A steam turbine is built to handle extreme heat, and for much of the twentieth century, asbestos was the material that made that possible. Westinghouse built steam turbines and related heavy equipment at its Lester plant, officially known as the South Philadelphia Works, in Tinicum Township, beside Essington. The plant opened around the end of World War I and ran for decades afterward, serving power utilities and the Navy. The workers who built, insulated, and tested those machines had some of the most direct asbestos contact in Delaware County’s industry.
History of the Westinghouse South Philadelphia Works in Lester
Westinghouse built the Lester Works on the Delaware Riverfront in the late 1910s, on land that now lies beside Philadelphia International Airport. The plant became one of the company’s major manufacturing sites. It produced turbines and ship propulsion machinery on a scale that made it a fixture of the lower Delaware industrial corridor and a leading employer for Essington, Lester, and nearby towns.
Why Steam Turbine Manufacturing Caused Asbestos Exposure
The National Cancer Institute notes that asbestos was widely used in insulation and heat-resistant products for much of the last century (NCI asbestos fact sheet). Turbines relied on these materials heavily. Casings and steam piping were wrapped in insulation, joints were sealed with asbestos gaskets and packing, and insulating blankets and cements were fitted around hot sections. Building and testing turbines meant cutting, fitting, and reworking these materials on the shop floor. Repair and rework jobs disturbed the existing insulation.
Lester Plant Jobs With Asbestos Exposure Risk
- Insulators and laggers fitting turbine and pipe insulation
- Machinists and assemblers on the erecting floor
- Pipefitters and welders on steam and test piping
- Workers building condensers, pumps, and reduction gears
- Electrical assemblers who shared the same shop air
- Test crews running turbines under steam
Bystander and Secondhand Asbestos Exposure at Westinghouse
Shop air carried dust well beyond the insulation benches, so workers who never handled the material themselves can still have Lester exposure in their histories. Families were affected, too. The NCI notes that fibers carried home on work clothing exposed household members.
Asbestos Exposure Sites Along the Lower Delaware River Corridor
Lester sat in a dense stretch of heavy industry along the river. Many workers split their careers between Westinghouse and neighboring employers, including the Baldwin Locomotive Works at Eddystone just downriver. Others went on to install or service turbines at the region’s generating stations, covered on our PECO power plants page. Every workplace in a work history can be added as a responsible manufacturer to a claim. The Pennsylvania asbestos exposure sites index covers the full corridor.
Filing a Mesothelioma Claim Decades After Exposure
Mesothelioma often appears many decades after asbestos exposure, which places the plant’s later working years squarely within today’s diagnosis window. Pennsylvania sets strict filing deadlines, and the clock can begin running at the time of diagnosis, so it is wise to speak with a lawyer promptly. Claims are brought against the companies that made and supplied the asbestos products used in the plant and its machines. Asbestos bankruptcy trusts also pay claims on behalf of many companies that no longer operate in their original form.
Navy Veterans and Shipboard Asbestos Exposure
Military service is a common second chapter in Lester work histories. The plant built marine propulsion machinery, and many of its workers served aboard ships powered by the same kind of equipment they later built or tested. Shipboard engine rooms carried their own asbestos exposure, and a single claim can rest on both chapters. Tell your lawyer about any military service, even if it seems long ago or unrelated. Service records are generally easy to request and fit directly into the same case file.
Essington Mesothelioma Lawyer for Westinghouse Lester Workers
Turbine plant work histories are well documented in asbestos litigation, and Delaware County families have access to Philadelphia’s dedicated asbestos court program next door. Your family’s role is to share the outline of the work: the building, the trade, and the general years. Connecting that outline to the Lester plant and its products is the lawyer’s job. Michael C. Schafle, Esq. is counsel in the Philadelphia asbestos docket (In re: Asbestos Litigation, No. 1986-00001) and personally reviews these histories. The Essington mesothelioma lawyer page explains the local process. Request a free case review to get started.