Avondale Shipyard Asbestos Exposure

For decades, thousands of people worked at Avondale Shipyard building and repairing military and commercial vessels along the Mississippi River near New Orleans. Many worked around asbestos insulation, pipe covering, gaskets, cement, and other materials used throughout ships constructed during that era.

The effects of Avondale Shipyard asbestos exposure are still being diagnosed today. Mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases frequently develop decades after exposure, when a former shipyard worker might be retired and unable to remember the names of the products used around them.

If you worked at Avondale and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, lung cancer, or another asbestos-related disease, your trade, employment dates, and the vessels or areas where you worked can help trace the source of your exposure. 

Call The Lyon Firm at (513) 381-2333 for a free consultation about your legal options.

Avondale Shipyard History

Avondale Shipyard began operations in 1938 in Avondale, Louisiana, on the west bank of the Mississippi River near New Orleans. Over the following decades, the yard grew into one of the country's major shipbuilding operations.

Avondale built commercial vessels as well as ships for the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard. Federal court records show that from 1952 through 1976, the majority of ocean-going vessels built at Avondale fulfilled federal government contracts.

The shipyard operated under several owners and names during its history, including Avondale Industries and Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding. Huntington Ingalls Industries later became Avondale's successor in interest.

By the 1970s, the U.S. Maritime Administration described Avondale as one of the country's largest and most diversified shipyards. Its work included dry cargo ships, tankers, Navy vessels, Coast Guard cutters, offshore drilling rigs, drillships, and LASH vessels. The yard ultimately closed in 2014.

Notable Ships Built and Repaired at Avondale

Avondale's military contracts are significant to its asbestos history because Navy and Coast Guard vessels constructed during the mid-20th century relied heavily on insulation and other heat-resistant materials.

Ships built at Avondale included Navy frigates, destroyer escorts, fleet oilers, Coast Guard cutters, commercial tankers, cargo vessels, and other ships. Examples include:

• USS Brumby (DE-1044/FF-1044), laid down at Avondale in 1963 and commissioned in 1965
• USCGC Chase (WHEC-718), built at Avondale beginning in 1966 and commissioned in 1968
• Navy fleet oilers
• Coast Guard cutters
• LASH vessels
• Commercial tankers
• LNG carriers
• Offshore drilling vessels and rigs

The Naval History and Heritage Command confirms that Brumby was built at Avondale, while Coast Guard historical records identify Avondale as the builder of Chase.

Avondale also performed repair and refurbishment work. Sailors and other crew members could have encountered asbestos while their vessels were undergoing work at the yard even though they were never employed by Avondale.

Asbestos Use at Avondale Shipyard

Asbestos was widely incorporated into ships because it resisted heat and fire. It was commonly associated with high-temperature equipment and systems where insulation was required.

At Avondale, asbestos-containing materials were used around areas such as:

• Steam pipes
• Boilers
• Engine rooms
• Turbines
• Pumps and valves
• Bulkheads
• Electrical systems
• Decks
• Machinery
• Gaskets and packing
• Fireproofing materials
• Insulated piping

Federal court records provide unusually specific documentation of asbestos use at the yard. In litigation involving a longtime Avondale employee, the Fifth Circuit reported that government specifications for Navy and Coast Guard vessels required asbestos insulation through at least 1968. The worker had been employed at Avondale from 1948 to 1996 and performed jobs that included cleaning up insulation materials and working aboard vessels constructed for the Navy and Coast Guard.

Another Fifth Circuit case involving Avondale records a federal ship specification requiring insulating material made from 85% magnesia or molded amosite asbestos. These records help establish why workers involved in ship construction during this period encountered asbestos even when they did not personally install insulation.

Who Was Exposed to Asbestos at Avondale Shipyard?

Ship construction put numerous trades into the same vessels and work areas. A worker did not have to install asbestos products personally to inhale fibers released nearby.

Jobs associated with potential exposure included:

• Insulators
• Pipefitters
• Plumbers
• Machinists
• Welders
• Electricians
• Boilermakers
• Painters
• Sheet metal workers
• Carpenters
• Laborers and cleanup crews
• Maintenance workers
• Engineers
• Shipfitters
• Contractors
• Navy and Coast Guard personnel

Exposure was not limited to the crews installing insulation. A machinist working beside pipefitters or insulators could breathe fibers released when old insulation was cut or removed, while laborers cleaning work areas handled dust and debris left by other trades. Federal court cases involving former Avondale workers document alleged exposures among cleanup laborers, painter-blasters, sheet metal workers, and other trades.

Asbestos also left the shipyard on workers' clothing, shoes, hair, and belongings. Family members who handled dusty work clothes or had close contact with a worker could have been exposed at home.

Which Diseases Are Associated With Shipyard Asbestos Exposure?

Asbestos fibers are small enough to be inhaled into the lungs. Some asbestos diseases develop only after a latency period lasting decades, which explains why former shipyard workers continue receiving diagnoses long after their employment ended.

Diseases associated with asbestos exposure include:

• Mesothelioma
• Lung cancer
• Esophageal cancer
• Colorectal cancer
• Asbestosis
• Pleural thickening
• Pleural plaques
• Other asbestos-related respiratory conditions

A diagnosis many years after leaving Avondale does not make the occupational history irrelevant. For mesothelioma patients, the investigation frequently reaches back to jobs held decades before symptoms appeared.

You do not need a list of every vessel, contractor, or asbestos product from your years at the shipyard. Your job, employment dates, work areas, and any vessels you remember provide a place to begin researching the exposure.

Call The Lyon Firm at (513) 381-2333 or request an asbestos case review online.

What Asbestos Products Were Used in Shipbuilding?

A large vessel required extensive insulation and fire protection, which meant asbestos-containing materials could be found throughout working areas aboard a ship.

Products historically associated with shipbuilding include:

• Pipe insulation
• Block insulation
• Insulating cement
• Boiler insulation
• Gaskets
• Valve and pump packing
• Fireproofing
• Electrical insulation
• Decking materials
• Asbestos cloth
• Thermal blankets
• Adhesives
• Paneling and wall materials

Maintenance and repair created additional opportunities for exposure. Removing deteriorated insulation, replacing gaskets, opening equipment, cutting materials, and cleaning debris disturbed asbestos-containing products and released fibers into the work area.

For families researching asbestos Avondale shipyards exposure decades later, the worker's occupation, employment dates, vessels, and departments help narrow down which products and manufacturers were present.

Asbestos Company Trust Funds for Avondale Workers

Avondale relied on outside manufacturers for insulation, gaskets, cement, refractory materials, and other asbestos-containing products used aboard its ships. Some of those manufacturers later entered bankruptcy and established asbestos trust funds to compensate people diagnosed with diseases connected to their products.

Companies associated with historical Avondale exposure that later established trusts include:

• Armstrong World Industries
• Babcock & Wilcox
• Combustion Engineering
• Fibreboard
• Flintkote
• Flexitallic
• Keene Corporation
• North American Refractories Company (NARCO)
• Owens Corning
• Pittsburgh Corning
• Turner & Newall
• United States Gypsum

Each trust has its own requirements for proving an asbestos-related diagnosis and exposure to the company's products. A former Avondale worker's history could support claims with several trusts, but working at the shipyard by itself does not establish eligibility. The products used around the worker, the job performed, the years of employment, and other exposure details help determine which trusts are relevant.

What Compensation Is Available in an Asbestos Case?

Mesothelioma and other serious asbestos diseases bring medical and financial losses that affect both the person diagnosed and the family caring for them.

Depending on the claim, compensation could address:

• Medical treatment
• Lost wages and reduced earning capacity
• Travel related to medical care
• In-home assistance
• Pain and suffering
• Other financial losses
• Funeral and burial expenses in wrongful death cases
• Losses suffered by surviving family members

An asbestos case could involve several sources of recovery rather than one settlement from one company.

A Martindale-Nolo survey found that personal injury claimants represented by attorneys received average net payouts nearly three times higher than those who handled their claims without one. The survey covered personal injury cases generally, not asbestos claims.

How to Seek Compensation After Avondale Asbestos Exposure

Compensation for an asbestos-related disease depends on the person's exposure history, diagnosis, responsible companies, and available claims.

Potential sources include:

• Asbestos trust fund claims. Claims could be available through bankruptcy trusts established by manufacturers whose products were used at Avondale.
• Claims against asbestos companies. Companies that remain legally responsible for asbestos products could be defendants in litigation.
• Wrongful death claims. When mesothelioma or another asbestos-related disease results in death, surviving family members could have legal claims.
• VA benefits. Veterans whose asbestos exposure occurred during military service could also qualify for benefits through the Department of Veterans Affairs. VA benefits and claims against asbestos manufacturers involve separate systems.

An Avondale Shipyard asbestos lawsuit requires identifying the companies legally responsible for the asbestos products connected to the person's exposure. The defendants and available claims therefore differ from one worker to another.

How Does an Asbestos Attorney Investigate Avondale Exposure?

Someone diagnosed 30 or 40 years after leaving a shipyard is unlikely to remember every product encountered during a workday. The investigation can begin with information the person does remember, including:

• Employment dates
• Job title and trade
• Departments or areas of the yard
• Ships worked aboard
• Coworkers
• Contractors working nearby
• Tasks performed
• Insulation or other materials the worker recalls

Those details can be compared with historical information about the vessels, asbestos products, manufacturers, contractors, and trades present at Avondale during the same period. 

The investigation should also account for the rest of the person's work history. Time spent at other shipyards, refineries, power plants, construction sites, military installations, or industrial facilities could point to additional asbestos companies and trust funds connected to the same diagnosis.

Why Choose The Lyon Firm for an Avondale Asbestos Claim?

The Lyon Firm has secured multimillion-dollar recoveries for families affected by occupational asbestos exposure, including $3.27 million and $2.3 million mesothelioma settlements for the families of steel workers exposed on the job.

Those cases also show how Joe Lyon approaches a mesothelioma claim when the client's health leaves little time to investigate decades of exposure. 

In the $2.3 million case, the worker was diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma in February 2016 and died only weeks later. Joe met with the family at their home the same day they contacted the firm and made additional hospital visits as the disease progressed. Our firm used historical records and prior asbestos litigation to identify the responsible companies and pursue the case.

That experience is relevant to Avondale workers whose exposure could date back several decades and involve numerous asbestos manufacturers. The Lyon Firm has handled occupational asbestos cases involving industrial worksites and obtained multiple seven-figure asbestos settlements.

“In a desperate life altering crisis, Joe Lyon quietly entered my life. My husband was losing battle with mesothelioma. Joe came respectfully, professionally, kindly and beneficially towards our family. I felt he was Heaven sent. It has been an honor to know and work with Joe.”

— Marlene Beal | Asbestos Client