Asbestos Use in North Carolina
North Carolina’s industrial base in the twentieth century when asbestos products were popular was comprised primarily of textile and wood mills, power plants, a few chemical plants and some light manufacturing, notably furniture producers. Owens Corning had a plant in the state as did DuPont and the military bases at Camp LeJeune and Fort Bragg were built during the asbestos tile, roofing and siding era. The North Carolina Shipbuilding Company built hundreds of ships for the Navy during World War II but was out of business by the late 1950s. The many college campuses also have buildings that date from the mid 20th Century and prior, most of which have asbestos insulated walls and heating plants. Today the Asbestos Hazard Management Program run by the state Department of Public Health manages asbestos abatement regulation and professional licensing for the field.
Mesothelioma & Asbestos Deaths in North Carolina
The textile and pulp mills took their toll however as a survey done in 2001 ranked North Carolina thirteenth among all states in asbestos related deaths. The survey reviewed death certificates from 1979 to 2000 and found 503 recorded asbestosis deaths in the state during that period. There were between 534 and 917 mesothelioma deaths during the same period. The range provided for mesothelioma uses the confirmed deaths as the low figure and bases the higher figure on the assumption that many lung cancer diagnoses were in fact asbestos related or mesothelioma cancer. That seems to be confirmed by the federal government’s statistics on mesothelioma, which they began to collect in 1999. A report issued in 2005 showed an additional 390 mesothelioma deaths in the preceding five years, clearly illustrating previous underreporting or misdiagnosed cases during the latter portion of the 20th Century.
Legal Rights of Mesothelioma Victims in North Carolina
North Carolina’s statutes of limitations allow three years for the filing of a personal injury suit, six years for a product liability suit and two years for a wrongful death action. That means victims of asbestos disease have three years after diagnosis to file a damage claim. Families of deceased asbestos victims have two years after the death to take action. North Carolina law provides for joint and several liability, allowing for multiple defendants to absorb an apportioned share of financial responsibility.
Asbestos Lawsuits in North Carolina
There has been a fair amount of legal activity regarding asbestos liability in the North Carolina courts. Much of it involves Aqua Chem, a large heat and processing manufacturer based in Tennessee that has facilities in North Carolina and that dates to 1943. Asbestos insulation and valve seals were part of the product assembly process for years with this firm.
