Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Virginia has been in service for more than 230 years. During World War II, the shipyard employed almost 43,000 men and women, repairing some 6,800 ships and building nearly 30 major vessels, 50 landing craft, and 20 tank landing ships.
In the Korean War years, Norfolk Naval Shipyard built minesweepers and worked on over 1,250 navy vessels. In the mid-1960s, the shipyard started overhauling nuclear submarines.
Asbestos Dangers at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard
Before asbestos regulations were significantly tightened in the late 1970s, shipyards such as the Norfolk Naval Shipyard did not implement adequate safety precautions regarding the uses of asbestos in both the construction/repair of vessels and around the shipyard itself.
Asbestos was a component of hundreds of ship parts and in thousands of building materials and industrial applications. It seemed like a “miracle material” that could be the ideal insulation and friction-resistant product — used in bricks, drywall, boiler rooms, fire rooms, brakes and clutches, turbines, pipe insulation, and so much more.
A Cancer-Producing Mineral
However, asbestos is a toxin; a carcinogenic mineral that is confirmed to be a significant danger to human beings when inhaled or ingested in excessive amounts. Shipyard workers are among the individuals who were definitely exposed to excessive amounts of asbestos in years past.
When asbestos is disturbed — that is, when it is being installed, removed, or in poor condition due to age or weather, it is prone to crumble enough to release its tiny fibers into the air. Shipyard workers who inhaled asbestos dust, even unknowingly, have a far greater incidence of lung cancer, mesothelioma, and respiratory disorders compared to the general population.
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