Sioux City runs on meatpacking and the Missouri River — the great packing houses of the stockyards, the Terra Industries chemical works, and the river and rail industry. Meatpacking and chemical processing of this kind reportedly relied on asbestos-containing insulation and materials for most of the century, and the region’s trades were reportedly exposed for full careers.
Iowa allows two years from a mesothelioma or asbestos-cancer diagnosis to file a personal-injury or wrongful-death claim (Iowa Code § 614.1(2)), with the clock running from diagnosis under the discovery rule of Iowa’s asbestos-claims act (Chapter 686B). Iowa also requires a sworn medical affidavit to be filed with the complaint (§ 686B.3). Cases are filed in the county District Court of proper venue; Iowa has no statewide asbestos MDL.