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Asbestos Exposure and Mesothelioma in Delaware

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Jennifer Lucarelli Lawyer and Legal Advisor

Prolonged exposure to asbestos can lead to serious health problems including pleural mesothelioma and asbestos-related lung cancer. If you have lived and worked in Delaware for significant amount of time, there is a chance that you were exposed to asbestos at home or in the workplace.


01. Statistics

Delaware Mesothelioma and Asbestos Statistics

Delaware does not have much naturally occurring asbestos, but the mineral is a big threat to workers in various industries throughout the state, especially chemical plants.

  • From 1999-2015, 164 Delaware residents died from mesothelioma
  • Delaware has a mesothelioma mortality rate of about 11 people per million (Source: CDC)
  • New Castle, Sussex, and Kent counties had the most asbestos-related deaths between 1999 and 2015 (Source: CDC)
  • Delaware has only one known deposit of natural asbestos in New Castle County, known as the Mount Cuba serpentine body (Source: USGS)
02. Asbestos in Workplaces

Asbestos Exposure in Delaware Workplaces

While Delaware does not have a large occurrence of natural asbestos, several industries used the mineral in their facilities and processes.

Chemical Plants:

Delaware was home for many chemical plants, like the infamous E. I. DuPont de Nemours and Company. Because of the high heat and chemical resistance of asbestos, it was often used in these facilities’ equipment and production lines.

Construction:

Asbestos was used in construction heavily throughout the country for decades, but is an especially big concern for construction workers repairing any of the historic buildings in Delaware.

Manufacturing:

Ludlow Manufacturing and other companies used asbestos often in their facilities and processes because of its durability and heat resistance.

Oil Refineries:

Equipment in oil refineries relied heavily on asbestos materials to resist the high heat used and chemical processes. Companies like the Getty Oil Refinery in Delaware City put workers in the facilities and maintenance workers at risk of exposure.

Military:

Veterans face a high risk for mesothelioma because asbestos was used frequently on bases and for building navy vessels. Veterans in Delaware faced asbestos exposure at bases such as Dover Air Force Base, which was later added to the Superfund list.

03. Superfund Sites

Asbestos Superfund Sites and Shipyards in Delaware

Though Delaware does not have any shipyards with an exposure risk, the state has had several sites added to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund list over the years. Among the many environmental concerns, two sites also demonstrated contamination from asbestos.

E. I. DuPont de Nemours and Company

This 120-acre site in Delaware was just part of DuPont’s corporation. DuPont, one of the world’s largest chemical companies today, bought this plant in 1929 after a previous Newport manufacturer of zinc and barium pigments. DuPont maintained the facilities for manufacturing pigments and various other chemicals. As a result, the site was contaminated with decades of industrial waste, including heavy metals and asbestos, and was considered one of the worst toxic sites in the nation. The site was added to the Superfund list in 1990 after many evaluations by the EPA through the 1980s. DuPont worked with the EPA and the Department of Natural Resources & Environmental Control throughout the cleanup process, and were able to restore 9 acres of wetland. The cleanup efforts ended in 2002, though the EPA and local agencies continue to monitor the site. The corporation itself still runs today with headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware.

Dover Air Force Base

This 3,700 acre property in Dover contained 23 sites used for dumping industrial waste. Between 1951 and 1970, the EPA estimated over 23,000 cubic feet of waste accumulated on the site, including solvents, fuel, and asbestos materials. Groundwater and neighboring streams were heavily contaminated as a result of decades of waste not being properly managed. The site was listed in 1989, and cleanup efforts have been ongoing ever since. All areas of the site will be undergoing long-term monitoring to ensure the remediation efforts continue to protect those living on base and the neighboring communities.

04. Exposure in Cities

Asbestos Exposure in Delaware Cities

Asbestos exposure on the job is known to have occurred in the following Delaware cities. Prolonged asbestos exposure can cause the terminal cancer mesothelioma as well as other asbestos-related diseases. Click on any city below to view a complete list of commercial, military and residential job sites where asbestos exposure occurred in that city.

05. Other Work Sites

Asbestos Exposure at Other Delaware Job Sites

Workplace asbestos exposure is also a concern if one looks beyond the major cities and towns in Delaware. Select a town below to see the list of its job sites known to have exposed workers to asbestos. Asbestos exposure at any one of the job sites revealed could have placed a worker at risk to develop mesothelioma cancer and other asbestos-related diseases.

Delaware Directory of Asbestos Work Sites

Select a city to see a list of work sites where asbestos exposure occurred.

, Delaware Jobsites Where Asbestos Exposure Occurred

  • Abex Corporation
  • Air Reduction Sales Company
  • Allied Chemical Corporation
  • Allied Chemical Corporation
  • Allied Kid Company
  • Amalgamated Leather Companies, Inc.
  • American Brake Shoe Company
  • American Car and Foundry Company (ACF)
  • American Leather Company
  • American Life Insurance Company
  • American Manganese Steel
  • Ametek, Inc.
  • Amoco Chemical Corporation
  • Amoco Oil Company
  • Atlas Chemical Industries
  • Atlas Chemical Industries Inc
  • Atlas Chemical Industries, Inc.
  • Atlas Chemical Prod Corp
  • Atlas Powder Company
  • Atlas Powder Company
  • Atlas Powder Company
  • Atterbury VFW Post 3420
  • Avisun Corp
  • Bancroft Mills
  • Bancroft School
  • Beebe Hospital
  • Benjamin F. Shaw Company
  • Bestwall Gypsum Company
  • Blue Hen Mall
  • Boldt Steel Company
  • Brandywine Building
  • Buick-Oldsmobile-Pontiac Assembly Division
  • Carrcroft
  • Catalytic Construction
  • Caterpillar Tractor Company
  • Chas Russo Company
  • Chester Bethel United Methodist Church
  • Chestnut Run Laboratory Buildings and Facilities
  • Chrysler Corp
  • Church of the Holy Child
  • Ciba-Geigy
  • Cohen Construction, Inc.
  • Collins Park
  • Colorado Fuel and Iron Corporation
  • Conectiv Energy Supply, Inc.
  • Container Corporation of America, Paper Mill Division
  • Continental Can Company, Bond Crown Division
  • Continental Diamond Fiber Company
  • Cork Insulation Company, Inc.
  • Crown Zellerbach Corp Gaylord Container Div
  • CSX Corporation
  • Daniel L. Herrmann Courthouse
  • Deener Steel Castings Company
  • Del Valley Works South
  • Delaware Bank & Trust
  • Delaware Button Company
  • Delaware City Power Plant
  • Delaware City Refinery
  • Delaware Floor Products Company
  • Delaware Hospital
  • Delaware Insulation Company
  • Delaware Iron Works Historic District
  • Delaware Power & Light
  • Delaware Power & Light Company
  • Delaware Power & Light Company
  • Delaware Screw Company
  • Delaware State Hospital
  • Delaware State Hospital
  • Delaware State University
  • Delaware Steel
  • Delaware Steel Service, Inc.
  • Delaware Valley Asphalt (DVA)
  • Delaware Water Corporation
  • Delcastle Technical High School
  • Delmarva Power & Light Company
  • Delmarva Power & Light Company
  • Department of Public Works
  • Devon Condominium
  • Diamond Alkali Company
  • Diamond Ice and Coal Company
  • Diamond Shamrock Corp
  • Diamond State Steel Company
  • Diamond State Telephone
  • Dover Air Force Base
  • Dover Power Plant
  • Dravo Shipyard
  • Dupont
  • Dupont
  • Dupont
  • DuPont Building
  • Dupont Company
  • Dupont Country Club
  • DuPont de Nemours, Inc.
  • Dupont Experimental Station
  • E.I. Du Pont De Nemours & Company
  • E.I. Dupont De Nemours & Company
  • E.I. DuPont De Nemours & Company
  • Edge Moor Chemical Plant
  • Edge Moor General Station
  • Edgemoor Iron Works
  • Edgemoor Iron Works
  • Electra Arms Apartments
  • Electric Hose & Rubber Company
  • Engineering Test Center
  • Estates of the Du Ponts
  • FMC Corporation
  • Forbes Steel and Wire Corporation
  • Gambill & Melville Mills Co.
  • General Chemical Company
  • General Chemical Company
  • General Electric International, Inc. LLC
  • General Foods Corporation
  • General Motors Company
  • George & Lynch Company
  • Georgia-Pacific
  • Getty Oil Refinery
  • Goshen Iron Company
  • Graver Tank & Manufacturing Company
  • Gunning Bedford School
  • H.S. Falk (Ship)
  • Harlan & Hollingsworth Co.
  • Haskill Lab
  • Haveg Industries, Inc.
  • Hercules Powder Company
  • Hercules, Inc.
  • Hercules, Inc. Research Center
  • Hilles and Jones Company
  • Hoechst Polymer Corporation
  • Holy Rosary Roman Catholic Church
  • Hopkins Theater
  • Hotel Du Pont
  • Ici Americas Inc
  • Ici Americas Inc
  • Ici Atlas Point
  • Imperial Chemical Industries Americas, Inc. (ICI)
  • Indian River Station
  • Industrial Trust Building
  • International Latex Corporation
  • Jackson and Sharp Company
  • Jas. Riddle and Company
  • Jessup & Moore Paper Company
  • Joseph Bancroft & Sons Company
  • Kimensi Gardens
  • Knapp Mills, Inc.
  • Kraft Foods, Inc.
  • Krebs Pigment and Color Corporation
  • Krebs Plant
  • Krebs Plant
  • L B Jcobs
  • L-Air Liquide
  • Lancashire Elementary School
  • Linden Hill Elementary School
  • Llangollen Estates
  • Ludlow Manufacturing
  • Luther Towers II
  • M. W. Kellogg Company
  • Manor Park
  • Marine Transport
  • Maryland Drydock Company
  • McCullough Iron Company
  • McKee Run Generating Station
  • Memorial Hospital
  • Methodist Country House
  • Motiva Enterprises Delaware
  • Mount Pleasant High School
  • National Bank of Delaware
  • National Vulcanized Fiber Company
  • New Central Office Building
  • North American Smelting Company, Inc. (NASCO)
  • Nrg Energy Inc
  • Old Dover High School (Durham Road)
  • Order of Elks Pocahontas Temple
  • Our Lady of Fatima Church
  • Our Lady of Lourdes Church
  • Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corporation
  • Pelleport Hospital
  • Penn Acres
  • Penn Fruit Market
  • Pennsylvania Railroad Company
  • Pfm Construction Div
  • Phoenix Steel Corporation
  • Polychem Division
  • Power Station Project
  • Prices Corner Shopping Center
  • Pullman Company
  • Pusey and Jones Corporation
  • Pusey, Scott & Co.
  • Quinby Company
  • Ralston Purina Company
  • Red Mill Apartments
  • Riverside Hospital
  • Rockland Mills Condominiums
  • Rollins International Building
  • Sampson Air Force Base
  • Scott Paper Company
  • Shellhorne and Hill, Inc.
  • Shipley Heights
  • Skyline Drive School
  • Springer Middle School
  • SS William H.G. Bullard (Ship)
  • St. David’s Episcopal Church
  • St. Francis Hospital
  • St. Hedwig Church
  • St. Helena Roman Catholic Church
  • St. Mark’s High School
  • St. Mary Magdalen School
  • St. Paul’s Catholic Church
  • St. Thomas the Apostle Roman Catholic Church
  • Standard Arms Company
  • Standard Chlorine Company
  • Star Enterprise
  • State Board of Health Building
  • Stauffer Chemical Company
  • Stauffer Hoechst Polymer
  • Sun Oil Chemical Plant
  • Sun Oil Company Plant
  • Sunolin Chemical Company
  • Swift & Courtney & Beecher Company
  • Texaco Refining & Marketing Company
  • Texas Company
  • Thomas McKean High School
  • Thompson Heating and Cooling
  • Tidewater Associated Oil Refinery
  • Tidewater Oil Company Refinery
  • Tidewater Oil Refinery
  • Tidewater Oil Refinery
  • Tidewater Tankers Ltd
  • Towne Theatre
  • Townsends, Inc
  • Travelodge
  • Turner Construction Company
  • Ukranian Church
  • University of Delaware
  • USNS Albert J. Myer (Ship)
  • Walton, Whann & Co.’s Works
  • Westinghouse Electric Company
  • Wickwere Spencer Steel Div
  • William Lea and Sons
  • Wilmington Airport
  • Wilmington Chemical Corporation
  • Wilmington General Hospital
  • Wilmington Hospital
  • Wilmington Manor Gardens
  • Wilmington Medical Center
  • Wilmington Plaza
  • Wilmington Trust Company
  • Wilmington VA Medical Center
  • Worth Steel Company
  • Worthington Pump, Inc.

Find Mesothelioma Doctors, Lawyers and Asbestos Exposure Sites Near You

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