On the job asbestos exposure in Nebraska occurred in the state’s power plants, some of which were built in the early days by farm cooperatives. The small power districts have all been consolidated, but workers were exposed to asbestos insulation on a regular basis. The Omaha meat packing and food processing plants have been sources of asbestos exposure; the railroad yards that made Omaha a transit point also exposed generations of workers to asbestos. Burlington Northern Railroad is still the target of asbestos liability claims in Nebraska.
The Western Mineral Products plant on I Street in Omaha processed asbestos contaminated vermiculite ore from 1940 through 1989. The ore was shipped from the Libby, Montana Mine owned by W.R. Grace from 1967 until it was closed as one of the worst asbestos contamination sites in history. Former employees at the Omaha processing plant should seek medical consultation about the possible development of asbestosis or mesothelioma, which can take up to 40 years to manifest symptoms.
Mesothelioma Deaths in Nebraska
The number of asbestos related deaths in the last two decades of the Twentieth Century was calculated on a state-by-state basis in a report published in 2001. That study, based on death certificates declaring cause of death, found that there were 65 reported deaths from asbestos and between 129 and 210 deaths attributable to malignant mesothelioma. In 1999 the federal government began tracking mesothelioma deaths and issued a report in 2005 that showed 115 mesothelioma caused deaths in the preceding five years. The more recent report illustrates the underreporting of this disease that occurred during the latter half of the Twentieth Century.
Legal Rights of Mesothelioma Victims in Nebraska
The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services manages the asbestos abatement and regulation program today, overseeing the regulations regarding asbestos abatement procedures and the licensing of trained asbestos removal professionals.
Nebraska state law has a four year statute of limitations on filing a personal injury lawsuit. That means a mesothelioma or asbestosis victim has four years after diagnosis to file suit for compensation; the limits for wrongful death and product liability are two years. The Nebraska courts allow comparative liability as a compensation tool, allowing a plaintiff to collect damages even if he or she is partially at fault for the harm done.
Asbestos Lawsuits in Nebraska
Most asbestos cases have multiple defendants, which under Nebraska law are apportioned the financial responsibility in a settlement or judgment based on the percentage of the fault placed upon them. However many of the asbestos claims in Nebraska have been filed under FELA, the law that provides worker’s compensation for railroad workers and filed in federal District Court. Read more about how to to find the right Asbestos lawyer as well as recent Mesothelioma case settlements in addition to lawsuits for Mesothelioma.
