5/27/11, California Asbestos Exposure: Most of the California job sites where asbestos was used, or is known to have been a danger, consist of power plants and utilities, oil refineries, and shipyards.

Asbestos insulation was used extensively in shipbuilding and marine repair. Asbestos was also employed by a number of other heavy industries. There are also no fewer than 25 oil refineries in California, as well as 11 power plants and energy generation facilities. Mining and smelting operations were also located around the state.

Asbestos exposure may have been an occupational hazard for many California workers. Some were unknowingly exposed on the job to asbestos and now suffer from such life-threatening diseases as asbestosis, lung cancer or mesothelioma.

A Case of On-the Job Asbestos Exposure

Workers remain at risk for asbestos exposure today at some California job sites. In fact, charges were filed last year by the Merced County District Attorney against three construction executives for deliberately exposing teens to asbestos at a local construction site. The charges stemmed from an allegation that the executives used teenaged student workers to remove asbestos-containing material on a building project at the former Castle Air Force Base in Merced. The students were not advised of the presence of asbestos or provided appropriate safety equipment or training. As many as 80 teenagers may have been exposed to asbestos containing materials while working at the air base and could be at risk for developing asbestosis, mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases.

The case is a cautionary tale for California workers. However, many other California industries may have also exposed their workers to asbestos.

Asbestos Exposure Sites in California

Some of the California job sites where workers were potentially and unnecessarily exposed to asbestos and put at risk for developing asbestos-related diseases, including mesothelioma, a rare and deadly form of cancer, include: Kaiser Shipyards, National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, National Steel, Pacific Gas and Electric, Todds Los Angeles, and Todds San Francisco

While many of these sites have taken steps to keep their employees and visitors safe since the problem was discovered, people who worked in or visited these areas in the past may still have been exposed to asbestos. Individuals who lived or worked near these areas or other known asbestos exposure sites in California should be checked regularly for signs of mesothelioma and should contact a California mesothelioma lawyer as soon as possible after a diagnosis in order to file any lawsuits within the state’s statute of limitations.

Other California Asbestos Exposure Job Sites

For decades, the U.S. Navy has maintained a number of bases and other naval installations around California. Many were built during World War II to help the war effort by providing skilled sailors, ships, and weapons. During that time, a major component used by the Navy both in building and ship construction was asbestos.

A disproportionate number of U.S. veterans who develop asbestos diseases are those who worked on or served aboard sea-going vessels, such as Navy veterans. Naval shipyards were located in the Bay Area up until the late early 1990s. California’s Naval Base San Diego is the Navy’s largest on the West Coast today.

Naturally Occurring California Asbestos Exposure

Were you aware that asbestos is the Golden State’s official mineral?

Serpentine—the source of chrysotile asbestos—is found in abundance in the foothills of California’s three major mountain ranges.

North of the Los Angeles Basin, California’s three major mountain ranges surround an immense central valley, known as the San Joaquin in the south and the Sacramento in the north. An examination map of California published by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry shows how the locations of serpentine deposits closely follow these mountain ranges.

As the population of California has grown, the demand for housing has sparked the construction of housing developments in the state’s foothills, where construction activity has exposed serpentine deposits, leading to the release of asbestos fibers into the air. This has been happening in the community of El Dorado Hills, located on U.S. Highway 50 about 25 miles east of Sacramento.

There is also a dense cluster of California asbestos deposits located in the Mojave Desert, only 50 miles south of Las Vegas, Nevada.