About Westar Energy Jeffrey Energy Center Kansas

Jeffrey Energy Center (JEC) sits near St. Mary’s, Kansas, in Pottawatomie County, roughly 25 miles northwest of Topeka. The facility draws cooling water from Milford Lake and the Kansas River watershed.

Jeffrey Energy Center was constructed during the 1970s and entered commercial operation on this schedule:

  • Unit 1: 1978
  • Units 2 & 3: Early 1980s
  • Original operator: Kansas Power and Light
  • Subsequent operators: Western Resources → Westar Energy → Evergy (following 2018 merger)

The facility operates three coal-burning steam turbine generating units with combined nameplate capacity of approximately 2,150 megawatts (per EIA Form 860 plant data), placing it among Kansas’s largest coal-fired power stations.

Jeffrey Energy Center employed hundreds of skilled tradespeople during construction, permanent plant operators and maintenance workers throughout its operational life, and large contractor workforces during maintenance outages and turnarounds.

Every major coal-fired power plant built or operated in the United States during the 1950s through early 1980s relied heavily on asbestos-containing materials—particularly in high-heat, high-pressure steam systems. Jeffrey Energy Center fits squarely within that industry-wide pattern.

General Equipment at Westar Energy Jeffrey Energy Center 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.

Boilers View crosswalk › Steam Turbines View crosswalk › Steam Traps View crosswalk › Condensers View crosswalk › Feedwater Heaters View crosswalk › Cooling Towers View crosswalk › Pipe Insulation View crosswalk › Block Insulation View crosswalk › Refractory Lining View crosswalk › Valves View crosswalk › Gaskets View crosswalk › Pumps View crosswalk ›

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:

Thermal System Insulation View crosswalk › Asbestos-Cement Board View crosswalk › Pipe Insulation View crosswalk › Roofing & Flashing View crosswalk › Spray Fireproofing View crosswalk › Floor Tile & Mastic View crosswalk › Ceiling Tile View crosswalk › Gaskets & Packing View crosswalk ›

Who May Have Been Exposed at Westar Energy Jeffrey Energy Center Kansas

Heat and Frost Insulators

Insulators faced some of the highest direct exposures of any trade at facilities like Jeffrey Energy Center.

Typical work activities:

  • Pipe insulation: Wrapping steam lines, feedwater lines, and hot piping with pre-formed calcium silicate pipe insulation or Thermobestos pipe covering sections
  • Block insulation: Cutting and fitting pipe insulation block insulation and asbestos-containing block products for boiler casings and turbine housings
  • Spray insulation application: Mixing and spraying insulation mixtures in areas where adjacent workers also faced fiber exposure
  • Finishing and jacketing: Applying canvas, metal, or other jacketing over insulation—requiring cutting and fitting asbestos-containing insulation ends
  • Removal during maintenance: Stripping old calcium silicate pipe insulation and similar asbestos-containing insulation during turnarounds

Workers in this trade may have been dispatched from Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 1 or other regional locals serving the Kansas and broader Midwest region.

Pipefitters and Steamfitters

Pipefitters and steamfitters worked on the high-pressure, high-temperature piping systems that are the circulatory system of any coal-fired generating station.

Primary exposure activities:

  • Cutting through existing insulation such as calcium silicate pipe insulation or Thermobestos to access pipes for repair or modification
  • Removing asbestos-containing gaskets from pipe flanges and valve bodies, including compressed gaskets and packing Cranite and similar materials
  • Installing replacement gaskets while working alongside others removing asbestos-containing gaskets and packing
  • Servicing steam valves with asbestos braided rope packing common throughout steam service
  • Proximity exposure from working in the same physical space as Heat and Frost Insulators applying or removing asbestos-containing insulation

Workers in this trade may have been dispatched from Plumbers and Pipefitters UA Local 441 or other regional locals.

Boilermakers

Boilermakers built, maintained, and repaired the coal-fired boilers at the heart of generating capacity.

Exposure-related activities:

  • Boiler refractory and insulation work: Internal and external boiler surface work requiring asbestos-containing insulation materials and refractory cement
  • Rope gaskets and packing: Sealing boiler access doors, inspection ports, and handhole covers with asbestos braided rope materials
  • Board and fireproofing installation: Installing asbestos-containing board materials and spray-applied fireproofing and other suppliers
  • Confined-space welding: Working in limited-ventilation areas where airborne fibers from nearby insulation activities concentrated

Electricians

Electricians at power generation facilities faced asbestos exposures that are less intuitively obvious—but no less legally significant.

Exposure sources:

  • Switchgear and electrical panels: Arc chutes, insulating boards, and internal components manufactured with asbestos-containing materials
  • Transite conduit and panels: Asbestos-cement transite conduit and panel boards used in electrical rough-in throughout the plant
  • Wire and cable insulation: Older wiring with asbestos-braided insulation on individual conductors
  • Proximity to insulation work: Electrical conduit ran parallel to process piping, which meant electricians frequently occupied the same work areas as insulators and pipefitters during active asbestos-containing insulation work

Workers in this trade may have been dispatched from International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) locals serving the Kansas and Midwest region.

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

  1. 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.
  2. Preserve medical records. Pathology reports, biopsy results, imaging, and pulmonary-function tests are central to both civil claims and trust-fund filings.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.

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:

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.