White Lung Association. New York Chapter.

The White Lung Association was organized in the fall of 1979 in Los Angeles. It was founded as an educational organization to inform workers and the public of the hazards to their health brought about by exposure to asbestos. Instrumental to its founding were retired and employed shipyard workers who had become ill as a result of their exposure to asbestos. It was primarily formed by shipyard workers and union activists from the Navy Shipman in Long Beach, Todd's Shipyard in San Pedro, California, and the Key Highway Shipyard in Baltimore, Maryland.

Myles O'Malley, a former English professor in New Orleans and New York City carpenter, set up the New York Chapter of WLA in January, 1981. The organizing committee of the N.Y. Chapter was mainly comprised of individuals who had either direct or prolonged contact with asbestos or had been actively involved with the solution to the asbestos problem. The board of the New York chapter of WLA was comprised of people with medical, legal and environmental safety expertise, as well as trade unionists and community activists. Like the parent WLA, the New York chapter saw itself as a service organization. Its goal was to educate the public concerning asbestos hazards, to provide support and referral services, and prevent and protect asbestos victims. This goal involved cooperation between trade unions and the legal, medical and religious communities.

The organization concentrated on training its members in asbestos abatement issues. It also opened the Asbestos Abatement Technical Information Center, which provided consulting services and training on asbestos hazard assessment and abatement. These technical assistance programs were directed by various funding agencies such as the Youth Project and the Institute for Non-Profit Management. By 1983 the New York chapter had grown considerably, achieved its own non-profit status and expanded organizing efforts to New Jersey and later South Carolina. The WLA/New York Chapter was instrumental in launching "Operation Justice", a campaign to alert asbestos victims of changes in New York State occupational safety and health laws.

An organizational split occurred in the New York chapter of WLA in the spring of 1989. Financial difficulties soon forced the New York chapter of WLA into bankruptcy.