Delaware is sandwiched between a number of small New England states and is not particularly close to any industrial center. Wilmington, however, is home to the largest chemical company in the world, DuPont. Anywhere that chemicals are being produced there is sure to be some heat processing involved, and where there is heat – for any production line built prior to 1980 – there is asbestos insulation, asbestos flooring, asbestos lined refractories, and often asbestos clothing to protect workers. It’s the asbestos fibers given off by fraying or crumbling asbestos products that cause the lethal asbestos diseases associated with the mineral.
Besides chemical plants, other industrial sites that are heavily identified with workplace asbestos exposure include oil refineries, of which Delaware has several. Newark and Delaware City seem to be points of concentration for oil refinery installations, and usually where you find refineries you’ll also find chemical plants that process some of the crude oil byproducts for industrial and agricultural chemicals. Stauffer Chemical in Delaware City is a good example.
Then there are the power plants, which use heat to generate electrical power. These also have proven to be workplaces that were high risk for asbestos exposure through about 1980. Because of the long latency period for the worst of asbestos diseases, malignant mesothelioma, some of the workers that left Delaware businesses decades ago are just now getting sick.
Legal Rights for Delaware Asbestos Victims.
Delaware is known for being one of the most business-friendly states in the union, which is why so may corporations that are from elsewhere are incorporated through the state offices in Dover. But the court system in Delaware has proven to be an asset to asbestos victims.
Delaware state law allows “joint and several liability,��? which allows for the partitioning of blame in a liability suit. This feature is not available in all states and has a lot of appeal for asbestos lawsuits, which are usually filed against multiple defendants. There is also no limit on punitive damages in Delaware. For these and other reasons, the Delaware court system has been inundated with asbestos lawsuits since 2005 – 80% of which are filed by out of state plaintiffs.
If you are a Delaware resident and have developed an asbestos related disease, you should speak with an attorney who is experienced with asbestos liability and who knows what the Delaware state codes will and will not allow. Fill out the brief form on this page and one of our attorneys will be in touch immediately, to review your case and explain the current state of asbestos litigation at no cost or obligation to you. Read more about how to to find the right Asbestos lawyer as well as recent Mesothelioma case settlements in addition to lawsuits for Mesothelioma.
