Ashland and the Big Sandy form one tri-state industrial district on the Ohio, shared with Huntington and Ironton. The Armco (AK Steel) Ashland Works and the Marathon (Ashland Oil) refinery at Catlettsburg — one of the largest inland refineries in the country — anchored the Kentucky bank, alongside the Big Sandy power plant upriver. Steelmaking and refining are among the most asbestos-intensive industries there is, and the region’s trades were reportedly exposed for full careers.
Kentucky gives just one year — among the shortest deadlines in the country — from a mesothelioma or asbestos-cancer diagnosis to file a personal-injury claim (KRS 413.140), with the clock running from diagnosis under the discovery rule. A wrongful-death claim must be brought within one year of death, and the estate’s personal representative has one year from appointment to file. Because Kentucky’s window is so short, an immediate case review matters more here than almost anywhere. Cases are filed in the county Circuit Court of proper venue; Kentucky has no statewide asbestos MDL.