Overview of Asbestos in Utah
Utah is home to a number of oil refineries that have operated in the region for many years, drawing the crude oil refined there from neighboring states. Amoco, Standard Oil, Phillips Petroleum, Chevron, British Petroleum and their successors all operate or have operated refineries in the state. Oil refineries and the petrochemical plants that accompany oil production are notorious for their use of asbestos for insulation, pump and pipe fittings, seals and gaskets. Utah also has power plants that were built during the asbestos era and military facilities in Ogden that have structures containing asbestos. The US Steel plant in Provo and the Kennecott Copper mine in Magna are known to have exposed employees to asbestos.
Mesothelioma & Asbestos Deaths in Utah
Utah has grown into a thriving industrial state in the last thirty years, with population growth of over 50% and an influx of clean businesses. The state missed most of the industrialization that occurred in the asbestos era prior to the late 1970s. For that reason the state recorded just 59 deaths from asbestosis during the period 1979 – 2000 and an additional 98 to 204 deaths attributable to mesothelioma or asbestos lung cancer. The federal government began tracking mesothelioma deaths in 1999, reporting in 2005 that an additional 107 mesothelioma deaths had occurred over that six year span – illustrating that the deaths of the previous decades were almost certainly underreported.
Legal Rights of Mesothelioma Victims in Utah
Today Utah’s regulation of asbestos abatement procedures and the licensing of asbestos removal professionals are managed by the state Department of Environmental Quality. State law allows people who have developed an asbestos related disease two years after diagnosis to file a personal injury claim or a product liability claim. Relatives of someone who has died from asbestosis or mesothelioma cancer have two years to file a wrongful death action.
Asbestos Lawsuits in Utah
In June of 2010 a Utah resident dying of mesothelioma was awarded $5.4 million in damages in a mesothelioma lawsuit filed against Georgia Pacific, Union Carbide and Hamilton Materials, Inc. She was exposed to asbestos while working with her father on construction projects as a young woman. Utah has amended its liability laws so joint and several liability no longer applies: a defendant can only be held financially responsible for the percentage of fault allocated. A defendant with over 50% of the fault may no longer be held solely responsible if the other parties are unable to pay.
