Naval Air Station North Island (NAS North Island) occupies the northern portion of Coronado Island in San Diego Bay, California. Established in 1917 as the first naval air station on the West Coast, NAS North Island served as a primary homeport for Pacific Fleet aircraft carriers and carrier air wings throughout the twentieth century. The installation’s hangars, maintenance facilities, administrative buildings, and berthing infrastructure were constructed with asbestos-containing materials standard to Navy facilities of the era. Veterans, civilian Department of Defense employees, and contractors who worked at NAS North Island during the asbestos era — roughly 1940 through the early 1980s — faced documented asbestos exposure from multiple sources throughout the installation.

Documented Asbestos at NAS North Island

Publicly filed asbestos litigation records provide specific documentation of asbestos-containing materials and asbestos conditions at Naval Air Station North Island.

Asbestos-Containing Tile and Flooring

Publicly filed testimony and records from NAS North Island directly identify asbestos-containing tile at the installation: personnel who “installed asbestos-containing tile” at NAS North Island are documented in publicly filed records. This is a direct site-specific record of asbestos installation work performed at NAS North Island, implicating both the tile installers and bystander workers in the same areas.

Asbestos-Containing Decking

Publicly filed records specifically identify asbestos-containing decking at NAS North Island: “exposed to asbestos-containing decking” at the installation. Aircraft carrier decking — including flight deck surfaces and hangar deck coverings — incorporated asbestos-containing materials for fire resistance during the era covered by these records. Workers who installed, maintained, or replaced this decking material at NAS North Island during overhauls and maintenance periods were exposed to asbestos fiber releases in the course of that work.

Asbestos Dust Release — Documented

Publicly filed records specifically document the release of asbestos-containing dust at NAS North Island. The documented mechanism is consistent with maintenance, installation, or removal of asbestos-containing tile, decking, or insulation at the installation — activities that generated friable asbestos particles in enclosed hangar and facility spaces.

Aircraft Carrier Berthing — Maintenance and Overhaul Exposure

NAS North Island served as the West Coast homeport for multiple Pacific Fleet aircraft carriers throughout the post-World War II period. Publicly filed records document personnel being “attached” to NAS North Island in connection with carrier maintenance periods, and track specific carrier assignments: “returned to NAS North Island in April [1967]” — establishing the documented presence of carriers and their associated maintenance workforces at the installation.

Aircraft carriers in overhaul at NAS North Island brought vessel-specific asbestos exposure into the base environment: boiler and machinery space insulation disturbed during overhaul, pipe covering removal and replacement, and machinery work in enclosed carrier spaces all generated asbestos exposure for base personnel working alongside shipboard crews.

32nd Street Naval Station Connection

NAS North Island records in the publicly filed litigation corpus cross-reference Naval Station San Diego (32nd Street) — establishing that personnel with NAS North Island assignments frequently had combined exposure histories at both the air station and the adjacent naval station on the mainland side of San Diego Bay. Veterans with NAS North Island service records should review their full San Diego-area duty station history for combined asbestos exposure documentation.

Medical and Dispensary Records

Publicly filed records reference a North Island Dispensary in the context of personnel health records at the installation — establishing the documentation infrastructure at NAS North Island that generated and maintained medical records during the relevant period.

Who Was Exposed at NAS North Island

Active duty personnel assigned to NAS North Island’s aviation community worked in:

  • Aircraft hangars — large enclosed structures built with asbestos-containing fireproofing on structural steel, asbestos-containing insulation board on interior walls and partitions, and asbestos-containing floor tile throughout
  • Carrier flight and hangar deck maintenance — carriers berthed at NAS North Island underwent maintenance on asbestos-containing decking, with documented asbestos dust release during this work
  • Maintenance shops and support facilities — steam, hot-water, and compressed-air systems serving the installation used asbestos-containing pipe insulation and valve packing standard to Navy shore facilities
  • Administrative and barracks buildings — constructed with the same asbestos-containing floor tile, ceiling tile, and insulation board as other Pacific Fleet shore installations

Carrier Air Wing and Ship’s Company Personnel

Personnel from carrier air wings and ships’ companies who came ashore at NAS North Island during maintenance and overhaul periods were exposed to the same asbestos-containing installation materials as permanent NAS North Island personnel — and frequently to disturbed insulation and materials in the carrier maintenance environment simultaneously.

Civilian DoD Employees

NAS North Island employed a substantial civilian workforce in maintenance, construction, aircraft maintenance, and logistics roles. Civilian employees installing asbestos-containing tile and maintaining asbestos-containing facilities worked with these materials as part of their assigned duties.

Civilian Navy employees may pursue:

  • Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA) claims through the Department of Labor
  • Civil litigation against manufacturers of asbestos-containing tile, decking materials, and building products used at NAS North Island

Contractors

Construction, renovation, and maintenance contractors at NAS North Island during the asbestos era — including tile installers, insulation contractors, pipefitters, sheet metal workers, and general construction trades — were exposed to asbestos-containing materials throughout the installation’s facilities and in the shipyard-adjacent maintenance environment.

Asbestos-Containing Materials at Naval Air Stations

Naval air stations required fire-resistant construction throughout their aircraft maintenance, fuel handling, and ordnance storage areas. Asbestos-containing materials documented at Pacific Fleet naval air stations of this type and era include:

  • Asbestos floor tile and vinyl asbestos tile (VAT) — specifically documented at NAS North Island through installation records
  • Asbestos-containing decking material — specifically documented at NAS North Island
  • Pipe insulation on steam and hot-water distribution systems throughout hangars and administrative buildings
  • Asbestos-containing insulation board on interior walls and structural elements of hangar and maintenance buildings
  • Asbestos rope and packing in steam valves and heating system components
  • Asbestos-containing fireproofing on structural steel in aircraft hangar and maintenance bay construction
  • Asbestos cement board and transite panels used in partitions and fire walls throughout the installation

Active Duty Veterans

Navy veterans with documented active duty assignment to NAS North Island and a diagnosis of mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, asbestosis, or pleural disease may qualify for VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d). There is no statute of limitations to file a VA claim.

Key documents:

  • DD-214 — confirming duty station assignment to NAS North Island or carrier homeported at North Island
  • Shore assignment orders — if the DD-214 does not list NAS North Island specifically
  • Medical diagnosis linking condition to asbestos exposure

Civilian Employees and Contractors

Civilian workers and contractors who developed mesothelioma or asbestos-related disease after working at NAS North Island may have claims against the manufacturers of the asbestos-containing tile, decking materials, insulation, and building products documented at the installation.

Free, confidential case evaluation: Speak with O’Brien Law Firm — (314) 936-2956

All consultations are free. No fee unless a financial recovery is made on your behalf.

Documented asbestos records derived from publicly filed asbestos litigation including deposition testimony, installation records, and product records specific to Naval Air Station North Island, California. This does not constitute legal or medical advice.