Colorado (CO) Asbestos And Mesothelioma General, Medical, & Legal Resources

Colorado (CO) Asbestos Resources & Information:

Companies in Colorado at which workers were exposed to asbestos include Conoco, Ultramar-Diamond and a number of power plants in the state. Geographic locations include Aspen, Boulder, Colorado Springs, Denver, Fort Collins, Grand Junction, Vail.

This is not an exhaustive list; any industry in which heat or corrosive chemicals posed a danger usually involved asbestos exposure.

It's important to keep in mind that in many cases, small employers in Colorado and elsewhere were as ignorant of asbestos hazards as their workers, which is why lawsuits initially against former employers usually turn into lawsuits against companies who manufactured, processed and/or supplied the asbestos.

In addition, asbestos in Colorado can be found in the ground as well--both as naturally-occurring deposits and as a pollutant.

Which is Which?

Naturally-occurring asbestos in Colorado--which includes some fibrous amphiboles (the type with long, spear-like fibers)--tends to occur along the Rocky Mountain Front. At least two amphibole deposits are located in the San Juan Mountains in the southwestern corner of the state, one of which is near the town of Cortez.

However, asbestos has also been left behind by industrial operations and military bases that have been abandoned. Unfortunately, this has posed some danger to residential neighborhoods that have started to spread along the east slope of the Rockies as the Denver metro area population continues to grow.

An example of this danger was reported when contractors in the Lowry area started excavating for a housing development near a former Air Force base.
The work activities released a large amount of asbestos fibers into the air.

What was especially unfortunate about this particular incident is that the Colorado State Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) had specifically noted that site over four years earlier as one that possibly posed an asbestos hazard. Colorado State law requires that certified asbestos inspectors from the CDPHE be present at any work site where asbestos is a concern prior to the start of work.

This protocol was not followed in the Lowry incident; work had been underway for three hours before the CDPHE inspectors arrived.

Small, former mining towns in the mountains also face asbestos issues, as part of the legacy of the industries that gave birth to them. For example, the old Black Cloud Mine in Leadville has been closed for nearly four decades, yet continues to pose an asbestos threat. Asarco, the Arizona-based corporation that still owns the property, has attempted to seek bankruptcy protection, but is still under a court order to clean up the site.

Another unfortunate situation has developed in a number of small farming communities on the plains in the eastern part of the state as well. In the town of Deer Trail, effects of a flood that occurred in the early 1960s are still causing hardships; one of the structures that was a victim of the flooding, the Schindler Building, has never been renovated, and cannot be demolished because of the costs of asbestos abatement.

This situation is also the case in many other small Colorado communities. The costs to deal with the asbestos are in most cases several times what the property is worth--and are often more than the entire annual budget of such towns. Eaton, Eads and Fowler are other towns that are affected.

The Colorado Asbestos Control Act

Part of the reason that asbestos abatement is especially costly is because Colorado has some of the strictest standards for asbestos contractors in the nation. The Colorado Asbestos Control Act, enacted in 2001 for a four-year period, was designed to provide oversight and regulation of certification of asbestos workers at all levels.

Licensing and annual certification fees are also steep; asbestos workers must pay $122.50 per year, while a 3-year license for a general abatement contractor runs $525.

Colorado (CO) Asbestos & Mesothelioma Treatment Centers

Today, between 25 and 30% of all Americans will get some form of cancer during their lifetimes. There are many reasons for this, including the modern lifestyle and the poisons that have been put into the environment – of which asbestos is a prime example.

The number of clinics and hospitals that specialize in oncology have increased in response to the growing number of patients. Below is a list of the cancer treatment centers located in Colorado (CO) that we feature on Asbestos.net:

Clinical Trials Serving Colorado (CO):

A clinical trial is when new medications and treatments are tested on human subjects. Participation in such studies can entail some risks, but for some who are facing an invariably fatal disease, they also represent an opportunity – not only for personal relief, but to serve the greater good in the advancement of medical knowledge.

Below is a list of clinical trials with locations in Colorado (CO):

Colorado (CO) Legal Resources: Asbestos, Asbestos Cancer & Mesothelioma

The majority of mesothelioma lawsuits in Colorado have been related to the mining industry there. In general, verdicts in these lawsuits have been in the victim's favor. Additionally, Colorado courts have ruled that mining companies are responsible for their actions and the damages owed even if they have filed for bankruptcy. Prior to these cases, other asbestos-related lawsuits in the state were also decided in favor of the victim. A significant aspect about these cases is that several of them have confirmed that Colorado businesses must take responsibility with regard to the control of asbestos, even when the company doesn't manufacture the entire product that causes the problem and even when the company has only recently taken control of the asbestos-related assets of another company. This serves to prove that Colorado is pro-victim and not pro-corporation in its history of mesothelioma law.

In regards to the mining issues, Asarco has been a major defendant in Colorado's asbestos-related cases. The company has been hit with claims of asbestos poisoning demanding about $2.6 billion in damages, and other creditors have sought a total of about $13.5 billion from the company. In 2005, facing several complex environmental issues regarding its Black Cloud mine, including hundreds of asbestos lawsuits citing asbestos poisoning, Asarco declared bankruptcy. The company then argued it should not be held responsible for clean-up of its mines. The courts, however, determined that declaring bankruptcy did not absolve Asarco of its obligation to clean up leaks from its Leadville, Colorado, mine. Asarco has recently reached settlements with many of the people who had filed suit against them.

Prior to the mining cases, other asbestos cases in Colorado were also pro-victim. For example, in 1986, in Gibson v. Armstrong World Industries, Inc., the United States District Court for Colorado ruled that because it purchased the assets of and continued the manufacture of Keasbey & Mattison Company's asbestos-containing products, Nicolet, Inc., was liable to asbestos victims as the successor-in-interest to Keasbey & Mattison. This was important because it meant that victims of mesothelioma were able to pursue damages from more defendants than had originally been the case in the state. It also made clear that companies in Colorado are responsible for their assets upon taking control of them.

In the following year, in Rice v. Armstrong World Indus., Inc., defendant John Crane argued that, even though it relabeled and sold to the public the product that caused the plaintiff's asbestos-related disease, it should not be held liable for the disease because it did not actually manufacture the product. The United States District Court for Colorado denied summary judgment for defendant John Crane in the case. This further confirmed the responsibility that companies in Colorado have for their actions and assets.

The statute of limitations for personal injury law in Colorado is two years with a discovery rule that states that this amount of time begins when the problem (in this case the mesothelioma) either was discovered or should have been discovered. Wrongful death cases fall under the same statute of limitations and follow the same discovery rule. Colorado has no specific statutes about asbestos.

Individuals who are concerned that they may have been exposed to asbestos should check into the issue prior to the statute of limitations running out. Those who aren't sure should know that the major locations in which there have been problems in the state have been in those areas closest to the mines. Additionally, asbestos-related disease has been found in the area surrounding the Colorado Rockies.