LOUISIANA MESOTHELIOMA LAWYERS

Louisiana is bordered on the south by the Gulf of Mexico. The Mississippi River traverses the state from north to south for a distance of nearly 600 miles. The Port of South Louisiana, located on the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, is the largest volume shipping port in the Western Hemisphere. For decades, longshoremen loaded bundles of asbestos onto ships. They were not warned of the deadly dangers relating to the inhalation of asbestos dust.

Workers at Louisiana’s shipyards, such as Avondale Shipyard and Higgins Shipyard in New Orleans, and Bollinger Shipyard in Shreveport, inhaled asbestos fibers during their work day. This was because asbestos was employed as an insulator for pipes and boilers and as a fireproofing agent throughout the ships. Large amounts of asbestos materials were located in the engine and boiler rooms of the ships.

As a result of the Gulf of Mexico’s rich oil deposits, the Bayou State boasts massive petroleum refineries. The process of converting crude oil into fuel involves extreme fire and chemical hazards. The fire retardant properties of asbestos made the mineral ideal in the construction and maintenance of the refineries. Oil processing facilities, such as those operated by global corporations Shell Oil, Texaco, Citgo and BP, used asbestos materials for construction and maintenance purposes. Workers were also exposed to asbestos at these facilities through protective clothing and equipment, like fireproof jackets and gloves. Louisiana’s oil industry workers who drilled and maintained the oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico have also suffered asbestos-related diseases at highly disproportionate levels.

Louisiana’s power plants, sugar refineries, and cement plants are also sites where workers have experienced increased rates of mesothelioma. As with the oil refineries, the heat and corrosion resistant properties of asbestos were useful in the operation of these plants. Asbestos products were used as insulation for the plant’s boilers, steam pipes, furnaces, and hot water pipes. High numbers of workers who maintained the plant’s equipment have suffered asbestos-related diseases.

OCCUPATIONS AT RISK

Below is a list of occupations that put Louisiana workers at a known risk of asbestos exposure. If you worked in one of these occupation in the 1980’s or earlier, there is a good chance you were exposed to asbestos:

Aircraft Mechanics & Repairmen
Automobile Mechanics
Boilermakers
Brick and Stone Masons
Carpenters
Chemical Plant Workers
Chemical Technicians
Construction Workers
Crane and Hoist Men
Drill Press Operators
Drywall Tapers
Electric Power Linemen & Cable Men
Electricians
Engineers
Firefighters
Foundry Workers
Freight and Material Handlers
Furnace Men, Smelter-Men & Pourers
Garage Workers
Grinding Machine Operators
Heavy Equipment Mechanics
HVAC Workers
Industrial Engineers
Industrial Plant Workers
Insulators
Iron Workers
Laborers
Locomotive Engineers
Longshoremen and Stevedores
Machine Operators
Machinists
Merchant Marines
Metal Lathers
Millwrights & Mill Workers
Mixing Operators
Molders
Oil Refinery Workers
Painters
Pipefitters
Plasterers
Plumbers
Power Plant Workers
Railroad Workers
Roofers and Slaters
Sheetmetal Workers
Shipyard Workers
Steamfitters
Textile Operators
Tile Setters
U.S. Navy Veterans
Welders

JOB SITES WITH KNOWN ASBESTOS EXPOSURE

The following is a list of some of the Louisiana job sites where there is a documented use of asbestos products. If you or a family member worked at one of these places, you may be at a heightened risk of asbestos disease.

If you believe that you may have been exposed to asbestos at your own job, please contact one of our mesothelioma attorneys for more information. The sites include:

Shipyards

Avondale Shipyard
Bollinger Shipyard
Conrad Industries
Higgins Shipyard
Todd Shipyard

Power Plants

Cajun Electric Power
Little Gypsy Power Plant
River Bend Power Plant
Roy Nelson Power Plant
Waterford Nuclear Power Plant

Oil and Refineries

BP Amoco
Calcasieu Refining
Calumet Lubricants
Chevron
Citgo
Conoco
Ethyl Corp.
Exxon
Halliburton
Humble Oil & Refining Co.
Marathon
Mobil
Motiva
Murphy
Pennzoil
Shell
Standard
Texaco
Valero

Industrial and Manufacturing Plants

Allied Chemical
Boise Cascade
Bayou Steel
Celotex
Copolymer Rubber & Chemical Corp.
Firestone
Georgia Pacific
International Paper
Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical
Kaiser Chemicals
Monsanto
Shell Chemical Corp.
Union Carbide

Other Industries

Anchor Fire & Safety Inc.
State of Louisiana
Cabot Co.
Herbert S. Hiller Corp.
Ideal Cement Co.
Jack Cocke & Co. Inc.
Jobsite Supplies Inc.
McDermott Fabrication Co.
Nabors Trailers Co.

MESOTHELIOMA IN LOUISIANA

Mesothelioma is a rare, aggressive, and deadly cancer that occurs in the thin layer of tissue that covers the majority of the body’s internal organs. It most often affects the tissue that surrounds the lungs. According to the Centers for Disease Control, Louisiana’s industrial workers have an excessively high malignant mesothelioma mortality rate. Jefferson Parish has the 11th highest malignant mesothelioma mortality rate of any county in the United States. East Baton Rouge Parish also ranks high among the nation’s counties. As a whole, Louisiana has the nation’s 16th highest mesothelioma death rate.

Mesothelioma has a lengthy latency period. This means that a person develops mesothelioma long after the initial exposure to asbestos. This period ranges from 10 to 50 years after contact with the asbestos product. As a result, the number of mesothelioma deaths in Louisiana will sadly continue.

LOUISIANA MESOTHELIOMA LAWYER

Our firm has succeeded in securing millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements over the past 35 years. If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, and you believe you were exposed to asbestos in Louisiana, it is critical that you immediately contact a skilled mesothelioma lawyer. This is because there are statutes of limitation, which afford victims only a limited time period to file a lawsuit.

We urge you to contact one of our experienced mesothelioma lawyers for a free consultation. We can help you investigate the sources of your asbestos exposure and ascertain the responsible companies.