The dual legacy of Bethlehem Steel: Jobs and cancer

By Sarah Malik
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer

Dundalk native Elaine Oliver, 66, recalls her father George Dudeck coming home from his job at the Bethlehem Steel shipyard and the asbestos coating his clothes.

“Dad got off work at four,” Oliver said. “He always came home with a lot of it in his clothes. He would put his clothes in a bag. I remember mom shaking the dust off.”

At 86, Dudeck died from prostate cancer that developed from prolonged asbestos exposure at Bethlehem Steel.

Forty years ago, Bethlehem Steel Corp. was Maryland’s largest employer and America’s second-largest steel producer and shipbuilder.

[pullquote]The cancer went through his bloodstream, ate his pelvis and paralyzed him.[/pullquote] Today, it has evolved into industrial hub of Tradepoint Atlantic. The new construction reminds some residents of the loved ones they lost to asbestos-related cancers from Bethlehem Steel.

“We all knew the dust was in the air,” Oliver said. “Our home would have a greyish black tint to it. The air had a funky, chemical odor.”

Dudek was “a private man” and rarely talked about his health until years later, Oliver said.

“The treatments were shots to the stomach,” Oliver said. “In the 80s, they said it was terminal. The cancer went through his bloodstream, ate his pelvis and paralyzed him.”

Prior to Dudeck’s diagnosis, he was an active part of the Sparrows Point shipyard retirement association. His involvement as trustee lead him and other members to become a part of a class-action lawsuit filed by attorney Peter Angelos.

“Lawyers contacted my dad,” Oliver said. “They came to retirement meetings and asked them if they wanted to be in the class action. Dad received a settlement, but I don’t remember how much.”

Oliver and her family lost not one, but two loved ones to asbestos-related cancer. Ann Dudeck, Oliver’s mother, died from ovarian cancer at the age of 68.

Her cancer progressed turned deadly in just three years, Oliver said. She could not eat, swallow, or digest any food. After multiple visits to several hospitals, doctors found a large tumor behind Dudeck’s stomach and ovaries.

Doctors told Ann Dudeck that she would live only two more months. She lived two more gruesome years.

“The treatment was harsh in ‘86,” Oliver said. “She suffered. I wouldn’t wish that kind of suffrage on anyone. She always did his laundry and handled his clothes. Maybe she shouldn’t have been washing them.”

Charlotte Webber, 60, has lived in the Dundalk area her entire life. Webber’s father, Elwood Hartman, worked in the fuel ovens at Bethlehem Steel and also died of cancer.

“My dad became ill with black lung and emphysema from working in the coke ovens,” Webber said. “He also ended up with lymphoma cancer in his throat. He died in 2003.”

Webber said her family regrets not pursuing a lawsuit.

“Nobody filed any legal actions, although we wish our dad would have,” Webber said. “But, him being a superintendent, he would not have hired an attorney to do something like that for a place that employed him while raising eight kids.”

Growing up, Webber remembers the red dust coating from Bethlehem Steel’s brick factory.

“My mother would wash clothes and hang them on lines and before we could bring them back in, we would have to shake all of the red dust off,” Webber said. “I remember the bathtub water was always orange when we were done taking our baths.”

Webber and her husband moved to Watersedge in 1981. Webber said asbestos would cover her backyard. She and her husband would have to hose it down before sitting outside.

“We did this because Bethlehem Steel’s ash was always falling out of the sky during the night,” Webber said. “It would be all over the patio furniture. I mean, you could see the dust and stuff laying on top of things outside.”

In 2016, residents’ suspicions were confirmed. Baltimore County, the Maryland Department of the Environment, and the United States Environmental Protection Agency began studying offshore contamination related to Bethlehem Steel. Their findings indicated that people who frequently swam and consumed large amounts of fish and crabs from Bear Creek had an increased cancer risk. By then, Bethlehem Steel and permanently closed and Tradepoint Atlantic began developing the site.

Oliver said she’s concerned about Tradepoint Atlantic disposing asbestos correctly, but officials say they are following all regulations.

Aaron Tomarchio, senior vice president for administration and corporate affairs at Tradepoint Atlantic, informed Watersedge community members during a Feb. 6 meeting that a large quantity of asbestos has been removed.

“So far in our environmental cleanup process,7,000 tons of asbestos have been abated and properly disposed,” Tomarchio said.

Doug Mayer, spokesman for Tradepoint Atlantic, said the asbestos abatement was performed by a licensed contractor with supervision from the Maryland Department of the Environment. The asbestos was then properly disposed at a landfill.

Other than her concern for asbestos removal, Oliver said she’s optimistic about the site’s redevelopment.

“I’m glad the land’s being cleared up,” Oliver said. “It’s bringing work back to the area.”

Webber said she is unfamiliar with Tradepoint Atlantic but looks forward to the new employment opportunities. When construction is finished, Tradepoint Atlantic estimates that there will be 17,000 statewide jobs.

“I don’t know much about the new place that’s down there, this ‘trade’ place,” Webber said. “I’m just glad businesses are coming back into the area so people can have jobs to raise their families and give them some meaning and hopefulness in their lives.”