For Immediate Release: February 8, 2018 Contact: Marissa Chase, Director of Government Affairs, N.H. Association for Justice. 603.854.9330 or mchase@nhaj.org

CONCORD – Asbestos-related deaths have impacted thousands of New Hampshire families over the decades, with more than 1,200 residents dying from asbestos-triggered diseases between 1999 and 2013 alone, according to an analysis by the Environmental Working Group Action Fund.

While the annual rate of asbestos-related mortality nationwide is 4.9 for every 100,000 deaths, it is 6.2 in New Hampshire. Six counties in the state have higher rates than both the national and state averages, including Coos County at 10.6, Sullivan County at 8.1, Strafford County at 7.6, Rockingham County at 7.1, and Grafton and Belknap counties at 6.3.

Asbestos was once widely used in a number of industries that employed many people in the Granite State, including construction, pulp and paper production, manufacturing and mining.

As a population, veterans are disproportionately impacted by asbestos. According to the latest census data, there are more than 103,000 veterans living in New Hampshire.

While veterans make up just 8 percent of the population nationally, they account for roughly 30 percent of Americans who contract mesothelioma – an extremely painful and always-fatal form of cancer that attacks the lining of the lungs, stomach and other organs. Its only cause is asbestos.

Unfortunately for veterans and other residents of New Hampshire who suffer from asbestos-triggered diseases, including mesothelioma, a bill pending action in the state legislature, SB 335, would erect a series of roadblocks that could delay or deny compensation to asbestos victims.

Specifically, the legislation would:

• Force asbestos victims to disclose confidential settlement agreements;
• Drastically alter procedural rules by keeping cases open for years after judgment for the sole purpose of reducing awards to victims; and
• Allow big corporations to delay trial repeatedly so that victims may die before their day in court. Patients with mesothelioma usually die within months after diagnosis.

“This proposal is designed with one goal in mind – to run out the clock on asbestos victims in New Hampshire so they die before their cases even make it to court,” said Manchester resident, Colonel Peter J. Duffy (U.S. Army Retired). “People who were unknowingly sickened by asbestos deserve justice, and the companies responsible for poisoning them should be held accountable.”

The concept of this one-sided legislation originated from deep-pocketed corporations that knowingly exposed workers and consumers to asbestos for years, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce supports it. Similar legislation is being considered or has already been enacted into law in a number of other states.

Asbestos can linger in the body for decades before illness strikes. Patients who develop asbestos-related diseases today were exposed a generation ago, when the asbestos industry was fully aware of the dangers, but failed to warn and protect industrial workers, construction laborers, military personnel and others dealing with the deadly mineral.

“Any legislation that could add further burdens or harm to those suffering from asbestos diseases should outrage every resident in New Hampshire,” Duffy said.  “Elected leaders in Concord should oppose this legislation that could very well deny justice to many of their constituents, including those who served our nation.”

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