Bethlehem Shipbuilding (Sparrows Point, MD)

Bethlehem Shipbuilding at Sparrows Point was an iron and steel plant from 1889 until the time that it was sold in 1997 to Veritas Capital Fund, a New York-based merchant banking and investment firm. Veritas assumed operations at that time and changed its name to Baltimore Marine, Inc.  The company was liquidated at auction in 2003. 

Facilities at the yard included a graving dock measuring 1,200 feet by 200 feet (365 meters by 61 meters) for ships up to 300,000 tons, a floating drydock with lifting capacity of up to 40,000 tons capable of docking vessels up to 950 feet (289 meters) in length, and two full-service outfitting piers provide nearly 3,000 feet of berthing space. 

In 1997, Bethlehem Steel - original owner of the yard and the second largest steel producer in the United States with annual revenues of $5 billion and shipments of nine million tons of steel annually - reached a settlement with the EPA as to a wide range of environmental issues, including air-pollution violations from 1990 to 1995, air emissions, waste-water discharges, and solid-waste management.

Like most shipyards, asbestos was an issue at Bethlehem Shipbuilding as well, particularly prior to the asbestos warnings issued in the mid-1970s.  Workers at the Sparrows Point facility were often exposed to dangerous asbestos while working on both new construction and ship repairs. Even those who worked at the yard in the 1980s and 90s may have been exposed to asbestos found in older ships that were undergoing repair.
Products such as concrete, pipes, gaskets, floor and ceiling tiles, and many others usually contained asbestos.  As these items were often damaged during repair or construction, workers may have inhaled hazardous airborne fibers.

Did you develop mesothelioma due to your employment at Bethlehem Shipbuilding?  If so, you have legal rights as a victim of this aggressive cancer.  Learn more about the disease and your legal resource by ordering our free Mesothelioma Information Kit.