About Coffeyville Municipal Power Plant Coffeyville Kansas
Facility Overview
The Coffeyville Municipal Power Plant, operated by the Coffeyville Board of Public Utilities (CBPU), served Montgomery County in southeastern Kansas as a coal-fired steam generating station — burning coal to produce high-pressure steam that drove turbines to generate electricity.
Coal-fired power plants of this type and era rank among the most asbestos-intensive industrial workplaces ever built. Boilers, steam lines, turbines, heat exchangers, and condensers operated at temperatures exceeding 1,000°F and required extensive thermal insulation. Throughout most of the twentieth century, manufacturers including Corporation**, and supplied asbestos-containing materials as the standard insulation product for these applications — and sold those products to Kansas utilities and municipal power operations, including facilities like Coffeyville’s.
Timeline of Operations and Reported Asbestos Use
Industry-wide documentation indicates:
- The facility reportedly operated continuously from at least the 1930s through the late 1990s
- Asbestos-containing materials were reportedly in widespread use from the 1930s through the 1970s, including products such as calcium silicate pipe insulation block insulation, Thermobestos pipe covering, and spray-applied fireproofing spray-applied fireproofing
- Legacy asbestos-containing materials may have remained in place and been disturbed during renovation and maintenance work into the 1980s and beyond
- Maintenance crews — including members of Asbestos Workers Local 24 (the Kansas-based Heat and Frost Insulators local serving southeastern Kansas and the Coffeyville region), Pipefitters Local 441 (serving the Wichita region and deployed to southeastern Kansas industrial facilities), and Boilermakers Local 83 KC (serving eastern and southeastern Kansas), along with electricians and contract trade workers — rotated through the facility for scheduled overhauls, emergency repairs, and equipment upgrades, creating recurring asbestos exposure opportunities across multiple decades
General Equipment at Coffeyville Municipal Power Plant Coffeyville Kansas
The equipment below represents the systems and infrastructure documented or typically present at this facility during the era when asbestos-containing materials were specified in industrial construction. This is general facility-equipment reference — not a legal attribution of any specific product, manufacturer, or exposure event to this facility. Material-category and manufacturer information is addressed in the AsbestosIndex Product Crosswalk linked under the records table below.
Documented Asbestos Evidence — Kansas
The records below are verified, state-documented asbestos removals at this facility. Each entry represents a regulated abatement project where the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) was notified under federal NESHAP rules, the work was logged, and the asbestos-containing material was confirmed and removed under regulated conditions. These are not allegations or estimates — they are paper records tying documented asbestos-containing material to this specific site.
No KDHE NESHAP abatement notifications have been identified for this facility in current public records. Per the framing above, absence of state-agency documentation should not be read as absence of asbestos — only as absence of a formal, regulated abatement event meeting reporting thresholds. Workers who recall encountering pipe insulation, block insulation, gaskets, or other asbestos-era construction materials at this facility may still have viable claims regardless of whether a state record exists.
Material Categories in Documented Records
The materials documented above (and similar asbestos-containing materials commonly encountered in records of this type) appear in the AsbestosIndex catalog with historical manufacturer and trust-fund information. Click a category to view manufacturers historically associated with that material:
Who May Have Been Exposed at Coffeyville Municipal Power Plant Coffeyville Kansas
Asbestos-related disease does not discriminate by job title. Workers who may have been exposed include:
- Insulators and pipe coverers who directly applied, removed, and replaced asbestos-containing insulation
- Boilermakers who repaired, maintained, and inspected boilers lined with asbestos-containing refractory materials
- Pipefitters and steamfitters who worked alongside insulators on steam and condensate systems
- Electricians who worked in spaces where asbestos-containing materials were present overhead and on surrounding surfaces
- Millwrights and mechanics who maintained turbines, pumps, and auxiliary equipment in insulated spaces
- Laborers and helpers who swept, cleaned, and carried materials in areas where asbestos dust settled on every surface
Generating Unit Equipment — Public Registry
The following generating units are documented in the North American Electric Generating Plants database for this facility. This database is maintained by UDI/S&P Global and draws on federal EIA filings and state regulatory records.
| Unit | Year | Capacity | Fuel | Boiler Type | Boiler/Steam Sys Mfr | Turbine Mfr | Generator Mfr | Steam Params | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coffeyville 3 | 1921 | 1.5 MW | Gas | Wh | Wh | 200 PSI / 400°F | Retired 1992 | ||
| Coffeyville 2 | 1925 | 2 MW | Gas | Wh | Wh | 200 PSI / 400°F | Retired 1992 | ||
| Coffeyville 1 | 1926 | 3 MW | Gas | Wh | Wh | 200 PSI / 400°F | Retired 1992 | ||
| Coffeyville 4 | 1937 | 5 MW | Gas | Front | Bw | Wh | Wh | 400 PSI / 750°F | Retired 1983 |
| Coffeyville 5 | 1949 | 10 MW | Gas | Front | Bw | Wh | Wh | 600 PSI / 825°F | Retired 1992 |
| Coffeyville 6 | 1956 | 18.8 MW | Gas | Front | Ce | Operating | |||
| Coffeyville 7 | 1973 | 40 MW | Gas | Front | Fw | Ge | Ge | 1250 PSI / 950°F | Operating |
Source: UDI/S&P Global North American Electric Generating Plants database (NAMERICA 2025). Public reference data.
Kansas — Filing Deadline & Next Steps
Kansas law gives mesothelioma and asbestos-disease claimants 2 years from the date of medical diagnosis to file a personal-injury lawsuit (K.S.A. § 60-513). For wrongful-death claims after an asbestos-related death, the filing window is 2 years from the date of death (K.S.A. § 60-1903). The two deadlines run on separate tracks — preserving one does not extend the other.
The personal-injury clock runs from diagnosis, not from exposure. Mesothelioma latency is typically 20 to 50 years, so workers exposed in the 1950s–1980s are being diagnosed today.
Practical first steps
- Document what you remember. Pay stubs, W-2s, union cards, photographs, coworker names, and dates of employment. The WorkChain widget on this page can save a copy you can email yourself.
- Preserve medical records. Pathology reports, biopsy results, imaging, and pulmonary-function tests are central to both civil claims and trust-fund filings.
- Identify household members. Spouses who laundered work clothing and children of plant workers are eligible for secondary-exposure claims when diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease.
- Speak with an asbestos attorney with Kansas experience. The first conversation is free and confidential. Asbestos trust-fund claims and civil claims run on different tracks — both can be pursued in parallel.
Asbestos-Related Diseases — Kansas
Asbestos fiber exposure can cause several specific diseases that typically appear decades after the original exposure. The latency period — the gap between exposure and diagnosis — usually runs 20 to 50 years. That's why workers exposed in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s are receiving diagnoses today.
Mesothelioma
A rare, aggressive cancer that affects the lining of the lungs (pleural mesothelioma), abdomen (peritoneal), or heart (pericardial). Mesothelioma is almost exclusively caused by asbestos exposure, which is why a mesothelioma diagnosis often points directly to historical workplace exposure. Average latency from first exposure to diagnosis is 30-50 years.
Asbestosis
A chronic, non-cancerous scarring of lung tissue caused by inhaled asbestos fibers. Asbestosis causes progressive shortness of breath, persistent cough, and reduced lung function. It does not improve with treatment, and it is a recognized basis for compensation under most trust schedules and civil claims.
Lung Cancer
Asbestos exposure significantly increases the risk of lung cancer, particularly when combined with a history of smoking. Asbestos-related lung cancer is compensable under the same trust schedules and civil claim avenues as mesothelioma.
Other Recognized Diseases
Pleural plaques, pleural thickening, laryngeal cancer, ovarian cancer, and certain gastrointestinal cancers are also recognized as asbestos-related under various trust schedules and case-law authorities, though eligibility and proof requirements vary by claim type.
If you have any of these diagnoses and you worked at this facility, lived with someone who did, or were exposed in any documented capacity, you may have a claim worth pursuing. Speak with an attorney before assuming you don't qualify.
Data Sources — Kansas
Information about facility equipment, industrial materials, and occupational records referenced on this page is drawn from publicly available sources where applicable, including:
- EPA ECHO Facility Compliance Database — enforcement and compliance records for industrial facilities
- OSHA Establishment Search — federal workplace inspection history
- EIA Form 860 Plant Data — power-plant equipment and ownership records (where applicable)
- Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) NESHAP asbestos abatement notification records
- Published asbestos trial and trust fund records (publicly filed court documents)
- AsbestosIndex Product & Manufacturer Crosswalk — historical asbestos-containing product schedules linked to manufacturers
If specific equipment or product claims in this article are sourced from a non-public database, the source is identified parenthetically within the text above.