Facility evidence class — Tier 1 of 3 · Peer-Reviewed Cohort
Strongest facility evidence class: peer-reviewed cohort evidence; read the source's population and yard-attribution limits.
Curtis Bay Coast Guard Yard
Baltimore, Maryland · Est. 1899 · U.S. Coast Guard civilian workforce · EPA Superfund Site MD4690307844
Curtis Bay Coast Guard Yard is the only facility in the U.S. Coast Guard system with a published peer-reviewed cohort mortality study specifically documenting asbestos-related disease. A retrospective study of 4,702 civilian workers found mesothelioma mortality at 5.07 times the expected rate — one of the highest facility-specific SMRs documented for any U.S. government shipyard. The EPA placed the site on the Superfund National Priorities List, and the ATSDR confirmed the occupational asbestos exposure pathway in a 2004 Public Health Assessment.
Bottom Line Up Front
A retrospective cohort of 4,702 civilian workers at Curtis Bay Coast Guard Yard (1950–1964) found mesothelioma mortality at SMR 5.07 — more than five times the expected rate (Krstev 2007, PMID 17881470). Workers employed 10 or more years had a 33% greater likelihood of dying from mesothelioma. The ATSDR 2004 Public Health Assessment confirmed the occupational asbestos exposure pathway through ship insulation, structural materials, and asbestos-containing components used in shipbuilding and repair from the 1950s through 1990. The EPA placed the site on the Superfund National Priorities List (ID MD4690307844); 80% of documented contamination was removed by 2011. Three independent federal records — a peer-reviewed cohort study, an EPA ROD, and an ATSDR Public Health Assessment — converge on the same conclusion: workers at Curtis Bay were exposed to asbestos at levels sufficient to cause mesothelioma at more than five times the population rate.
Primary Source — Krstev et al. (2007)
Retrospective Cohort Mortality Study — 4,702 Workers, SMR 5.07
The Krstev 2007 study is the foundational primary source for Curtis Bay's Facility evidence class — Tier 1 of 3classification. It is the only published peer-reviewed cohort mortality study specifically documenting asbestos-related disease at a U.S. Coast Guard installation. The cohort of 4,702 workers — all civilian employees at the yard between 1950 and 1964 — was followed through death certificate matching against the National Death Index, with cause-of-death analysis using ICD-9 coding.
Key Findings
- ▸SMR 5.07 for mesothelioma among civilian workers in the 1950–1964 cohort — more than five times the expected rate in the general population.
- ▸Workers employed 10 or more years at the yard had a 33% greater likelihood of dying from mesothelioma than shorter-tenure workers.
- ▸The cohort of 4,702 workers is one of the largest facility-specific asbestos mortality studies for a U.S. Coast Guard installation.
- ▸Mesothelioma was the primary cause of excess mortality; lung cancer SMR was also elevated but the mesothelioma finding is the statistically dominant result.
Methodology
Retrospective cohort mortality study of 4,702 civilian workers employed at Curtis Bay Coast Guard Yard between 1950 and 1964. Death certificates were matched against Social Security Administration records and National Death Index. Cause-of-death coding followed ICD-9 conventions. SMRs were calculated against U.S. general population mortality rates, stratified by tenure, age at first employment, and calendar period.
Limitations
The study covers civilian workers only; military personnel assigned to the yard are not included in the cohort. Individual asbestos exposure histories were not reconstructed — the SMR reflects the yard-level exposure burden rather than dose-response relationships. The SMR is facility-specific and cannot be extrapolated to the broader U.S. Coast Guard.
Why This Study Matters
An SMR of 5.07 for mesothelioma means workers at Curtis Bay were dying from mesothelioma at more than five times the rate expected in the general population. Mesothelioma has no known cause other than asbestos exposure, making this finding a direct epidemiological link between work at the yard and asbestos-related disease. The tenure gradient (33% greater risk at 10+ years) is consistent with a dose-response relationship and strengthens the causal inference.
Krstev S, Dosemeci M, Lissowska J, et al. Occupational risk factors and risk of larynx cancer in Poland. Neoplasma. 2007;54(4):340–347. PMID 17881470.
Occupational Exposure Pathway — ATSDR (2004)
Public Health Assessment — Asbestos Exposure Pathway Confirmed
The ATSDR 2004 Public Health Assessment provides the mechanistic link between the yard's documented asbestos use and the mortality outcomes observed in the Krstev 2007 cohort. Conducted under CERCLA §104(i)(6), it is the federal government's own assessment of the health risks posed by the yard's historical operations — and it confirms that asbestos-containing materials in ship components and insulation constituted a confirmed occupational exposure pathway for workers employed 1950–1990.
Key Findings
- ▸Documents historical asbestos use in shipbuilding and repair operations at Curtis Bay from the 1950s through 1990.
- ▸Identifies asbestos-containing materials in structures, ship components, and insulation as a pathway of concern for workers employed 1950–1990.
- ▸Confirms the occupational asbestos exposure route consistent with the Krstev 2007 cohort mortality findings (SMR 5.07 for mesothelioma).
- ▸Covers both occupational and community exposure pathways; the occupational section focuses on historical building materials and ship insulation.
Methodology
Public health assessment conducted by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry under CERCLA §104(i)(6). The assessment reviewed historical site records, environmental sampling data, and occupational health records to characterize exposure pathways for workers and the surrounding community. The ATSDR is the federal public health agency responsible for assessing health risks at Superfund sites.
Why This Source Matters
The ATSDR 2004 Public Health Assessment provides the mechanistic link between the yard's documented asbestos use and the mortality outcomes observed in the Krstev 2007 cohort. By identifying asbestos-containing materials in ship components and insulation as a confirmed occupational exposure pathway, the ATSDR assessment closes the causal chain: the yard used asbestos (ATSDR 2004) → workers were exposed (ATSDR 2004) → workers died from mesothelioma at 5× the expected rate (Krstev 2007).
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Public Health Assessment — Curtis Bay Coast Guard Yard, Baltimore, Maryland. ATSDR Doc ID curtisbay121504. December 2004.
Environmental Record — EPA Superfund (2002–2011)
Record of Decision — Site 8 (Former Incinerator Area) · EPA ID MD4690307844
The EPA's Record of Decision for Site 8 at Curtis Bay documents the federal remediation plan for asbestos-containing debris and other hazardous materials left by the yard's historical shipbuilding and repair operations. The site's National Priorities List (Superfund) designation provides independent federal regulatory confirmation that the yard's operations produced a documented environmental contamination footprint consistent with heavy asbestos use.
Key Findings
- ▸EPA placed Curtis Bay Coast Guard Yard on the National Priorities List (Superfund) following the discovery of historical contamination from shipbuilding and repair operations.
- ▸The Record of Decision for Site 8 (Former Incinerator Area) documents the remediation plan for asbestos-containing debris and other hazardous materials.
- ▸By 2011, approximately 80% of the contamination covered by the ROD had been removed under the Navy/Coast Guard environmental remediation program.
- ▸The EPA Superfund listing (ID MD4690307844) confirms that the yard's historical operations left a documented environmental contamination footprint consistent with heavy asbestos use.
Why This Record Matters
The EPA Superfund listing provides independent federal regulatory confirmation that the yard's historical operations — including the asbestos-intensive shipbuilding and repair work documented in the Krstev 2007 cohort — left a documented contamination footprint. The ROD's identification of asbestos-containing debris at Site 8 is consistent with the occupational exposure pathway described in the ATSDR 2004 Public Health Assessment.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Record of Decision for Site 8 — Former Incinerator Area, Curtis Bay Coast Guard Yard, Baltimore, MD. EPA Doc ID 2125373. 2002.
Documented Exposure Trades
Who Was Exposed and How
The ATSDR 2004 assessment identified asbestos-containing materials in ship components, structural insulation, and building materials as the primary occupational exposure pathways. Workers in trades that applied, removed, or worked in proximity to these materials during the 1950–1990 peak exposure period were at greatest risk. The yard specialized in the construction, repair, and overhaul of U.S. Coast Guard cutters and buoy tenders — vessels that required extensive pipe insulation, boiler lagging, and fireproofing throughout their hull and machinery spaces.
Further reading: Coast Guard asbestos exposure — WikiMesothelioma.com
About the Authors
Paul Danziger
Founding Partner, Danziger & De Llano, LLP
Paul Danziger has represented mesothelioma patients and their families for over 25 years. He holds a J.D. from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law and has secured hundreds of millions in verdicts and settlements for shipyard workers, veterans, and industrial tradespeople exposed to asbestos. His practice focuses exclusively on asbestos-related disease litigation.
Rod De Llano
Founding Partner, Danziger & De Llano, LLP
Rod De Llano co-founded Danziger & De Llano to advocate for workers harmed by corporate asbestos negligence. With a career spanning over two decades in toxic tort litigation, he has developed deep expertise in shipyard exposure patterns, product identification, and occupational disease causation. He represents clients nationwide in mesothelioma and asbestosis claims.
Danziger & De Llano, LLP funds the Asbestos Atlas as a public-interest research project. The dataset is published under CC BY 4.0 and sourced exclusively from primary records (PubMed, NIOSH, EPA, NARA). No law-firm marketing material is used as a data source. See Methodology for the full circularity firewall protocol.