Asbestos Exposure at BF Goodrich in Calvert City

BF Goodrich was a tire manufacturer founded in 1870 in Akron, Ohio. As the business expanded, it built plants in Calvert City, Louisville, and Paducah, Kentucky. The Calvert City location was an integrated plastics facility that made tires as well as other plastic products.

Tire companies in this era used asbestos in their manufacturing. There was also asbestos insulation throughout their factories and in the tire manufacturing equipment. In addition, they often used industrial talc (which is known to contain asbestos) in the manufacturing process.

Although the BF Goodrich business no longer exists, Michelin still sells tires under this brand name. If you or a loved one developed mesothelioma due to exposure at BF Goodrich, you may be entitled to compensation. To get help, contact us at Satterley & Kelley, PLLC for a free consultation today.

(B.F. Goodrich branded retail tire facility)

Risks of Asbestos Exposure

Asbestos fibers can cause deadly illnesses like mesothelioma, asbestosis, and lung cancer. People who worked in the Calvert City facility or other BF Goodrich plants were highly likely to be exposed.

Tragically, you can develop mesothelioma from a single exposure to asbestos, but the risk increases substantially with repeated exposure. Many of the people who worked in this facility were exposed for decades, increasing their risk substantially.

Asbestos Exposure at Tire and Rubber Factories

Rubber has a lot of carcinogens, meaning that former employees may have heightened cancer risks in addition to the risk of asbestos exposure. For example, the former rubber capital of the world Akron, Ohio, still has extraordinarily high cancer rates due to the area’s history of rubber production.

The factories themselves were also full of asbestos. Due to the material’s heat, flame, and corrosion resistance, asbestos was used to insulate walls, ceilings, and equipment throughout the plant.

People Exposed to Asbestos Through BF Goodrich

BF Goodrich employees were exposed to asbestos fibers while completing many aspects of their jobs including curing, vulcanizing, calendaring, extruding, milling, mixing, storing, inspecting, and finishing rubber components. Additionally, because the fibers are so small, they spread quickly once airborne. That created exposure risks for administrative and managerial employees who were not involved with rubber production.

Not only employees were exposed. People who worked with tires or other rubber materials from BF Goodrich may have also been exposed, including auto mechanics, shipyard employees, and aircraft maintenance crews. The company also made conveyor belts for factories and other businesses, and as the belts frayed, anyone working in their vicinity may have been exposed.

Other Asbestos Exposure Sites in Calvert City, KY

BF Goodrich was not the only manufacturer whose employees were exposed to asbestos in Calvert City. The area also had several other work sites with known asbestos exposures including Airco Alloys, Cumberland Chemical Corp, GAF Corporation, ISP Chemical, National Carbide, Pennsalt Chemicals Corp, and Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing.

The risks varied from company to company, but if you or a loved one worked in manufacturing or related industries in Calvert City, you may have been exposed to asbestos.

What to Do if You Are Diagnosed With Mesothelioma

If you are diagnosed with mesothelioma due to asbestos exposure at BF Goodrich in Calvert City, your first responsibility is to your health. You need to seek treatment for this aggressive disease.

Once you’ve secured medical treatment, find an experienced asbestos attorney. They can pursue justice and compensation, while you focus on your medical treatment. Ideally, you want an attorney with a successful record of winning settlements for their clients, and whenever possible, you want an attorney experienced with your specific exposure site.

When to Contact an Attorney

To protect your rights, you need to contact an attorney as soon as possible after getting a diagnosis or even noticing symptoms. Reaching out as quickly as possible boosts the chances of you getting to participate in your case. It can also simplify the process of finding witnesses who can testify about your case — remember, as time goes on, memories fade and co-workers become harder to find.

Even more importantly, the law only gives you a limited amount of time to act. In Kentucky, the statute of limitations for filing a personal injury lawsuit is one year. Generally, that means you only have a year after your diagnosis to file a suit, and the courts are very strict about these deadlines. If you’re filing suit on behalf of a family member who has passed away, you only have one year from the date their estate was established.

Unfortunately, the worker’s compensation laws in Kentucky may prevent you from bringing a lawsuit against your employer or previous employer for workplace injuries if your last exposure to asbestos was more than 20 years prior to your diagnosis of an asbestos disease. But you may be able to hold others such as asbestos suppliers liable. If you contracted an asbestos disease due to secondary exposure from a relative who worked for BF Goodrich, you have the right to bring a lawsuit against BF Goodrich. In fact, a recent case in the Kentucky Court of Appeals solidified this right for family members.

Get Help Today From Satterley & Kelley

At Satterley & Kelley, PLLC, we have extensive experience fighting for clients who have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, and other illnesses related to asbestos exposure. To learn how we can help you, contact us today for a free consultation.