Located in Annapolis, Maryland, the installation was originally established in 1940 as the Naval Engineering Experiment Station, supporting the design, testing, and evaluation of shipboard propulsion systems, machinery, materials, and damage-control technologies. During the Cold War it became part of the Naval Surface Warfare Center system, developing equipment used aboard Navy surface combatants and submarines. Unlike a naval air station, NSWC Annapolis focused on engineering research rather than fleet operations, testing fire-resistant materials, piping systems, valves, pumps, and mechanical components in engineering laboratories and materials testing facilities before the base closed under the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure process, with operations ending by 1998.
NSWC Annapolis operated a burn pit, documented in environmental records as active between 1972 and 1981, where materials intended for Navy ships were intentionally burned to evaluate their heat resistance and fire hazards. Personnel responsible for fire suppression and emergency response during these tests handled firefighting foam as part of that work, including:
- responding to industrial fires on the installation
- supporting controlled burn tests of shipboard materials
- testing firefighting equipment used to manage those tests
- maintaining foam delivery systems where they existed
- participating in emergency response exercises tied to the research mission
Because this exposure was tied to materials testing rather than recurring crash rescue drills, personnel handled foam in the context of industrial fire protection duties connected to the installation's research mission, real firefighting and fire-testing activity that put crews in contact with the chemical over the course of the burn pit's operation.
Personnel most likely to have been involved include Navy firefighters, installation fire department personnel, fire protection specialists, emergency response personnel, and staff who maintained firefighting equipment or supported the fire testing program.
Kidney cancer and testicular cancer have all been linked to PFAS chemicals found in AFFF among people with this kind of occupational exposure. If you worked in fire protection, emergency response, or fire testing support at NSWC Annapolis and were later diagnosed with one of these cancers, our team can help you find out whether you're eligible to file an AFFF claim.
Because NSWC Annapolis conducted engineering research on naval equipment during the decades when asbestos was standard aboard Navy ships, asbestos-containing materials showed up both in the installation's own buildings and in the shipboard equipment personnel tested in its laboratories. Materials commonly present throughout its labs, machine shops, and utility plants included:
The trades most likely to have encountered these materials while working in NSWC Annapolis's labs and testing facilities include:
Testing and repair work at NSWC Annapolis meant getting hands-on with the actual components going into the fleet, pipe insulation, valve packing, pump linings, and gaskets manufactured during the exact decades when asbestos was standard in naval equipment. The two diseases most closely tied to that work, mesothelioma and lung cancer, don't tend to show up right away, sometimes taking half a century to surface, so personnel from NSWC Annapolis's early decades could be receiving a diagnosis right now without any obvious link back to their time in the lab. Anyone in that position, hands-on equipment work at NSWC Annapolis followed by a mesothelioma or lung cancer diagnosis, should reach out to our team to see if they qualify to file an asbestos claim.