The area where Portsmouth Naval Shipyard is located today has a long history of shipbuilding ever since the administration of President John Adams. It is famous for hosting the peace conference of Theodore Roosevelt. A few decades later, submarines were the main responsibility of this shipyard, starting with L-8. In 1940, the number of employees reached 25,000. A very distressing issue at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard was asbestos exposure among workers. Because asbestos was crucial for building ships, employees would encounter it nearly everywhere and, even worse, had to handle and disturb it without wearing protective gear. This made exposure inevitable, and many people are struggling with serious diseases nowadays because of past asbestos exposure.