The Lyon Firm is investigating mesothelioma and lung cancer cases on behalf of former workers at the King City Asbestos Company (KCAC) mine in the Coalinga asbestos district of San Benito and Fresno, California. After decades of operation, KCAC was the last asbestos operation in the United States, closing in 2002.
Created by Union Carbide in 1963, the King City Asbestos Company operated the largest asbestos mine in the world. Located near Fresno, California, the company first estimated that they could mine the mountain for 4,000 years and still not tap all the asbestos on site. Union Carbide employed hundreds of people who mined chrysotile asbestos until 1985.
Union Carbide originally sold King City asbestos to manufacturers of building and construction materials, which included wallboard, paint, joint compound, and various types of adhesives. This material was added to various products to increase the strength, as well as the insulating and fire-proofing properties.
In 2004, an investigative report by LA Times reporter Lisa Girion cited tests that Union Carbide performed as early as the 1960’s on the safety of asbestos which allegedly proved that the company knew asbestos was toxic but continued operations. Many companies denied any knowledge that the material was dangerous, but have since been held accountable for their part in a major health crisis that followed their mining operations.
As early as 1973, a team from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York examined some Pacific Asbestos workers and chest X-rays showed lung abnormalities in 59 percent of those who had worked at the asbestos mill for five to 10 years. There have been documented cases of family members of asbestos workers contracting mesothelioma because workers dragged it home on their clothing.
Does Asbestos Cause Mesothelioma?
Mesothelioma is a unique form of cancer, with direct links to asbestos exposure. These dangerous fibers can sit latent for decades in the lining of the digestive tract or in the lungs before symptoms surface. Typically, by the time the symptoms are noticed, the cancer has already progressed.
Tens of thousands of mesothelioma cancer cases have been diagnosed over the last 40 years, mostly in former workers in heavy industries like shipbuilding, steel plants, auto plants, power plants and various manufacturing.
Any former King City (KCAC) employee should be monitored regularly for symptoms of lung cancer, asbestosis, and mesothelioma.
