If you worked there years ago, then you could die a slow death here now.
It will be 30-40 years until persons will be cleared of having asbestos-related diseases if they were exposed at any time, while employed at the former Nuturn plant or the Federal-Mogul plant in Smithville, DeKalb County, Tennessee.
And, according to Smithville’s family practice physician Dr. Hugh Don Cripps, there have been asbestos-related diseases/illnesses in DeKalb County through the years. One of his patients died several years ago of asbestosis.
The files of Mayo Clinic hold the following: “Asbestos is a chronic lung disease caused by inhaling asbestos fibers. Prolonged exposure to these fibers can cause lung tissue scarring and shortness of breath.”
“Most people with asbestosis (disease) acquired it on the job before the federal government began regulating the use of asbestos and asbestos products in the 1970’s. Today, the handling of asbestos is strictly regulated,” wrote Mayo Clinic.
In 2001, following thousands of lawsuits from workers who developed asbestos-related illnesses, Federal-Mogul reorganized under Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It is written that “The company might have avoided these lawsuits if it were not for the businesses they purchased, which used asbestos freely in their manufacturing,” wrote Mesothemiola.net.
In 2007, the company emerged from bankruptcy with multiple “asbestos trust fund subsidiaries” to compensate victims.
“Generally, those (persons) who develop asbestos-related diseases show no signs of the illness for a long time after exposure. It can take 10 to 40 years or more for symptoms of an asbestos-related condition to appear….,” wrote the National Cancer Institute.
“…Decades after exposure, tissue damage can lead to illnesses like mesothelioma, asbestosis, and lung cancer,” noted Mesothemiola.net.
For figurate purposes, the targeted asbestos area was the Federal-Mogul plant, located on Grizzly Lane in Smithville, Tennessee. It was in operation until October 1, 2018, when it was sold to the Tenneco Corporation. Basically, if you were employed at the factory from its inception in the 1970’s until it was purchased by Tenneco in 2018, you are still in the optimum-range of contracting asbestos-related diseases. It only has been seven (7) years since asbestos-made brake linings, etc. have been made at the local plant. This means employees have many years before asbestos-related illnesses appear. With longevity comes a painful death.
Concurrently, the father company is Tenneco and in a recent interview with Joseph Cannon, the manager of the Air Pollution Division of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Consultation, “The Smithville company NO LONGER uses asbestos or any deadly chemicals in their automobile construction! They do not use asbestos anymore,” Cannon said, “For the brake lines and any other automotive productions, they have substituted synthetic parts for the asbestos parts. Asbestos is no longer used.” He further said that the Tenneco company keeps a usage log for the TDEC, which is the air quality agency for every and all materials used in the production of parts. “They (Tenneco) are in full compliance under the law,” said Cannon.
Yes, the Nuturn and Federal-Mogul plants used asbestos as an ingredient in their brake-lining assembly. Today, the new owners, Tenneco, use a synthetic substitute for asbestos in their productions of brake parts. The Environment Protection Agency has cleared the local plant of any wrongdoing. It wasn’t the same story years ago at the Federal-Mogul plant. One could smell the horrendously nauseating emissions from the plant. I know. I lived not too far from the plant from 1977-1983 when it was named the Nuturn plant. In preparation for a newspaper article for the DeKalb County Times, I also submitted water for testing, which also included asbestos. Since 2018 (7 years ago), there has been no asbestos used and/or emitted from the plant on Grizzly Lane in Smithville.
For clarity purposes. Tenneco now owns two plants in Smithville. They include the Tenneco plant at 645 East Broad Street, and the recently purchased Tenneco Ride Performance at 1 Grizzly Lane, both located within the Smithville city limits. Again, the Grizzly Lane plant formerly was the Federal-Mogul plant, which followed the inaugural Nuturn plant.
In a continuum reassessment, the Mayo Clinic emphasized, “Asbestos symptoms can range from mild to severe, and usually don’t appear until many years after initial exposure. People who worked in mining, milling, manufacturing and installation or removal of asbestos products before the late 1970’s are at the highest risk for asbestosis.”
For further information, contact:
· Occupational Safety and Health Administration at 202-693-1999.
· DeKalb County, Tennessee Health Department at 615-597-7599
· Tennessee Department of Environmental Protection
· Randall Harrison at 615-532-6828
· Adrianne White at 615-532-0885
Free asbestos testing: 1-855-500-3734
Asbestos removal: Monetary charges. Located in larger state cities.
