Shipbuilding's Deadly Legacy

A report by the Virginia Pilot on the Hampton Roads shipyards.

For nearly 40 years, the asbestos industry and the government kept a lethal secret from shipyard workers: Exposure to asbestos could kill them. It has claimed thousands of lives in Hampton Roads. And it will take 30 more years for the epidemic to run its course.

Horrible toll could have been avoided

Asbestos: A tiny but lethal fiber

Shipyards, a Crucible for Tragedy, Part 1

Shipyards, a Crucible for Tragedy, Part 2

Shipyards, a Crucible for Tragedy, Part 3

Key developments in the history of asbestos

Decades of Denial and Deceit, Part 2

The Toll: 9,000 Sick or Dead, Part 2

The Toll: 9,000 Sick or Dead, Part 3

The Toll: 9,000 Sick or Dead, Part 4

The future: More victims here and abroad