The Steelworker (SW) rating performed structural steel construction, rigging, pile driving, and harbor construction for Naval Mobile Construction Battalions (NMCBs) and Naval Construction Battalions — the Navy’s Seabees. Seabee Steelworkers built and repaired naval shore facilities, airfields, piers, fuel depots, and base infrastructure at home and overseas using asbestos-containing construction materials that were standard issue in Navy construction throughout the postwar period. The publicly filed asbestos litigation record directly documents mesothelioma among Navy Steelworkers, asbestos exposure at Seabee construction job sites, and asbestos content in Navy construction specifications applicable to Seabee work.

Documented Exposure Sources

Mesothelioma — Navy Steelworker

Asbestos Exposure at Seabee Job Sites

Asbestos in Navy Construction Specifications

NESHAP — Asbestos Abatement at Seabee Facilities

Multiple NESHAP/ASBESTOS AIR filings appear in the SW corpus — EPA National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) asbestos abatement records associated with Naval Construction Battalion facilities:

  • ASBESTOS/NESHAP AIR filings at multiple Naval Construction Battalion Center locations
  • Multiple separate compliance records establishing that Seabee facilities required asbestos abatement under federal environmental law

These NESHAP records establish that the facilities where Seabees trained and were stationed — Naval Construction Battalion Centers at Gulfport, MS and Port Hueneme, CA — contained sufficient asbestos-containing materials to trigger federal abatement reporting requirements.

Seabee Construction — Asbestos Materials Used

Seabee Steelworkers installed asbestos-containing materials across the range of Seabee construction projects:

  • Asbestos roofing and siding — asbestos-cement panels on barracks, warehouses, and operational buildings
  • Asbestos insulation board — wall and ceiling construction in base facilities
  • Asbestos pipe insulation — on steam and hot water lines in base utility systems
  • Asbestos floor tile — VAT and asbestos-cement tile in all base buildings

Seabee Service Periods and Deployment

Naval Construction Battalion personnel served in the Pacific, Vietnam, the Caribbean, and at CONUS naval installations throughout the asbestos era, building and repairing facilities with asbestos-containing construction materials at every assignment.

The Seabee’s construction pattern — multiple job sites over a career, each governed by Navy specifications requiring asbestos-containing materials — produced cumulative asbestos exposure across the full service period.

Key documents for an SW claim:

  • DD-214 Block 11 — primary specialty showing SW rate
  • Unit assignments — NMCB or NCB unit number and deployment history (construction job sites)
  • Diagnosis — mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, asbestosis, or pleural disease

Civil claims may run against manufacturers of asbestos-containing roofing, siding, insulation board, and floor tile incorporated into Seabee-built facilities under Navy construction specifications.

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 exposure information derived from publicly filed asbestos litigation records. This does not constitute legal or medical advice.