About McPherson 3 Power Station
McPherson 3 Power Station is a coal-fired electric generating unit owned and operated by the City of McPherson through its municipal utility system — the McPherson Board of Public Utilities. Located in McPherson, Kansas, roughly 60 miles north of Wichita, the facility served as a major regional power source for decades.
McPherson 3 is part of a broader regional pattern of coal-fired power generation that characterized Kansas and the surrounding Plains region. The Kansas industrial corridor featured comparable facilities — including Evergy’s comparable regional power stations in the region, Evergy’s comparable regional power stations in the region, and coal-fired operations connected to regional steel operations in the region — all of which share similar industrial histories involving allegedly asbestos-containing materials in boiler rooms, turbine halls, and steam distribution systems.
Coal-fired steam generation plants operate through a demanding process:
- Coal combustion heats water to extremely high temperatures
- High-pressure steam drives massive turbines
- Turbines power electrical generators
- The system runs continuously, requiring constant maintenance
That continuous operation created an industrial environment where asbestos-containing materials were considered essential — and where workers faced significant, often undisclosed potential asbestos exposure risks.
Steam leaving boilers at facilities like McPherson 3 traveled at temperatures exceeding 900°F (482°C) and pressures exceeding 1,000 pounds per square inch. Without thermal insulation, workers suffered burns, energy efficiency collapsed, and pipes and equipment failed prematurely. From roughly 1920 through the mid-1970s, asbestos was the industry standard. No other material offered the same combination of cost-effectiveness, heat resistance, flame resistance, chemical stability, and electrical non-conductivity.
General Equipment at McPherson 3 Power Station
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.
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 McPherson 3 Power Station
Insulators and Heat/Frost Insulators: Highest-Risk Trade
Insulators performed work that placed them in direct, sustained contact with asbestos-containing materials. In Kansas and the surrounding region, many insulators were represented by the Heat and Frost Insulators, which has documented asbestos exposure incidents at major industrial facilities throughout the Kansas industrial corridor — including power stations, refineries, and chemical plants across Kansas and the surrounding region. Heat and Frost Insulators members frequently traveled to job sites across state lines. A Kansas worker may have logged significant time at McPherson 3 or similar facilities in Kansas while also working at comparable regional power stations, or other area industrial plants.
Work tasks at McPherson 3 that may have generated asbestos exposure include:
- Applying pipe insulation to extensive steam distribution systems using products allegedly (calcium silicate pipe insulation®, Thermobestos®), (calcium silicate pipe insulation®), and
- Installing block insulation on boilers, turbines, and high-temperature equipment using asbestos-containing calcium silicate and magnesia products, including Cranite® products
- Mixing and applying asbestos-containing cements and mastics, often handling dry asbestos powder in open containers
- Removing and replacing old insulation during maintenance cycles, releasing concentrated airborne fibers
- Working in confined spaces with poor ventilation, concentrating airborne fiber exposure
Pipefitters and Steamfitters: Direct Steam System Exposure
Pipefitters worked on the high-pressure steam systems most heavily insulated with allegedly asbestos-containing materials. The UA Pipefitters has represented pipefitters and steamfitters at power generation facilities throughout Kansas and the surrounding region. UA Pipefitters members reportedly worked at comparable power generation facilities throughout the region — including comparable regional power stations, and facilities in the Kansas industrial corridor — sometimes crossing state lines for extended maintenance and construction projects.
Work tasks at McPherson 3 that may have generated asbestos exposure include:
- Breaking flanged pipe joints sealed with asbestos-containing gaskets, releasing fiber clouds with each removal
- Cutting into insulated steam lines requiring removal of pipe covering containing asbestos-containing materials
- Replacing steam valves, expansion joints, and fittings packed with asbestos-containing packing materials
- Installing new pipe sections in proximity to existing asbestos insulation that was disturbed in the process
- Performing emergency repairs under time pressure, often without respiratory protection
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 a claim 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.
Cross-State & Regional Corridor Workers
In Kansas and the surrounding region, many insulators were represented by the Heat and Frost Insulators, which has documented asbestos exposure incidents at major industrial facilities throughout the Kansas industrial corridor — including power stations, refineries, and chemical plants across Kansas and the surrounding region. Heat and Frost Insulators members frequently traveled to job sites across state lines. A Kansas worker may have logged significant time at McPherson 3 or similar facilities in Kansas while also working at comparable regional power stations, or other area industrial plants.
The UA Pipefitters has represented pipefitters and steamfitters at power generation facilities throughout Kansas and the surrounding region. UA Pipefitters members reportedly worked at comparable power generation facilities throughout the region — including comparable regional power stations, and facilities in the Kansas industrial corridor — sometimes crossing state lines for extended maintenance and construction projects.
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.