Los Angeles Mesothelioma Attorney

More than twenty years after a mining ban drastically decreased the supply of asbestos, this substance is still in the news. In 2018, tenants at a West Hollywood apartment complex were forced to leave their homes while officials cleaned up massive asbestos contamination. According to one resident, “Basically the whole building was exposed to airborne dust from asbestos.” Since this hazardous substance is still technically legal to use, other asbestos hotspots abound in the area. More on that below.

The compassionate Los Angeles mesothelioma attorneys at the Throneberry Law Group understand the immense pain and suffering their victims and their families must face. This dreadful disease has touched many of the people on our professional team. This understanding motivates us to find fast and efficient solutions. Normally, victims and survivors have several legal options. So, we carefully, yet quickly, evaluate your situation and diligently fight for you in court.

Los Angeles began growing significantly in the 1930s. That was also about the time mechanized asbestos mining made this mineral even cheaper. Homebuilders and commercial construction companies looking for a quick, efficient, and cheap insulator almost always would choose asbestos.

Furthermore, the U.S. Navy has always had a strong presence in SoCal. Before 1980, shipbuilders laced these vessels with asbestos.

As a result, exposure hotspots abound in the area, such as:

• California Naval Shipyard: Asbestos affected several locations in the now-closed West Coast shipyard. In November 2003, the U.S. Navy released information on its plan to build a groundwater containment barrier and extraction trench. Engineers hoped to prevent asbestos-contaminated groundwater from entering the surrounding wetlands and tidal marshes.
• Moore Dry Dock Company: The More Dry Dock Company also used a lot of asbestos on vessels. Juries have awarded large sums to plaintiffs in asbestos cases against the shipyard. In 1942, the United States Maritime Commission notified workers about the dangers of asbestos, but the facility kept using this substance.
• Superfund Sites: The EPA added the South Bay Asbestos Area to the Superfund National Priorities List in 1986. The 550-acre property in Alviso is home to three landfills that received asbestos wastes from a nearby asbestos-cement pipe manufacturing plant. Major cleanups took place in the 1980s and 1990s, and cleanup efforts are currently ongoing, according to the EPA.

Many local industrial facilities, such as Industrial Waste Processing and Purity Oil Sales, Inc., feature asbestos insulation. Builders also used asbestos, mostly chrysotile (white) asbestos, to wrap pipes and electrical wires.

A Los Angeles mesothelioma attorney normally represents primary, secondary, and tertiary asbestos exposure victims.

Welders, pipefitters, and many other individuals worked directly with asbestos-laced products, like the aforementioned chrysotile asbestos. This thin, crumbly substance quickly breaks down, releasing toxic dust and fibers into the air.

Asbestos exposure risk did not end at the construction site. When these workers ventured into the office, commissary, or other common area, they polluted that area with toxic asbestos particles. Just one microscopic particle could cause mesothelioma, which is a rare and aggressive form of lung cancer.

When these workers went home to their families, they usually did not know they carried toxic fibers along with them. These victims, like primary and secondary exposure victims, often have multiple legal options.

For many decades, toxic asbestos particles blanketed much of SoCal. For a free consultation with an experienced Los Angeles mesothelioma lawyer, contact the Throneberry Law Group. You have a limited amount of time to act.