Pennsylvania’s asbestos exposure sites follow the path of its heavy industry. They include the shipyards along the Delaware River, the steel plants of the Lehigh Valley, Johnstown, and Steelton, the refineries of Delaware County, the Pennsylvania Railroad shops in Altoona, and the asbestos factories of Ambler. Workers from these places, and the family members they came home to, make up many of the mesothelioma cases filed in Pennsylvania today.
Where you or a loved one worked is central to any asbestos case. How asbestos causes illness is a medical question, and the answer is largely the same everywhere. This guide focuses on the job sites. Each page below explains what the facility did, which trades worked around asbestos there, and what records may still exist to support a claim.
Delaware River Shipyard Asbestos Exposure in Philadelphia and Chester
Few industries packed more asbestos into tight spaces than shipbuilding. Insulation covered boilers, steam lines, and turbines throughout the ships of that era. Pipefitters, insulators, boilermakers, and other trades installed and removed it below deck, often with little ventilation.
Pennsylvania was home to two major yards. The Philadelphia Naval Shipyard built and overhauled Navy vessels at League Island for generations before it closed. Downriver, Sun Shipbuilding & Dry Dock in Chester ranked among the world’s largest shipyards during wartime. Other yards drew from the same regional workforce, including Cramp Shipbuilding in Philadelphia and the New York Shipbuilding yard across the river in Camden.
Bethlehem Steel and Pennsylvania Steel Mill Asbestos Exposure
Steelmaking depends on extreme heat. For much of the industry’s history, asbestos was the material used to contain it, in furnace insulation, pipe covering, protective clothing, gaskets, and cements. Bethlehem Steel was the leading name in the state. Its Pennsylvania operations centered on the home plant in Bethlehem, the Johnstown works in Cambria County, and the rail mill at Steelton near Harrisburg.
Bethlehem was not alone. Lukens Steel in Coatesville, Phoenix Iron and Steel in Phoenixville, Alan Wood Steel in Conshohocken, Crucible Steel in Midland, and the U.S. Steel works in the Monongahela Valley all relied on asbestos in similar ways. Workers from these mills appear in the same court records.
Marcus Hook and Delaware County Refinery Asbestos Exposure
The lower Delaware County waterfront was one of the oldest refinery corridors on the East Coast. Refineries are full of insulated piping, boilers, and heat exchangers. During routine maintenance shutdowns, crews stripped out and replaced asbestos insulation again and again. The Marcus Hook refineries page covers the Sun Oil plant, its neighboring facilities, and the trades and contractor crews who worked there.
Altoona Railroad Shops Asbestos Exposure and FELA Claims
The Pennsylvania Railroad built and repaired its locomotives in Altoona, in shops widely described as the largest of their kind in the world. Steam locomotive boilers were wrapped in asbestos insulation, and removing and replacing it was routine shop work. The Pennsylvania Railroad Altoona Works page also explains FELA, the federal law that covers injury claims by railroad workers in place of standard workers’ compensation.
Ambler Asbestos Manufacturing and Keasbey & Mattison Superfund Sites
Most Pennsylvania job sites used asbestos. Ambler, in Montgomery County, produced it. Keasbey & Mattison manufactured asbestos insulation, shingles, pipe, and other building products there. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency later designated Superfund sites in the area due to waste left behind by manufacturing. The full history is at Ambler and Keasbey & Mattison.
Other PA Asbestos Exposure Sites: Power Plants, Factories, and Mills
The sites above are starting points, not a complete list. Asbestos exposure has also been documented at Armstrong plants in Lancaster, Baldwin Locomotive Works in Eddystone, General Electric works in Erie, Alcoa operations in New Kensington, and at many power plants, chemical plants, and mills throughout the state. We are still adding coverage of these locations. If the place you remember is not listed, exposure there may still be provable.
How Pennsylvania Job Site Records Help Prove a Mesothelioma Claim
Decades of asbestos litigation have built a detailed record of Pennsylvania’s industrial sites. That record shows which products went into which buildings, which contractors handled the insulation, and what former workers have said under oath about the dust. Families don’t have to rebuild a job site from memory. An employer’s name and a trade are often enough to begin.
Philadelphia Asbestos Docket and Free Mesothelioma Case Review
Philadelphia has long operated a dedicated court program for asbestos cases, and Michael Schafle handles cases on that docket. Legal deadlines for asbestos claims vary with each family’s circumstances, so it helps to have a case reviewed early.
If you or someone in your family worked at one of these sites and has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, request a free case review. We can compare the site history with your work history.