When the dryer felts needed to be replaced, the new felts were cut by hand and fitted - another process that posed a major threat to the workers’ health.
Not only the people involved in the production were put in danger, but also the workers that had to repair and do maintenance work on the machinery. By cutting, sanding, or removing parts of the machines, asbestos dust was produced and its particles spread around these factories.
Asbestos-related illnesses like mesothelioma or asbestosis were the result of the asbestos exposure these paper mill workers had to go through. The risk of developing these diseases was not limited to the workers but their families could easily inhale the poisonous fibers brought home on clothes and body.
Relevant job titles
- paper mill laborer
- paper mill worker
- mill yard technician
- paper folder
- press operator
- sorter
- storeroom laborer
Asbestos-related cancer eligible for filing a claim
If you developed one of the following cancers as a result of occupational exposure, you are eligible for compensation. If you are too ill, a family member can help you with the legal process. In the unfortunate event that you pass away before recovering compensation, your surviving family members will receive compensation on your behalf.
If, however, you struggle with non-cancerous pleural diseases such as asbestosis, pulmonary fibrosis, pleural plaques, pleural effusion, diffuse pleural thickening, COPD (emphysema & chronic bronchitis), pleurisy, lung nodules, lung spots, asthma, pneumonitis, tuberculosis, rounded atelectasis or lung scarring, please seek a second or even a third opinion as the rate of misdiagnosis is very high among the victims of asbestos exposure.
Companies that exposed paper mill workers to asbestos
- Owens Corning
- James River Corporation
- Wheelabrator Frye Inc.
- Rust International Inc.
- Potlatch Paper Mill
Boise City, Idaho - Idaho
- Boise Cascade Corporation
Kalamazoo, Michigan - Michigan
- Allied Paper Corporation
Richmond, Virginia - Virginia
- General Dynamics Corporation - National Steel and Shipbuilding Co. (NASSCO)
- Chesapeake Corporation
Austin, Texas - Texas
- Temple Inland, Inc.
Deerfield, Illinois - Illinois
- Gaylord Container Corporation
- Solo Cup Company
- Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation
Georgia, Atlanta - Georgia
- Georgia-Pacific LLC
- Rayonier Inc.
- Union Bag and Paper Company
- RockTenn Paper and Packaging
Green Bay, Wisconsin - Wisconsin
- Fort Howard Paper Company
- Bemis Company, Inc.
- Kimberly-Clark paper plant
- Wausau Paper Corp.
Hamilton, Ohio - Ohio
- Champion Coated Paper Company
- Mead Corporation
Hartsville, South Carolina - South Carolina
- Croswell-Parsons Paper Mill Ruin
Holyoke, Massachusetts - Massachusetts
- American Writing Paper Company
- S. D. Warren Company
Jacksonville, Florida - Florida
- Repap Wisconsin, Inc.
- Southern Kraft Paper Corporation
- Rayonier Inc.
- Grass Fiber Pulp & Paper Corporation
New Baltimore, New York - New York
- Croswell-Parsons Paper Mill Ruin
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Pennsylvania
- Huntington Ingalls Industries - Ingalls Shipyard
- Hammermill Paper Company
- P.H. Glatfelter Company
Portland, Oregon - Oregon
- Willamette Industries, Inc.
- Louisiana-Pacific Corporation
San Francisco, California - California
- Crown Zellerbach Corporation
Seattle, Washington - Washington
- Weyerhaeuser
Stamford, Connecticut - Connecticut
- International Paper Company
Tuscaloosa, Alabama - Alabama
- Dixie Pulp Paper Inc.
West Monroe, Louisiana - Louisiana
- Brown Corporation
- Gaylord Container Corporation
Westbrook, Maine - Maine
- S.D. Warren Paper Company Tram
- Rumford Mill pulp mill and paper mill
- Pejepscot Paper Company
- Great Northern Paper Company
Labor union members are also eligible
Asbestos products handled by paper mill workers
Because paper mill workers handled asbestos directly, people who had a job in this industry before the 1980s are at high risk of developing a serious disease. Asbestos dust would often pollute the air in paper mills, as it was not uncommon for dryer felt equipment and pulp rollers to contain asbestos. When these devices were in use, asbestos fibers were released into the air due to friction. Insulation represented a health danger as well. The maintenance and repair of machinery also entailed a high risk of exposure.