Quincy Exposure Map
Documented Exposure Sites
| # | Facility | Area | Industry | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fore River Shipyard (Bethlehem Steel / General Dynamics) | Quincy Point / Weymouth | Naval Shipbuilding | Critical |
| 2 | Quincy Adams Yacht Yard | Quincy Point | Commercial Shipbuilding | Moderate |
| 3 | New England Power Association (Braintree) | Braintree | Power Generation | Moderate |
| 4 | Stone & Webster Engineering | Quincy | Industrial Engineering | High |
| 5 | General Dynamics (Quincy offices) | Quincy | Defense Manufacturing | Moderate |
Fore River Shipyard: 227 Vessels, Decades of Asbestos
The Fore River Shipyard operated from 1901 through the 1980s on the Fore River between Quincy and Weymouth. Bethlehem Steel acquired the yard in 1913 and made it one of the company’s most productive facilities. During World War II, the yard launched destroyers, cruisers, and attack transports at a rate that ranked it among the top five shipyards in the nation by vessel tonnage.
Every vessel built at Fore River required extensive asbestos pipe insulation in the engine room and boiler spaces, asbestos-lined boiler walls, asbestos gaskets throughout the mechanical systems, and asbestos fireproofing in berthing and cargo spaces. Workers who installed this insulation — and those who later removed and replaced it during overhauls — received the highest asbestos exposures. General Dynamics took over the yard in 1964 and continued building Navy ships through the 1980s, when the yard transitioned to liquefied natural gas tankers before closing.
Yes — extensively. Fore River Shipyard workers were exposed to asbestos in pipe insulation, boiler lagging, gaskets, and fireproofing throughout the vessels they built. Pipefitters, boilermakers, and insulators had the highest exposures, but all shipyard trades worked in asbestos-contaminated environments. Massachusetts’ 3-year statute of limitations (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 260, § 2A) begins on the date of confirmed mesothelioma diagnosis under the discovery rule.