Why Corpus Christi Workers and Families Are at Risk for Asbestos-Related Disease

Corpus Christi's position as a major Gulf Coast port and naval air installation hub made it one of the most industrially diverse cities in South Texas. The Port of Corpus Christi is one of the busiest petroleum export facilities in the country and has anchored a refinery and chemical corridor along the Coastal Bend since the 1930s. Refineries processing crude oil from the Eagle Ford Shale and Permian Basin, chemical plants, and port facilities all relied heavily on asbestos for pipe insulation, boiler lagging, heat exchangers, gaskets, valve packing, and the fireproofing of structures and vessels across the port complex. Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, established during World War II, added a large military and defense-industrial workforce that encountered asbestos in aircraft hangars, barracks, administrative buildings, and naval vessel maintenance work.

The trades most heavily exposed in Corpus Christi's industrial and naval economy include pipefitters, boilermakers, insulators, dock workers, welders, electricians, shipwrights, riggers, aircraft mechanics, and construction tradesmen who built and maintained the city's port infrastructure and naval facilities. Workers at Corpus Christi's shipyards, who built and repaired commercial and government vessels, has encountered asbestos in ship insulation, pipe systems, boiler rooms, and engine rooms throughout the mid-20th century. Defense contractors and maintenance crews working on naval aircraft and facilities buildings faced exposure to asbestos-containing fireproofing, ceiling tile, gaskets, and brake and clutch components common in military construction and aviation maintenance environments of that era.

Family members of Corpus Christi's refinery, port, and naval-adjacent workers have also been diagnosed with mesothelioma as a result of take-home asbestos exposure. The Coastal Bend's tight industrial communities, where refinery and dock workers lived within blocks of the plant gates, created well-documented pathways for secondary fiber exposure through work clothing, tools, and shared vehicles. Danziger & De Llano has represented both Corpus Christi workers and their household family members in asbestos claims across the Coastal Bend region.