Asbestos Use in West Virginia
West Virginia has two large oil refineries, petrochemical plants and steel mills located in the state, all of which were high-risk job sites for asbestos exposure. There was a heavy railroad presence at one time, servicing the coal industry and the heavy industrial producers clustered in the area. Owens Corning and Union Carbide, Monsanto, DuPont, Celanese and FMC Corp. are all present in West Virginia and all have been targets of multiple asbestos lawsuits. The state also has several dated power plants that were constructed during a time when asbestos insulation was used throughout steam generation plants.
Mesothelioma & Asbestos Deaths in West Virginia
According to a nationwide survey of asbestos deaths that examined death certificates recorded between 1979 and 2000, there were 410 asbestosis deaths in West Virginia during that period. There were also from 184 to 296 deaths attributed to mesothelioma or asbestos lung cancer. The federal government began tracking mesothelioma deaths in 1999. In 2005 the National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety (NIOSH) issued a report that identified an additional 182 mesothelioma deaths over the 1999 – 2005 period. The comparison of figures makes it clear that mesothelioma deaths preceding 1999 were substantially underreported.
Legal Rights of Mesothelioma Victims in West Virginia
Charleston, West Virginia has developed a reputation for being a friendly jurisdiction for asbestos plaintiffs. In June of 2010 two cases were filed in Kanawha District Court, one naming forty seven defendants and the other seventy seven defendants. One plaintiff, who worked for FMC and DuPont, has developed lung cancer. The other has developed mesothelioma cancer. A case that made it to the Supreme Court in 2003 involved six railroad employees who had developed asbestosis and feared they would go on to develop mesothelioma. They claimed emotional stress over this potential future development and the awards over anticipation of illness were upheld. They ranged from $770,000 to $1.2 million.
West Virginia uses a modified approach to joint and several liability, limiting the liability for defendants in a multiple-defendant case to the amount of fault that has been apportioned, unless that amount is 51% or greater. Residents may still file receive damages even if they are personally partially at fault in a case.
