.
CEO & Center Director
The University of Florida Shands Cancer Center
http://ufscc.ufl.edu/
Has two locations:
Shands at University of Florida
1600 SW Archer Road
Gainesville, FL 32610
(352) 265-0111 or
(800) 749-7424.
Shands Jacksonville
655 West 8th Street
Jacksonville, FL 32209
(904) 244-0411
Florida Asbestos Abatement
Florida Asbestos and Mesothelioma Resources
