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Mesothelioma and Asbestos Exposure in Colorado

Expert Fact Checked

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Jennifer Lucarelli Lawyer and Legal Advisor

If you have worked and lived in Colorado for a significant amount of time, there is a chance that you were exposed to asbestos at home or in the workplace. Prolonged exposure to asbestos can lead to serious health problems including pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma and asbestos-related lung cancer. As a service to people who live in Colorado, we have compiled the following information about asbestos and mesothelioma in Colorado.


01. Statistics

Colorado Mesothelioma and Asbestos Statistics

Colorado has numerous natural asbestos deposits throughout the state, making exposure and mesothelioma a big threat for residents.

  • From 1999-2015, 484 Colorado residents died from mesothelioma
  • Colorado has a mesothelioma mortality rate of about 6 people per million (Source: CDC)
  • Asbestos is found abundantly in Colorado, largely from soil contamination from various industries located in cities like Denver, as well as naturally in the Rocky Mountains, San Juan Mountains, and at least 4 other deposits in the western region of the state (Source: USGS)
  • The areas with the most mesothelioma cases are concentrated in the central region of the state, largely around Denver and Colorado Springs (Source: CDC)
02. Asbestos in Workplaces

Asbestos Use in Colorado Work Environments

Asbestos has been directly used in various industries throughout Colorado, as well as many industries coming into contact with naturally occurring asbestos.

Power Plants:

Power plant equipment was largely made with asbestos materials for its heat resistance. Companies like the Pawnee Power Plant in Brush and the Ray D. Nixon Power Plant in Colorado Springs put their employees at risk of exposure.

Mining:

Though there were no active asbestos mines in Colorado, miners of other minerals faced the possibility of exposure from natural asbestos in and around their jobsites. Workers for mining companies like the Peata Verde Silver Mining Company are at risk of developing mesothelioma.

Manufacturing:

Various manufacturers made use of asbestos in their equipment and processes. Manufacturers such as the Anheuser-Busch Company relied on asbestos in their facilities, putting their employees at risk.

Oil Refineries:

The oil refinery trade used asbestos frequently because of its resistance to most chemical processes. Conoco Oil Refinery and Gary Williams Energy are some of the oil refineries in Colorado where known exposure has occurred.

Military:

Asbestos was used often in the construction of military bases. The Lowry Air Force Base in Colorado is one site where veterans could have been exposed to asbestos. Veterans are at high risk of developing mesothelioma because of the mineral’s widespread use.

03. Superfund Sites

Asbestos Superfund Sites in Colorado

Colorado has sites around the state that were added to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund list because of various environmental concerns, including several asbestos Superfund sites.

Lowry Landfill

Lowry Landfill was added to the list in 1984 after finding contamination in groundwater, surface water, soils and sediments from a variety of chemicals, including asbestos. The property consists of over 500 acres where an estimated 138 gallons of industrial liquid waste was disposed of in addition to various solid waste in unlined pits. The EPA and local agencies continue to monitor the remedial response to these improper waste practices.

Rocky Mountain Arsenal

The Rocky Mountain Arsenal spans over nearly 27 square miles and is located near the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. The site was originally owned by the U.S. Army where they manufactured chemical weapons. The site was later leased by various manufacturers who produced pesticides. The arsenal was placed on the Superfund list in 1987 after recognizing significant soil and water contamination from the variety of chemicals used and manufactured on the grounds since WWII. Monitoring and treatment efforts are still ongoing on an annual basis.

04. Exposure in Cities

Colorado Cities Where Asbestos Exposure Occurred

Provided below is a list of cities in the state of Colorado where asbestos use in the workplace is known to have occurred. Click on a city below to see more detailed information about the specific job sites where asbestos exposure occurred.

05. Other Work Sites

Asbestos Risks at Smaller Colorado Job Sites

Workplace asbestos exposure is also a concern if one looks beyond the major cities and towns in Colorado. 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.

, Colorado Jobsites Where Asbestos Exposure Occurred

  • Abex Corporation, Amsco Division
  • Acme Markets Inc
  • Adolph Coors Brewery
  • Advance Neon Sign Company
  • Aec/Erda
  • Air Force Accounting and Finance Center (AFAFC)
  • Airways Inc.
  • Alamo Hotel and Garage Company
  • Alamosa Community Hospital
  • Alamosa Power Plant
  • Albany Hotel Fire-Proof Annex Roman Promenade
  • Alexander Industries, Inc.
  • Alpha Beta Acme Packing Division
  • AMC Research Center
  • America Theatre
  • American Beet Sugar Company
  • American Beet Sugar Company
  • American Crystal Sugar Company
  • American Crystal Sugar Company
  • American Gilsonite Company
  • American Gilsonite/Chevron
  • American Smelting and Refining Company (ASARCO)
  • American Smelting and Refining Company (Asarco)
  • American Stores Company
  • Anheuser-Busch Company
  • Antlers Hotel
  • APEX Insulation, LLC
  • Arapahoe Power Plant
  • Arapahoe Station
  • Arizona Marble Company
  • Arkansas Valley Railway Light and Power Company
  • Armour & Company
  • Armstrong Contracting & Supply Corporation (ACandS, Inc.)
  • Armstrong Contracting & Supply Corporation (ACandS, Inc.)
  • Asamera Oil Usa
  • AT&T
  • Atmospheric Research Center
  • Atomic Energy Commission
  • B.H. Lichter & Co.
  • Bay Petroleum, Inc.
  • Beet Sugar Factory
  • Berkeley Community Church
  • Best Western Denver West
  • Board of Water Commissioners
  • Boise Cascade
  • Boston Food Products Co.
  • Boulder High School
  • Boulder Metal Products
  • Boulder Rolling Mills Company
  • Brentwood Middle School
  • Broadmoor-Cheyenne Mountain Highway
  • Brooks Tower Residences
  • Brown International Academy
  • Brown Palace Hotel
  • Bureau of Reclamation (BR)
  • BURN-ZOL, Inc.
  • Burns Theatre
  • Cameo Power Plant
  • Celebrity Sports Center (CSC or Celebrity’s)
  • Centel Corporation
  • Central High School
  • Central High School
  • CF&I Steel Corporation
  • Cherokee Generating Station
  • Chevron Corporation
  • Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (CB&Q)
  • Children’s Hospital Association
  • Citizens Light, Heat, and Power Company
  • Clark Generating
  • Climax Uranium Company Mill
  • Clover Clubs Foods
  • Coffin Packing Company
  • Colorado and Southern Railway (C&S)
  • Colorado Coal and Iron Company (CCIC)
  • Colorado College
  • Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT)
  • Colorado Fuel & Iron Company (CF&I)
  • Colorado Fuel & Iron Corporation
  • Colorado Fuel and Iron Company (CF&I)
  • Colorado General Hospital
  • Colorado Ice and Cold Storage Company
  • Colorado Laundry Company
  • Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo
  • Colorado Packing and Provision Company
  • Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind
  • Colorado School of Mines
  • Colorado Springs Electric Company
  • Colorado Springs Light, Heat and Power Company
  • Colorado Springs Rapid Transit Railway Company
  • Colorado Springs Utilities
  • Colorado State Home and Training School (Ridge Home)
  • Colorado State Home for Dependent and Neglected Children
  • Colorado State Hospital
  • Colorado State Industrial School
  • Colorado State Industrial School
  • Colorado State University
  • Colorado State University
  • Colorado-Ute Electric Association, Inc
  • Columbine Dry Cleaners
  • Columbine Glass Company
  • Comanche Generating Station
  • Comanche Generating Station
  • Commerce City Refinery (CCR)
  • Conoco Oil Refinery
  • Consolidated Electrical Distributors (CED)
  • Conspeco, Inc.
  • Construction Specialties Group
  • Continental Oil Company
  • Continental Oil Company
  • Continental Oil Company (Conoco)
  • Cooper Building
  • Coors Brewery
  • Coors Porcelain Company
  • Coppers Company, Inc.
  • Corley Coal Company
  • Cosmopolitan Hotel
  • Court House
  • Courthouse Square Apartments
  • Cox Construction
  • Craig Power Station
  • Craig Station
  • Crane Company
  • Curtis Steel Company
  • D & S Mechanical
  • D.S. Grimes & Son
  • DALCO Heating and Air Conditioning
  • Dana Corporation Perfect Circle Division
  • Day Mines, Inc.
  • Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad Company
  • Denver Auditorium Arena
  • Denver City & County Courthouse
  • Denver City Cable Railway Company
  • Denver Dry Goods Company
  • Denver Federal Center (DFC)
  • Denver Gas & Electric Building
  • Denver International Airport (DIA)
  • Denver Metal Supply
  • Denver Ordnance Plant
  • Denver Public Bath and Gymnasium
  • Denver Sewer Pipe and Clay Company
  • Denver Tramway Company (DTC)
  • Denver Tramway Company Powerhouse
  • Denver Union Stock Yards Company
  • Dietrich Standard
  • Dome Investment Group, LLC
  • Douglas Jardine Sheetmetal
  • Dow Chemical
  • Dow Chemical Company
  • Downtown Denver Central YMCA
  • Dravo Corporation
  • Duke Shepard Homes
  • Eastman Kodak Company
  • Economy Mechanical Industries, Inc.
  • El Paso County Department of Public Works
  • El Paso Electric Company
  • El Paso Gold Mine
  • Electrical Installation Company
  • Empire Acoustics & Fireproof
  • Ernest and Cranmer Building
  • Federal Correctional Institute
  • Federal Correctional Institution, Englewood
  • Federal Corrections Institution
  • Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Denver Branch
  • Federal Youth Center
  • Feeney Industrial Insulation Co.
  • Feeney Supply Company
  • Fitzsimons Army Medical Center (FAMC)
  • Fort Carson
  • Fort Carson Family Homes
  • Fort Collins Light & Power
  • Fort Collins Sugar Company
  • Fort Saint Vrain Power Plant
  • Fort St. Vrain Generating Station
  • Four Corners Power Plant
  • Frontier Airlines
  • Fruita Refinery
  • Garden Terrace Apartments
  • Gary Refining Company
  • Gary-Williams Energy Corporation
  • Gates Corporation
  • General Electric Company (GE)
  • General Iron Works
  • General Iron Works
  • Glockner Tuberculosis Sanatorium
  • Glockner-Penrose Hospital
  • Golden Cycle Mining and Reduction Company
  • Gosnell Construction, LLC
  • Grand Junction City Hall
  • Grand Junction Regional Center
  • Grand Junction VA Medical Center
  • Grant Watson Software
  • Graymore Sanatorium
  • Great Western Machine Tools
  • Great Western Sugar Company
  • Great Western Sugar Company
  • Great Western Sugar Company
  • Great Western Sugar Company
  • Great Western Sugar Company
  • Great Western Sugar Company
  • Great Western Sugar Company
  • Great Western Sugar Company
  • Greenleaf Wholesale Florist
  • Hallack-Sayre-Newton Lumber Company
  • Hawkins & Davis Crosswell Barnett Machine Company
  • Hayden Power Plant
  • Hendrie & Bolthoff Manufacturing & Supply Company
  • Hilton Hotel
  • Hoffman Heights
  • Holly Sugar Building
  • Holy Ghost Catholic Church
  • House Heating
  • Hudson Energy Company
  • International Business Machines
  • International Rubber Company
  • Iron Silver Mining Company
  • J. W. Lawrence
  • J.C. St. John Plumbing and Heating Company
  • JD Insulation
  • Jewish Consumptives’ Relief Society (JCRS)
  • John Evans Junior High School
  • Johns-Manville Corporation
  • K. & B. Packing and Provision Company
  • Karl Schmidt Manufacturing
  • Kitayama Bros Greenhouse
  • Kitayama Brothers
  • Kodak Alaris Inc.
  • Kuner Pickle Company
  • LaCombe Power Plant
  • Landmark Petroleum
  • Larimer Light and Power Company
  • Las Animas Electric Company
  • Lauren Burt, Inc.
  • Leadville Gas and Electric Company
  • Leadville Light and Power Company
  • Lindrooth, Schubart & Co.
  • Littleton Creamery
  • Longero
  • Longmont Beet Sugar Company
  • Loretto Heights College
  • Louis S Fox Sheet Metal Co.
  • Louisiana Pacific
  • Lowry Air Force Base
  • MacArthur Company
  • Mackay Companies, Inc.
  • Madison Elementary School
  • Madre Tierra Sugar
  • Marriott Hotel
  • Martin Company Plant
  • Martin Drake Power Plant
  • Martin Marietta Materials
  • Martin-Marietta
  • Masonic Temple
  • May-Daniels & Fisher (May-D&F)
  • McKinney Concrete Products, LLC
  • McPhee & McGinnity Lumber Company
  • Mead & Mount Construction
  • Mesa Insulation
  • Metro Wastewater Reclamation
  • Midland Savings and Loan Company Building
  • Midwest Plumbing & Heating, Inc.
  • Mile High Tower
  • Mine and Smelter Supply Company
  • Missile Site Park
  • Mobil Corporation
  • Monfort Packing Company
  • Morey Mercantile Company
  • Morgan County Construction Company
  • Morse Brothers Machinery Company
  • Mountain States Engineering and Controls, Inc.
  • Mountain States Telephone & Telegraph Company
  • Mountain States Telephone Building
  • MSI Industries
  • Municipal Power Plant
  • Munro Supply, Inc.
  • Myron Stratton Home
  • National Biscuit Company (Nabisco)
  • Natkin & Company
  • Nielsen Plastering Company
  • Northwest Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc.
  • Nuckolls Packing Company
  • Nucla Power Station
  • Occidental Oil Shale, Inc.
  • Olson Plumbing & Heating Co.
  • Owens Corning Fiberglas
  • Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corporation
  • Oxnard Construction Company
  • Palmer Center
  • Pawnee Power Plant
  • Peata Verde Silver Mining Company
  • Penn Specialty Chemicals
  • Penrose Hospital
  • Penrose Public Library
  • Philip Zang Brewing Co.
  • Philips Elementary School
  • Plateau Equipment Supply Company
  • Platte River Power Authority
  • Porter Adventist Hospital
  • Presbyterian/St. Luke’s Medical Center
  • Public Service Colorado
  • Public Service Company of Colorado
  • Public Service Company of Colorado
  • Public Service Company of Colorado
  • Public Service Company of Colorado
  • Public Service Company of Colorado
  • Public Service Company of Colorado
  • Public Service Company of Colorado (PSCo)
  • Public Service of Colorado
  • Pueblo and Suburban Traction Lighting Company
  • Pueblo By Products Company
  • Pueblo Smelting and Refining Company
  • Pueblo Street Railway Company
  • Pueblo Traction and Lighting Company
  • Rawhide Energy Station
  • Ray D. Nixon Power Plant
  • Redlands Water and Power Company
  • RedSeal, Inc.
  • Reffel J W Metal Foundry Inc
  • Reid Rutherford Plumbing & Heating
  • Republic Construction Company
  • Republic Plaza
  • Residences at Franklin Park
  • Robinson Brick & Tile Company
  • Rock Wool Insulating Company
  • Rocky Flats Plant
  • Rocky Flats Power Plant
  • Rocky Ford Power Plant
  • Rocky Mountain Arsenal
  • Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge
  • Rocky Mountain Brewery
  • Rocky Mountain Power
  • Rocky Mountain Service, Inc.
  • Rocky Mountain Supply
  • Roderick Ware LLC
  • Rogers Heating & Cooling, Inc.
  • Russell Stover Chocolates Plant
  • Saint Joseph Hospital
  • Sam Fox Sheet Metal Co.
  • Schmidt Incinerators Company
  • Scott Elementary School
  • Shell Chemical
  • Shell Chemical
  • Skyway Park Elementary School
  • Smith Elementary School
  • Smuggler-Union Hydroelectric Power Plant
  • Southern Colorado Power Company
  • Southern Colorado Power Company
  • Southern Colorado Power Company
  • Southern Sierras Power Company
  • St. Mary-Corwin Hospital
  • St. Thomas Seminary
  • Stainless Equipment
  • Standard Fire Brick Company
  • Standard Oil Refinery
  • State Agricultural College
  • State Teachers College
  • Steam Plant
  • SteamPlant Event Center
  • Stearns-Roger Manufacturing Company
  • Strong Gold Mining Company
  • Swift Beef Company
  • The Broadmoor
  • The Colorado Building
  • The Denver Brick and Pipe Company
  • Theo L Carson Company
  • Thermetic Products Inc. (TPI)
  • Tibbetts Plumbing & Heating
  • Tony Capra Plumbing & Heating Co.
  • Total Petroleum of North America
  • Tower Colorado
  • Tri State Craig Station
  • Tri State Gandt Association
  • Tri-State Generation and Transmission
  • Trinidad Electric Light Heat and Power Company
  • Trinidad Electric Railroad Company
  • Trinidad Electric Transmission Railway and Gas Company
  • Trinidad Municipal Power & Light Dept.
  • Trinidad Power Plant
  • Trinidad Sheetmetal
  • Triplex Corporation of America
  • Twin Lakes Power Plant
  • U.S. National Bank Building
  • UCHealth Memorial Hospital
  • Ultramar Diamond Colorado
  • Union Oil
  • Union Pacific Railroad Company
  • Union Printers Home
  • United Sheet Metal Co.
  • United States Air Force
  • United States Air Force Academy Facility and Buildings
  • United States Atomic Energy Commission
  • United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR)
  • United States National Bank Building
  • United States Vanadium Corporation
  • United States Zinc Company
  • University of Colorado
  • University of Colorado Denver
  • University of Colorado Health Sciences Center
  • University of Northern Colorado
  • US West Communications
  • Utilicorp United Inc
  • Utilicorp United Inc
  • UtiliCorp United, Inc.
  • Utility Control & Equipment
  • Utility Control & Equipment Corporation (UCEC)
  • VA Eastern Colorado Healthcare System (ECHCS)
  • Vail Associates, Inc.
  • Valmont Powerhouse
  • Valmont Station
  • Van Genderen Service Company
  • Walker-Lybarger Construction Company
  • Walter’s Brewing Company
  • Webb and Knapp
  • West High School
  • West Plains Energy
  • Western Chemical
  • Western Forge Corporation
  • Western Foundries
  • Western Iron Mills
  • Western Sugar
  • Western Sugar Company
  • Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company
  • Wheeler Metals
  • William E. Russell Coal Company
  • Worthington Pump & Machinery Corporation
  • Xcel Energy
  • Xcel Energy
  • Xcel Energy
  • Xcel Energy
  • Yak Mining and Milling and Tunnel Company
  • YMCA of Metro Denver
  • Zuni Generating Station

Find Mesothelioma Doctors, Lawyers and Asbestos Exposure Sites Near You

Find Mesothelioma Doctors, Lawyers and Asbestos Exposure Sites Near You
Sources [+]
  • 1

    Boyd, Shaun. Contractor Releases Asbestos In Lowry Garden.

  • 2

    Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies – Office of Policy, Research and Regulatory Reform. “Colorado Asbestos Control Act.” 2005.

  • 3

    Journal Team. “Bankruptcy Doesn’t Excuse Mining Company From Cleanup.” Mining Journal, 15 June 2007.

  • 4

    Lipsher, Steve. “Small Towns Face Crunch to Eradicate Asbestos.” The Denver Post, 26 September 2007.