The Todd Pacific Shipyards Company, based in Seattle, Washington, has acquired and operated a number of shipbuilding and repair facilities on the West Coast since 1916. While the company has grown and shrunk over the years, it continues to play a major role in the shipbuilding industry.

In 1949, Todd Shipyards opened a smaller shipyard to supplement the Oakland yard. This facility was located at Golden Gate in San Francisco Bay. This facility operated as a dry dock and repair facility into the 1980s. The facility concentrated on the repair and maintenance of a large variety of commercial vessels, including tugboats, freighters, and fishing boats. The San Francisco yard was also involved in many repairs for the U.S. Navy.

Workers at the San Francisco shipyard were routinely exposed to asbestos, which was commonly used as fireproofing and insulation material for the boilers and steam pipes on ships. Workers were rarely issued protective equipment such as gloves and respirators to protect them from asbestos fibers, and the enclosed spaces in which they worked contributed to the level of exposure they received. Exposure to asbestos fibers has been established as a strong precursor to the development of lung cancer, asbestosis, and mesothelioma, a virulent cancer of the pleural membranes of the chest and abdomen.

Despite research dating from the late 1800s showing a link between asbestos and various illnesses, industries were slow to change working conditions at their facilities and exposure to asbestos continued. Thousands of deaths and illnesses of former shipyard employees have been attributed to asbestosis, mesothelioma, and other conditions related to asbestos exposure. Over the last thirty years, legal actions related to these damages have resulted in millions of dollars worth of jury awards and settlements.

Mesothelioma News

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