Documented Exposure Sites
| # | Facility | Industry | Active Period | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Continental Can Company (Navigation Blvd) | Metal Can Manufacturing | 1929–1978 | High |
| 2 | American Rice Mills | Grain Processing | 1910–1985 | Moderate |
| 3 | Gulf States Steel (East Houston) | Steel Fabrication | 1938–1980 | High |
| 4 | Southwest Steel (Navigation) | Structural Steel | 1945–1975 | High |
| 5 | Houston Lighting & Power (Navigation Substation) | Power Distribution | 1925–1975 | Moderate |
| 6 | Texas Pipe & Supply (Magnolia Park) | Industrial Pipe Distribution | 1930–present | Moderate |
| 7 | Industrial Tank Corporation | Pressure Vessel Fabrication | 1940–1972 | High |
| 8 | American Cyanamid (East Houston) | Specialty Chemicals | 1948–1970 | High |
Navigation Boulevard: Houston’s Industrial Heart
Navigation Boulevard served as the main industrial artery connecting downtown Houston to the Ship Channel in the mid-20th century. Hundreds of manufacturing plants, warehouses, pipe yards, and metal shops operated along its length, employing thousands of workers in a variety of industrial trades. Boilermakers who built and maintained steam equipment, pipefitters who installed process piping, and ironworkers who constructed and repaired the structural steel of industrial buildings all faced sustained asbestos exposure in this corridor.
Industrial Tank Corporation was particularly notable as a manufacturer of pressure vessels and heat exchangers that were insulated with asbestos products before shipment to refineries and chemical plants across the Gulf Coast. Workers who fabricated vessels at the Navigation Blvd plant, as well as workers at the receiving end who installed and maintained those vessels, may have qualifying asbestos exposure.
Yes. Former workers at Navigation Boulevard and East End industrial facilities can file asbestos product liability claims within Texas’s 2-year statute of limitations from a mesothelioma diagnosis. Texas asbestos cases are most commonly filed in Harris County District Court or in MDL proceedings in the Southern District of Texas (Houston). Workers who held multiple industrial jobs across the Ship Channel / East End corridor may have claims against multiple asbestos manufacturers simultaneously, often supplemented by trust fund claims from manufacturers that have already declared bankruptcy.
An asbestos lawsuit is filed in court against defendants who are still solvent — it can take 12–24 months or longer and results in a settlement or verdict. An asbestos trust fund claim is an administrative process against a bankruptcy trust established by a company that has already reorganized through bankruptcy. Trust fund claims are typically faster (3–12 months) and can be filed simultaneously with lawsuits against different defendants. Many mesothelioma victims pursue both simultaneously to maximize total compensation. An experienced asbestos attorney manages both processes on contingency.