Mesothelioma and asbestos exposure in Pennsylvania

Documented asbestos exposure in Pennsylvania

We list only sites where asbestos is documented by a government agency or published research. Many other workplaces in Pennsylvania likely used asbestos-containing insulation and equipment, but we do not name a site unless we can point to a record.

Ambler Asbestos Piles (Montgomery County)

EPA describes the 25-acre Ambler Asbestos Piles Superfund site as three asbestos-containing waste piles and a series of now-backfilled lagoons. Three asbestos manufacturing companies disposed of asbestos-containing waste there for more than six decades, contaminating air, soil, sediment, and surface water. The site was added to the Superfund National Priorities List in 1986 and removed in 1996 after cleanup goals were met; maintenance and reviews continue.

Vermiculite plants in Ellwood City and New Castle

Vermiculite mined at Libby, Montana, was contaminated with asbestos. The federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) studied 28 sites around the country that processed it, two of them in western Pennsylvania. The Zonolite Company plant in Ellwood City operated from about 1954 to 1969, and a W.R. Grace plant in New Castle from about 1969 to 1992, where invoices show roughly 172,000 tons received. At Ellwood City, ATSDR found significant community contact with waste rock: former residents reported that as children they played at the "West End playground" on the site, around waste piles where vermiculite waste had been dumped.

Pennsylvania filing deadlines

Pennsylvania allows two years for injury and wrongful death claims (42 Pa.C.S. 5524(2)). For asbestos, 5524(8) says the two years begin on the earlier of the date a licensed physician tells the person they have been injured by asbestos exposure, or the date they knew or reasonably should have known it.

Also note: Asbestos: 2 years from when a doctor informs the person of the injury, or when they knew or should have known, whichever is first (5524(8)).

Deadlines and discovery rules change and depend on the facts. Confirm them with a lawyer licensed in Pennsylvania. Compare other states in our national table.

Treatment in Pennsylvania

NCI lists 4 designated cancer centers in Pennsylvania that see patients:

VA health care in Pennsylvania

Veterans with asbestos-related illness can get care through VA. These VA health care systems serve Pennsylvania; each system's page lists its medical centers and clinics:

• VA Philadelphia health care
• VA Pittsburgh health care
• VA Lebanon health care
• VA Coatesville health care
• VA Wilkes-Barre health care
• VA Butler health care
• VA Erie health care
• VA Altoona health care

For benefits, see veterans and VA benefits or our veteran claim help form.

Workers' compensation

Work-related illness may fall under Pennsylvania Bureau of Workers' Compensation. Each state's system has its own notice and filing deadlines. NCI notes that federal civilian employees and longshore and harbor workers have separate federal programs through the U.S. Department of Labor.

Other states

California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington. See all states.