The Nightmare of Asbestos Exposure

Gigg Harbour, WATerrill worked on the railroads most of his life, and was exposed to asbestos day in, day out. Worse, the company did not provide any protection against the asbestos. As a result, he has bad scarring on his lungs which is seriously affecting his ability to live a normal life. Worse, he's watching his brother's health rapidly deteriorate from asbestos exposure.

Both Terrill and his brother worked industries where employees were exposed to the deadly fiber, but were not provided with protection. The railroads were one of the worst offenders.

"Back in the 1960s and up into the 1980s the railways had a lot of steam pipes in their facilities that were covered with asbestos," Terrill said. "I was a journeyman car man, which meant that I repaired all kinds of railcars, including welding and carpentry work. Overhead in these work areas were the steam pipes. Lift trucks that were lifting high loads would often damage the outer casings of these steam pipes--where the asbestos was. "

The asbestos dust would then be airborne. "It was constantly airborne in the workplace," he said. "In fact there were many times in the welding that we had to use asbestos blankets to protect part of the box cars that we worked on. So I was moving around in this stuff, and the asbestos is airborne and I was constantly inhaling it. There was no escape.

"I also worked for one of the biggest chemical waste management companies, and they also failed to provide any protection for their workers exposed to asbestos. I was exposed to some very toxic fumes while working for them, which nearly killed me. The company's biggest concern was that I would sue them. Finally my doctor advised me to quit to protect myself."

Terrill discovered he had bad scarring on his lungs as a result of exposure to asbestos in the late 1990s. "There was something in the paper about people working around asbestos, and people who became ill getting fired," Terrill said. "That opened up a number of lawsuits. My brother found out about this, and became involved in a class action suit, because he had also been exposed. I tried to become involved, but because of where I live, I couldn't be represented by the law firm, which was not located in Washington State.

I had to go through lung testing, which involves blowing into a machine until you've emptied your lungs. It's a painful ordeal and also exhausting. They also took x-rays. And they determined that I did—I do—have asbestos in my lungs.

Many people now have cancer in their lungs or have lost part of their lungs as a result of this exposure. So far I have escaped that. But my brother's health is really going downhill fast. His lungs are almost completely shot. He has no breathing capacity left, and he doesn't have any energy. The meagre amount of money he received as funds from this earlier class action suit wouldn't even scratch the surface of his medical bills now. My brother is a Korean war veteran and he is really struggling right now to keep things together."

This may be what awaits Terrill. Recently, he was the victim of a car accident, which resulted in his requiring medical tests such as MRIs and x-rays. "The doctors actually commented on how damaged my lungs are, and I don't have any recourse," he said. And he has noticed a deterioration of his health. "When you don't have the lung capacity it really limits your ability to do things. And it affects other parts of your life, because you can't do the things you used to enjoy doing. So depression sets in and you feel psychologically defeated. It brings on a whole array of difficulties because you feel as if you don't have control of your life anymore."

To add insult to injury, Terrill has lost his railroad retirement. "I became injured on the job, and lost two months of service time," he said. " I was still employed by the railroad, but they disqualified my retirement fund because of that; it certainly is a nightmare."