Emergency Procurement Service

The Emergency Procurement Service was a wartime U.S. government agency responsible for acquiring strategic raw materials, including asbestos, needed for defense production during World War II and the early Cold War. It directed the bulk purchase, stockpiling, and distribution of asbestos fiber to shipyards, military contractors, and insulation manufacturers. Its procurement decisions helped drive massive expansion of asbestos use in naval and industrial construction during the 1940s and 1950s.

Origin

The agency traces to the Treasury Procurement Division and was reorganized in 1941 as the Bureau of Federal Supply and later associated with strategic-materials acquisition under the Defense Production Act of 1950. "Emergency Procurement" referred to the wartime mandate to secure critical materials rapidly, bypassing normal contracting timelines.

Significance in Asbestos Context

For patients whose exposure came from military service, especially Navy veterans who served aboard ships built during World War II and the Korean War, the Emergency Procurement Service is part of the documentary trail showing how and why asbestos saturated naval vessels. Government procurement records, military specifications (MIL-SPECs), and contractor invoices can identify which companies supplied asbestos products to specific shipyards and bases, which is essential for naming defendants in a claim. This history also undercuts the "state-of-the-art" defense some manufacturers raise, because procurement files often show industry knew of asbestos hazards while continuing to sell to the government. Veterans should know that VA claims and civil claims against manufacturers are separate tracks, and procurement-era documentation supports both.

Example Sentence

The investigator traced the insulation aboard my husband's destroyer to a contractor that had supplied asbestos packing under an Emergency Procurement Service order in 1944.

Related Terms

Navy Veteran Exposure, Shipyard Exposure, MIL-SPEC, Bill of Lading, Government Contractor Defense, State-of-the-Art Defense

Notes

• If you or a loved one served in the military, request a complete service record (DD-214 and personnel file) and ship/station assignment history through the National Archives (NPRC in St. Louis). These documents help identify which vessels or bases to investigate.
• Ask your legal team to subpoena or search procurement and supply records at the National Archives (Record Groups 71, 80, and 178) to identify the specific asbestos manufacturers that supplied your worksite.
• Preserve any old correspondence, photographs, discharge papers, or shipmate contact information. Co-worker testimony often fills gaps where procurement records are incomplete.
• Navy veterans diagnosed with mesothelioma should file a VA disability claim in addition to any civil claim; the two do not cancel each other out.