Edward’s Work History with Asbestos

Edward T. Fansher is my name. I started at Union Electric in 1967 at the Venice Powerhouse working as an ash handler and working in the coal game. The minute I walked into that place we were in contact with asbestos because they had it on all their pipes.

I was not an insulator, but I was exposed to it because there was dust. And then I got into the insulator trade and I worked with the insulation, cutting it and airing it. Never wore a respirator because they never gave us any warning that there was asbestos in it.

I did it all over the system, Venice, Sioux, Meramec, Rush Island, Labadie. That’s the five plants I worked at because I used to travel. And they all had them. They all had asbestos in them.

I’ve had a lot of buddies die from this, maybe five, six. In fact, some of them weren’t even insulators. They were welders. Like I said, it’s hard to say. You just do your job. A guy says, “You’ve got to go up and uncover these pipes. So and so’s got to get to these pipes. They’re going to revamp the whole thing.” So, you go up there and you start tearing the insulation off, get it all cleaned off.

Choosing Goldenberg Heller & Antognoli, P.C.

You know why I went there? First thing about that firm, the first time I met her, she shook my hand and looked me right square in the eye and she kept her eyes right on my eyes. She didn’t look down at the floor, or off to the side or anything. And she told me what she was going to do for me and didn’t wink, man.

How can I say it? I don’t think I’ve met more of an honest person in my life besides my wife, than Liz. That’s the honest to God truth. That’s the best way I can put it. They have treated me as well as you can be treated. They’re always there when I call. If I need something I call, or if I go to the office, they always wait on me. I take stuff back and forth to the office once in a while. I don’t know what to say. It’s been great, everybody at that firm.