El Paso County’s exposure history centers on the ASARCO smelter and the rail and manufacturing operations of the far-West Texas border, where asbestos-containing materials were reportedly in heavy use.
Every Texas asbestos case follows the same path: it is filed in the county of proper venue, transferred to the statewide Texas Asbestos MDL pretrial court (the 281st District Court in Harris County) for pretrial proceedings, and then remanded to the county for trial. Texas allows two years from a mesothelioma or asbestos-cancer diagnosis to file (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003).