Chevron Pascagoula Refinery — Pascagoula, Mississippi

Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that workers at the Chevron USA (formerly Standard Oil of California / Socal) Pascagoula Refinery in Pascagoula, Jackson County, Mississippi, sustained occupational asbestos exposure during petroleum refining operations.

Facility Background

The Pascagoula Refinery began operations in the 1960s and grew to become one of the largest petroleum refineries on the Gulf Coast. The refinery processes crude oil into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, lubricants, and chemical feedstocks. Operations involve extensive process piping, distillation columns, heat exchangers, furnaces, and pressure vessels — all of which required thermal insulation during the era when asbestos was the dominant industrial insulation material.

Plaintiffs alleged that refinery maintenance, turnaround, and construction workers at the Pascagoula facility encountered asbestos-containing pipe covering, block insulation, gaskets, and refractory materials throughout the refinery’s process units during the decades of peak asbestos use in industrial settings.

Alleged Asbestos Pathways

Plaintiffs alleged in litigation that asbestos exposure occurred through multiple pathways:

  • Process piping insulation: Plaintiffs alleged that insulators, pipefitters, and maintenance workers applied and removed asbestos pipe covering and block insulation on process lines carrying crude, products, and steam throughout the refinery.
  • Vessel and heat exchanger insulation: Plaintiffs alleged that asbestos block and blanket insulation was used on distillation columns, fractionators, heat exchangers, and reactor vessels requiring periodic maintenance and replacement.
  • Furnace and fired heater maintenance: Plaintiffs alleged that workers maintaining fired heaters and furnaces throughout the refinery encountered asbestos refractory insulation and asbestos-containing furnace components.
  • Gaskets on process flanges: Plaintiffs alleged that asbestos compressed-fiber gaskets were used on the thousands of flanged pipe connections throughout refinery process units.

Mississippi has a three-year statute of limitations under Miss. Code Ann. § 15-1-49, running from the date of mesothelioma diagnosis. Wrongful death claims also carry a three-year limit under Miss. Code Ann. § 11-7-13.

Workers who were employed at the Pascagoula Refinery and who have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma or asbestos-related disease may have legal remedies available. Contact O’Brien Law Firm at (314) 237-3332 to discuss your work history and legal options at no cost.