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New Hampshire enjoyed several decades of being a prominent manufacturing state. Paper mills and shoe manufacturing were primary industries in the state. Given its proximity to the coast, it also developed a meaningful shipping industry. Ship building is associated with a higher-than-average risk for mesothelioma from asbestos exposure due to the many uses of asbestos in ships. Asbestos was frequently used in military operations.
If you were diagnosed with mesothelioma, contact our law firm today to learn more about your legal options.
A central source of asbestos exposure in New Hampshire was in the textile industry, a prominent industry in the small state. Asbestos was often used to insulate the machinery that helped weave the fabric. Textile mill workers could have been exposed to asbestos when repairing the machinery in the mill. Additionally, asbestos was actually used in protective gear because of its heat and fire resistance, so workers could have been exposed simply when performing their jobs. Once the fibers were released, workers were at risk of inhaling the dangerous substance. Many of these mills were not ventilated well, so airborne asbestos may have stayed in the environment for prolonged periods of time.
Textile mills and other buildings were often built with asbestos products. Asbestos was part of many construction products, including tiles, insulation, flooring products and roof shingles. When these buildings were shut down, they often left behind asbestos waste products, which may have been dumped into nearby rivers or given away to surrounding property owners. Additionally, older buildings that contained asbestos materials that were demolished or renovated could have released asbestos fibers into the environment.
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New Hampshire Asbestos Regulatory Agencies
New Hampshire Asbestos & Mesothelioma Diagnoses
New Hampshire Concerning Asbestos
New Hampshire Statute Of Limitations
New Hampshire Asbestos Trust Funds
New Hampshire Mesothelioma Verdicts and Settlements
New Hampshire Asbestos Exposure Site List
New Hampshire Mesothelioma Lawyers
New Hampshire Mesothelioma Diagnoses
Reports show New Hampshire is ranked 36th in the state for mesothelioma and asbestosis rates. The state has a higher-than-average mesothelioma diagnosis rate of approximately 11 people per million. Between 1999 and 2015, more than 235 New Hampshire residents were diagnosed with mesothelioma. Hillsborough and Rockingham Counties have the highest rates of diagnoses stemming from mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases in the state. A minimum of 80 New Hampshire residents were diagnosed with asbestosis and more than 904 residents were diagnosed with non-mesothelioma lung cancer between 1999 and 2013.
The cities with the majority of diagnoses are as follows: Portsmouth – Manchester – Concord – Dover – Merrimack – Nashua
New Hampshire Asbestos Laws
Some New Hampshire laws that may impact a plaintiff’s asbestos claim include the following:
Statute of Limitations
The statute of limitations is the deadline by which a lawsuit must be filed in a case. In New Hampshire, the statute of limitations for asbestos cases is three years from the diagnosis of an asbestos-related medical condition or three years from the victim’s date of death for wrongful death claims.
Court Exposure Standard
Asbestos cases are often decided in state courts that apply state laws. Different states use different standards regarding what a plaintiff must establish in order to be eligible for compensation for the damage that he or she sustained. The most common court exposure standard is the Lohrmann test, which requires showing that the defendant’s product was a substantial factor in the plaintiff developing mesothelioma or other asbestos-related condition. The plaintiff usually must show evidence of the frequency, regularity and proximity of exposure to the defendant’s product. New Hampshire has not formally adopted this standard, but courts may look to it for influence. A plaintiff in a personal injury claim must often establish that the defendant was negligence, which often requires showing that the defendant owed a duty of care to the plaintiff and it breached this duty. This breach is sometimes related to the defendant knowing that its products contained asbestos and failing to notify the plaintiff of this possible exposure.
New Hampshire Asbestos Regulatory Agencies and Regulations
In addition to federal regulatory agencies, New Hampshire also has several state organizations that make and enforce environmental rules pertaining to asbestos. Title X of the Public Health Services Act provides a number of state-specific laws regarding the management of asbestos. According to this law, asbestos is defined as “amosite, chrysotile, crocidolite, or asbestiform tremolite, actinolite, or anthophyllite.” The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services is the primary state regulatory authority.
Before renovating or demolishing a building, the owner must hire a licensed professional to inspect for the presence of asbestos. The inspector must thoroughly search for asbestos-containing materials. If the inspector finds asbestos, plans must be made to properly remove and dispose of it according to asbestos regulations. Before starting activity to demolish or renovate a building with asbestos, the property owner must give notification to the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services as well as the local health officer at least 10 working days before starting the project. Notification for renovations is only necessary if the removal involves at least 10 linear feet or 25 square feet of asbestos-containing materials. When demolishing the building, notice must be given even if no asbestos is present.
There are different rules for residential homeowners than commercial projects. Homeowners who live in a single family home can remove asbestos themselves unless they plan on selling their home within six months. However, they are still required to dispose of asbestos in a way that follows state and federal regulations.
Failing to meet asbestos regulations can result in sizable fines being imposed against property owners, or even criminal charges that can result in jail time.
New Hampshire Asbestos Site Exposure List
Some of the military installations, public buildings, universities, paper companies, textile plants and other locations throughout New Hampshire that may have exposed individuals to asbestos include the following:
- Portsmouth Naval Shipyard – Portsmouth
- Pease Air Force Base – Pease
- Peterborough Hospital – Peterborough
- University of New Hampshire – Durham
- Rochester High School – Rochester
- Mary’s College – Greenfield
- Paul’s School – Concord
- Plainfield Grammar School – Plainfield
- Anslem’s College – Goffstown
- Warwick Mills – New Ipswich
- Monadnock Paper Mills – Bennington
- Ashuelot Paper Company, Inc. – Claremont
- Claremont Paper Company – Claremont
- Davis Paper Company – West Hopkinton
- Industrial Pipe and Equipment Corporation – Nashua
- Syntextils, Inc. – Manchester
- Johns-Manville Plant – Nashua
- Bow Power Plant – Bow
- Newingtown Power Plant – Newington
- Public Service Company of New Hampshire – Bow
- Seabrook Nuclear Power Station – Seabrook
- Merrimack Power Plant – Merrimack River
- Littleton Hydro-Electric Dam Project – Littleton
- Farmington Waste Water Plant – Farmington
- Anhauser Busch Brewery – Merrimack
- Budweiser Brewery – Merrimack
New Hampshire Asbestos Trusts
After facing hundreds or thousands of lawsuits, many asbestos companies and companies that were held liable for asbestos exposure responded by filing bankruptcy to shield themselves from this liability. Some of these companies formed asbestos trusts as part of the bankruptcy proceedings, which were responsible for paying claims to current and future claimants for the damages that they sustained. When an asbestos trust is available, a claimant can submit a claim to the trust without having to go through the entire process of litigation.
While there are no companies with asbestos trusts that are headquartered in New Hampshire or asbestos trusts that are administered in New Hampshire, claimants may be able to recover from asbestos trusts from companies that had a presence in the state. For example, Johns Manville Corporation operated in New Hampshire. This company established the Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust and funded it with $2.5 billion. Former employees who were exposed to asbestos at the New Hampshire plant may be able to make a claim against it. A New Hampshire mesothelioma lawyer can explain whether a trust is available based on a person’s occupational and residence history.
New Hampshire Mesothelioma & Asbestos Lawsuits
Reports show New Hampshire has not seen many asbestos cases to trial. In a few notable cases disclosed in the news handled by unaffiliated law firms show:
A jury awarded a man millions in damages in 2011. He had worked on a remodeling project for a few months in 1974 during which he used a joint compound manufactured by Georgia-Pacific. The man was later diagnosed with mesothelioma, and he and his wife filed a lawsuit against Georgia-Pacific, Union Carbide and other asbestos companies. The man settled the case against Georgia-Pacific for considerable dollar figure. At trial, the jury found Union Carbide 80 percent responsible for the man’s injuries.
A man had developed mesothelioma after working for Merrimack Power Station in New Hampshire in the 1970s. A Boston jury awarded him an enormous verdict after the man developed mesothelioma in 2015.
New Hampshire Mesothelioma Law Firms
Some of the New Hampshire law firms that may become co-counsel include:
A Hanover law office that has successfully litigated many personal injury cases. The firm has successfully brought about significant recoveries for a number of clients.
A firm with convenient office locations throughout New England, including one in Nashua. It serves clients in New Hampshire, Massachusetts and across New England. The firm works in a number of practice areas, including personal injury, Social Security Disability and workers’ compensation.
A law firm is based in Boston, but it handles cases across New England. The law firm was established by an attorney doing groundbreaking work for mesothelioma victims and individuals inflicted with other asbestos-related conditions. It is considered the one largest plaintiff’s law firm in New England. The firm also established housing for victims of mesothelioma and other asbestos-related conditions and their families. The attorneys focus on personal injury cases, including a practice dedicated to mesothelioma.
This law firm focuses on personal injury cases, including asbestos, mesothelioma and pharmaceutical litigation. Collectively, the firm has fought for thousands of injured victims. They have negotiated thousands of settlements.
