Bowline Powerhouse in Haverstraw, New York
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Asbestos at Bowline Powerhouse in Haverstraw, New York
Table of Contents
Along the western bank of the Hudson River in Haverstraw, New York, the Bowline Powerhouse has stood for decades as a pillar of the region’s electrical infrastructure. Located in Haverstraw, the Bowline power station has generated power for Rockland County and surrounding areas for several decades. The site is spread across 150 acres and for decades has been operated and maintained by employees and various skilled union workers. Impressive in scale and vital to the communities it served, Bowline was a place where generations of workers showed up every day to do their jobs. What they were not told was that the plant’s infrastructure harbored asbestos in its very walls, pipes, and machinery.
A Plant Built for Power, Saturated with Asbestos
Built in 1974 and located in West Haverstraw, NY, the Bowline Generating Plant is fueled with natural gas and oil. Like virtually every major power-generating facility of its era, Bowline was constructed at a time when asbestos was the insulation material of choice throughout the utility industry. Its resistance to extreme heat made it the go-to solution for equipment that ran at searing temperatures.
At the Bowline powerhouse, the power station boasts an active pipeline, blending site, waste treatment processor, oil tank farm, transition lines, switchyard, and staff buildings. Additionally, the Bowline power station houses large generator stations, boilers, storage systems for fuel and chemicals, and an emissions unit. Every one of these systems represented a potential point of asbestos exposure during the plant’s most active decades.
Employees were exposed to asbestos from work being performed on boilers, pumps, valves, steam traps, pipes, generators, turbines, and many other pieces of equipment. The asbestos was not confined to one corner of the plant or one type of machinery. It permeated the facility from floor to ceiling, embedded in the insulation, packing, and gaskets that kept the plant’s systems running.
The Trades Most at Risk
No single trade at Bowline was spared from the reach of asbestos, but some workers faced exposure more directly and more frequently than others.
Boilermakers and boiler operators at this plant would have been exposed from removing and replacing asbestos-containing block insulation and from asbestos-containing gaskets found in the pumps and valves on the boilers, and from opening the doors on the boilers which were often sealed with asbestos-containing refractories. Electricians were exposed from their work in the power plant due to removing asbestos-containing insulation so they could perform their work on generators and turbines.
There was also exposure from pipefitters performing work on pumps, valves, and steam traps when they replaced old asbestos-containing gaskets with new asbestos-containing gaskets. Even the act of replacing one asbestos product with another of the same kind released fibers into the air.
And the risk was not limited to the most skilled tradespeople. Laborers would be exposed to asbestos from helping skilled workers perform this work and while cleaning up after them. This type of work created visible dust in the air. The dust in the air would contain invisible asbestos fibers that were released from these products. Workers and bystanders would then breathe in the asbestos-contaminated air. In a plant of Bowline’s size and complexity, there were few places to hide from the contamination.
A Corporate History That Shifted Ownership, But Not Accountability
The Bowline Powerhouse passed through several corporate hands over the course of its history, but the asbestos problem it inherited from the beginning transcended ownership changes.
Orange and Rockland Utilities had two powerhouses: the Bowline Powerhouse in Haverstraw, NY, and the Lovett Powerhouse located in Tompkins Cove, NY. The work done at these powerhouses from the 1950s until the 1980s utilized many asbestos-containing products by employees and independent contractors who worked at these two sites.
In 1958, they merged with Orange and Rockland Electric Company and became known as Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc. In 1999, Orange and Rockland Utilities became wholly known as Consolidated Edison, Inc. Once owned and operated by ConEdison, Bowline is now owned by NRG Energy. Over the years, several construction and energy projects have expanded the operations at Bowline. The vast size of the powerhouse and the technical equipment installed within has required highly trained independent contractors of different skills to keep the generating stations operating.
Each wave of contractors, renovators, and maintenance crews that passed through the plant faced the same asbestos-laden environment as those who came before them. The change of names on the ownership deed did nothing to eliminate the fibers already embedded in the plant’s infrastructure.
The Reach Beyond the Plant Gates
One of the most painful dimensions of asbestos exposure at facilities like Bowline is how far the danger traveled from the worksite itself. Workers who spent their shifts breathing asbestos-contaminated air did not leave the hazard behind when they clocked out. Fibers clung to their clothing, their hair, and their ski and rode home with them at the end of every shift.
Even abatement workers brought in to remove asbestos-containing materials may have been exposed to asbestos fibers if they were not provided with sufficient protective gear during the removal process. The families of Bowline workers like the spouses who washed work clothes or children who greeted a parent at the door could be exposed to the same fibers without ever setting foot inside the plant.
Mesothelioma Takes Decades to Develop
The most insidious aspect of asbestos-related disease is time. Mesothelioma, the aggressive and incurable cancer of the tissue lining surrounding the lungs, abdomen, or heart, does not emerge quickly. The disease’s latency period, which is the gap between exposure and symptoms, can span anywhere from 10 to 60 years, and in some cases even longer. A boilermaker who spent the late 1970s working maintenance shutdowns at Bowline may have been in perfect apparent health for decades, only to face a devastating diagnosis well into retirement.
Workers and bystanders who breathed in asbestos-contaminated air at Bowline may now, 10 to 60 years later, be developing asbestos-related diseases such as asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma. The connection between that long-ago exposure and today’s diagnosis may not be immediately obvious, but the medical and legal record is clear. Asbestos exposure at power plants like Bowline is a well-documented cause of these illnesses.
Workers are at risk of developing mesothelioma for decades after their exposure to asbestos in power plants. In addition to mesothelioma, asbestos exposure can cause other cancers whose symptoms don’t appear until decades after the exposure occurs. And the connection between mesothelioma and asbestos is uniquely direct: unlike most cancers, mesothelioma is caused by asbestos exposure. A diagnosis of mesothelioma is a product of asbestos.
The Knowledge That Was Kept from Workers
What makes the suffering at Bowline so difficult to accept is that it was preventable. The link between asbestos exposure and serious lung disease had been established in the scientific literature as early as the 1930s. The manufacturers of asbestos-containing products used at power plants across the country knew their materials posed a serious health risk. Many chose not to share that knowledge with the workers who handled those products every day.
Before the regulatory crackdown on asbestos in construction materials, a wide range of asbestos materials were used in the construction and other building projects at facilities like the Bowline Point Generating Station, including ceiling tiles, flooring, ductwork, and insulating materials. The workers who installed, maintained, repaired, and replaced those materials had no warning, no protective equipment, and no knowledge of what they were risking with every breath.
Your Options Now
If you worked at the Bowline Powerhouse in Haverstraw at any point during its history, whether as a full-time employee, a union tradesperson, or an independent contractor, and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, lung cancer, asbestosis, or another asbestos-related illness, you may have legal options available to you. The same is true for family members who believe they were exposed through a worker’s contaminated clothing.
Statutes of limitations govern asbestos claims, and the window to pursue compensation can close. Speaking with an experienced asbestos attorney, alongside a physician who specializes in asbestos-related disease, is the essential first step toward understanding your rights and what you may be owed.
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Sources:
- IEEE: Architect of Power
- New York Times: Fiery Blast Shuts Off Power to Many New Yorkers
- IEEE: History ─ An AC Pioneer, United Electric Light and Power Company
- Public Service Commission: PSC Concludes Investigation of Con Ed Electric Supply
