Dundalk / Sparrows Point Exposure Map
Documented Exposure Sites
| # | Facility | Area | Industry | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bethlehem Steel Sparrows Point (Blast Furnace & Rolling Mills) | Sparrows Point | Integrated Steel | Critical |
| 2 | Bethlehem Steel Sparrows Point (Coke Ovens) | Sparrows Point | Steel / Coke | Critical |
| 3 | Maryland Port Administration (Dundalk Marine Terminal) | Dundalk | Port / Shipping | High |
| 4 | General Motors Baltimore Assembly | Broening Highway | Auto Manufacturing | High |
| 5 | Standard Oil of Ohio (Sohio) Terminal | Dundalk | Petroleum Storage | Moderate |
| 6 | Eastern Stainless Steel | Baltimore / Dundalk | Steel Fabrication | Moderate |
Sparrows Point: A Community Built on Steel — and Asbestos
Bethlehem Steel developed the Sparrows Point peninsula starting in 1887, and by the 1940s had built a company town to house its workers directly adjacent to the plant. Dundalk grew up alongside this community. For multiple generations, residents of Dundalk worked at “the Point” — the local name for the Sparrows Point complex — and were exposed to asbestos throughout their working careers.
Asbestos was used extensively throughout the Sparrows Point plant: on the furnace walls, on steam pipes connecting the blast furnaces to the rolling mills, on the boilers in the power plant, and in the coke ovens. Maintenance workers, pipe fitters, boilermakers, and electricians who performed repairs and overhauls had the most direct exposure, but the general plant environment exposed most workers to airborne asbestos fibers.
The General Motors Baltimore assembly plant on Broening Highway also used asbestos in brake linings and gaskets assembled into vehicles, and in the building insulation throughout the facility.
Yes. Workers who were employed at Bethlehem Steel’s Sparrows Point plant and have been diagnosed with mesothelioma or another asbestos-related disease can file claims against asbestos product manufacturers. Maryland’s 3-year statute of limitations (Md. Code Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-101) begins at the date of confirmed diagnosis. Multiple asbestos trust funds are available for Sparrows Point workers, including the Bethlehem Steel Asbestos Settlement Trust.