North Country asbestos exposure research
The North Country includes aluminum, mining, talc, paper and other industrial histories. Start with the employer, town, trade, product or approximate years remembered by the family.
Workplaces and records to explore
Alcoa — Massena
Aluminum-industry history, EPA site aliases and a New York court work-history record.
General Motors — Massena
EPA naming records that preserve historical aliases for the Massena facility.
Gouverneur Talc — Balmat
NIOSH industrial-hygiene evidence across mine and mill job categories.
Deferiet Paper Mill
EPA records concerning asbestos-containing materials at the former paper mill.
Benson Mines
EPA records involving friable asbestos-containing material at the former mine site.
The details that make a workplace memory useful
Place and time
Employer, plant, building, department, project and approximate years.
Work
Trade, job title, daily duties, shutdowns, repairs and work done by nearby crews.
Equipment and materials
Boilers, piping, valves, pumps, turbines, electrical equipment, furnaces, insulation, brakes and building materials remembered from the work.
People and records
Coworkers, contractors, unions, Social Security records, photographs, specifications, manuals and public records can help corroborate the history.
Start with the memory, then follow the evidence
H&S does not require a family to identify an asbestos product before beginning. A workplace name, occupation, approximate year, machine or coworker can be enough to organize the next questions.
Explore the statewide New York research map → Start with what you remember →