The Green River country of western Kentucky runs on coal, aluminum, and power. The Sebree and Hawesville smelters turn out aluminum around the clock; the TVA Paradise plant at Drakesboro and the coal mines of Muhlenberg and Ohio counties powered the region; and Owensboro and Henderson carried the river and manufacturing industry. Smelting, coal-fired power, and heavy process work of this kind reportedly relied on asbestos insulation and materials for most of the twentieth century, 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.