Asbestos Exposure at Pittsburg Power Plant

⚠️ CRITICAL FILING DEADLINE WARNING

If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or another asbestos-related disease, Kansas law gives you only TWO YEARS from your diagnosis date to file a civil lawsuit — not from when you were exposed.

Under K.S.A. § 60-513, missing this deadline means permanently forfeiting your right to recover compensation in Kansas civil court, regardless of how strong your case may be. The two-year clock runs from diagnosis — not from your last day at the plant, not from when you first noticed symptoms.

Do not wait. Contact an asbestos cancer lawyer Kansas today.

Asbestos trust fund claims may be filed simultaneously with your Kansas lawsuit. Most trusts do not impose a strict filing deadline, but trust assets are finite and continue to be depleted by claims filed before yours. Every month of delay reduces what is available to you.

What This Page Covers

If you worked at the Pittsburg Power Plant — operated by Kansas Power and Light (KPL), later Evergy — or worked there as a contractor, you may have been exposed to asbestos-containing materials. Mesothelioma, asbestosis, and lung cancer can develop 10, 20, or even 30 years after a worker breathes asbestos fibers. This page identifies the specific products, trades, and locations within the plant where asbestos exposure may have occurred and explains your legal options under Kansas law, including the two-year statute of limitations under K.S.A. § 60-513.

Time is not on your side. If you or a family member has received a diagnosis, the filing deadline is already running. Read this page — then call an experienced mesothelioma lawyer Kansas today.

The Pittsburg Power Plant: Coal-Fired Power Generation in Southeast Kansas

A Major Industrial Employer in Crawford County

The Pittsburg Power Plant, operated by Kansas Power and Light Company (KPL) — later merged into Evergy — was one of the largest industrial facilities in southeastern Kansas. Located near Pittsburg in Crawford County, this coal-fired steam generating station supplied electricity across eastern Kansas for much of the twentieth century.

Crawford County and the surrounding “Little Balkans” region built their industrial identity around coal mining and heavy manufacturing. The facility drew skilled trades workers from across southeastern Kansas, including members of Asbestos Workers Local 24 (serving Kansas), Pipefitters Local 441 (serving the Wichita region), and Boilermakers Local 83 KC (Kansas City). Insulators, boilermakers, pipefitters, millwrights, and electricians — many represented by these Kansas union locals — spent entire careers at this facility or worked there as union contractors during maintenance outages and construction projects. These workers may have faced occupational asbestos exposure that was not disclosed to them for decades.

Kansas Power and Light Operations and Maintenance Cycles

Kansas Power and Light was founded in 1924 and operated generating stations across Kansas. The Pittsburg facility burned coal to produce superheated steam that drove turbines to generate electricity, operating under the extreme temperature and pressure conditions that made asbestos-containing insulation the industry standard for most of the twentieth century.

The plant went through multiple expansions and overhaul cycles over the decades. Each cycle reportedly brought large numbers of outside contractor trades onto the site alongside the permanent workforce. During construction, maintenance, and overhaul work — when existing insulation was torn out, new insulation was applied, boilers were relined and repaired, and equipment was overhauled — asbestos fiber releases may have been at their highest levels. Workers who were on-site for only a single outage may have accumulated meaningful exposure during those concentrated periods of demolition and re-insulation work.

Why Power Plants Were Saturated with Asbestos-Containing Materials

A large coal-fired power plant operates at extreme temperatures and pressures: main steam lines carry superheated steam above 1,000°F, system pressures reach 1,800 psi or greater, and boiler surfaces, feedwater heaters, turbine casings, and miles of interconnecting piping radiate enormous heat without insulation. Uninsulated surfaces would cause severe burns. They would also bleed off heat that the plant needed to generate electricity efficiently.

Asbestos dominated high-temperature insulation applications for most of the twentieth century. It withstands temperatures above 2,000°F, bonds with calcium silicate and cement carriers, and can be formed into pipe covering, block, blankets, rope packing, gaskets, spray-applied coatings, and dozens of other product forms. Through the mid-twentieth century, it was also cheap and abundant.

The result: power plant workers — insulators, boilermakers, pipefitters, millwrights — worked in environments where asbestos-containing materials were present in nearly every system they touched.

Asbestos-Containing Products Allegedly Present at Pittsburg Power Plant

Johns-Manville Corporation

Johns-Manville was the largest U.S. manufacturer of asbestos-containing insulation and reportedly distributed products to power plants nationwide, including Kansas utility facilities. Products that may have been present at the Pittsburg Power Plant and comparable coal-fired generating stations include:

Thermobestos pipe covering — calcium silicate and asbestos pipe insulation for steam lines
Superex pipe covering — asbestos pipe insulation rated for superheated steam applications
Block and slab insulation — asbestos-containing block for boiler and vessel applications
Transite board — rigid asbestos-cement board for construction and equipment applications
Insulating cements — trowelable cements used to finish insulation surfaces
Rope packing and gaskets — used in valve stems, inspection doors, and expansion joints

Internal Johns-Manville corporate documents — extensively produced in asbestos litigation — reportedly show that company executives were aware of health risks from asbestos exposure as early as the 1930s and are alleged to have chosen not to warn workers or the public. Johns-Manville filed for bankruptcy in 1982 under the weight of asbestos injury claims. The Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust was established to compensate victims and remains active.

Kansas residents diagnosed with mesothelioma or asbestosis who were allegedly exposed to Johns-Manville products may file claims against this trust simultaneously with any Kansas civil lawsuit. A Kansas asbestos attorney can pursue both tracks at the same time.

Filing deadline reminder: K.S.A. § 60-513 gives you two years from your diagnosis date. If you have already been diagnosed, your deadline may be closer than you think. Call a toxic tort attorney specializing in asbestos cases today.

Owens-Illinois (Kaylo Products)

Owens-Illinois manufactured Kaylo, a calcium silicate pipe insulation and block insulation containing asbestos, reportedly used widely in power plants and industrial facilities through the 1940s, 1950s, and into the 1960s.

Internal Owens-Illinois documents produced in litigation are alleged to show the company conducted animal studies demonstrating the harmful effects of Kaylo dust as early as the 1940s and chose not to share those findings with workers or the public. Kaylo was sold directly and through distributors to insulation contractors working at Kansas utility facilities. Workers at the Pittsburg Power Plant who handled Kaylo products, or worked in the vicinity of those who did, may have been exposed to asbestos-containing materials. The Owens Illinois asbestos trust remains available to Kansas claimants.

Combustion Engineering Equipment and Insulation

Combustion Engineering, Inc. (later CE-Lummus, part of ABB) manufactured industrial boilers and steam generation equipment reportedly supplied to utilities across Kansas and the Midwest, including facilities comparable to the Pittsburg Power Plant.

Equipment was reportedly shipped from the factory with asbestos-containing insulation already applied. Replacement and repair insulation for Combustion Engineering boilers was typically specified to meet performance standards that required asbestos-containing materials. Boilermakers represented by Boilermakers Local 83 KC, insulators represented by Asbestos Workers Local 24, and pipefitters and other trades who maintained, repaired, or overhauled Combustion Engineering boilers at this facility may have been exposed to asbestos-containing materials during those operations.

Armstrong World Industries

Armstrong World Industries manufactured and distributed insulation products that may have been used at power plants of this era in Kansas, including:

Pipe covering for steam applications
Block and slab insulation
Insulating and finishing cements
Gaskets and packing materials

Armstrong pipe covering and insulation products distributed to Kansas industrial facilities frequently contained asbestos and may have been present at the Pittsburg Power Plant.

Celotex Corporation

Celotex Corporation manufactured asbestos-containing board, pipe insulation, and thermal insulation products that may have been distributed to power plants and industrial facilities in Kansas and the broader Midwest during the mid-twentieth century. Workers who handled Celotex products at this facility may have faced significant asbestos exposure.

Crane Co. and Crane Packing Company

Crane Co. and its subsidiary Crane Packing Company manufactured asbestos-containing mechanical seals, gaskets, and packing materials for steam equipment, valves, and rotating machinery. These products may have been used throughout the Pittsburg Power Plant’s steam systems. Pipefitters represented by Pipefitters Local 441 and other Kansas trades who regularly worked on valves and steam fittings may have encountered Crane products at this and other Kansas facilities.

W.R. Grace Spray-Applied Products

W.R. Grace manufactured spray-applied asbestos-containing fireproofing and insulation materials used on structural steel and equipment in industrial facilities across Kansas. These products may have been applied at the Pittsburg facility, exposing workers to asbestos fibers both during application and afterward — when dried spray-applied materials were disturbed by routine maintenance work.

Garlock Sealing Technologies

Garlock Sealing Technologies manufactured asbestos-containing gaskets, packing, and sealing materials that may have been used in steam lines, valves, and equipment at power plants, including the Pittsburg facility. Garlock products were reportedly distributed to industrial facilities throughout Kansas.

Georgia-Pacific Corporation

Georgia-Pacific manufactured and distributed asbestos-containing insulation board and related products that may have been used in power plant applications at this facility and at comparable Kansas industrial worksites.

Where Asbestos Exposure May Have Occurred at the Pittsburg Power Plant

Boiler Systems and Maintenance Work

Workers who maintained or repaired boilers at the Pittsburg Power Plant may have been exposed to asbestos-containing materials including:

Block and slab insulation covering boiler walls and casings
Refractory cements and castable materials applied to boiler fireboxes
Rope and gasket packing around inspection doors, access ports, and expansion joints
High-temperature insulating cement applied to irregular boiler surfaces

Boilermakers and insulators working inside boiler casings — where asbestos-containing debris could accumulate in confined spaces — may have experienced some of the heaviest fiber exposures at this facility. During boiler inspections, relines, and overhauls, workers may have been exposed to asbestos dust from aged, deteriorating insulation that had been in place for years or decades.

Steam and Process Piping Systems

Workers handling or maintaining steam piping systems may have been exposed through:

Pre-formed pipe covering applied to steam main and auxiliary steam lines
Fitting covers — elbows, tees, flanges, and valves — fabricated from asbestos-containing materials
Pipe insulating cements used to finish joints between sections of pipe covering
Canvas jacket systems with asbestos-containing adhesives

The steam piping systems at the Pittsburg facility were comparable in scope and construction to those at other major Kansas utility facilities, including Kansas City Power & Light generating stations, where similar asbestos-containing products were allegedly used. Pipefitters, insulators, and laborers who worked along these piping systems — even workers whose primary task was not insulation work — may have been exposed by working in proximity to others who were cutting, fitting, or removing asbestos-containing pipe covering.

Turbine Hall and Generator Equipment

Turbine casings, turbine exhaust systems, and the surrounding equipment in the turbine hall may have been insulated with asbestos-containing block and spray-applied materials. Workers who performed turbine inspections, blade replacements, or casing overhauls may have been exposed to asbestos-containing insulation disturbed during

Pittsburg Power Plant