The Tri-Cities — Saginaw, Bay City, and Midland — run on chemicals, castings, and ships. Dow Chemical’s sprawling complex at Midland is one of the largest in the world; the Saginaw Malleable Iron and Steering Gear works cast and forged auto parts; and the Bay City shipyards built vessels on the Saginaw River. High-heat chemical, foundry, and shipbuilding work of this kind reportedly relied on asbestos insulation and materials for most of the century.
Michigan allows three years from a mesothelioma or asbestos-cancer diagnosis — measured from when the disease was or should have been discovered — to file a personal-injury claim (MCL 600.5805). A wrongful-death claim must generally be brought within three years of death (MCL 600.5852), but it cannot revive a claim that had already lapsed during the person’s lifetime, so the timeline is worth confirming early. Cases are filed in the county Circuit Court of proper venue; Michigan has no statewide asbestos MDL, and Wayne County (Detroit) has historically carried the state’s largest asbestos docket.