Asbestos Exposure at Cleveland-Cliffs Burns Harbor — Middletown, Ohio — Ohio EPA NESHAP steelmaking: Former Worker Claims

An experienced mesothelioma lawyer in Ohio can help workers and families who may have been exposed to asbestos-containing materials at the Cleveland-Cliffs Middletown Works pursue compensation. If you worked at the Middletown Works and have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer, you may have limited time to file. Under Ohio law, you have only two years from diagnosis — not from exposure — to file a lawsuit. This article explains your exposure risk, the diseases asbestos causes, and how an asbestos attorney in Ohio can help maximize your recovery.

⚠️ CRITICAL OHIO FILING DEADLINE WARNING

Ohio law gives mesothelioma and asbestos disease victims only TWO YEARS to file a lawsuit — and that clock starts running from your diagnosis date, not from when you were exposed.

Under Ohio Rev. Code § 2305.10, if you miss this two-year deadline, you permanently lose your right to compensation — regardless of how strong your case is.

Do not wait. If you or a family member has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer after working at the Middletown Works, contact an experienced asbestos cancer lawyer or statewide Ohio firm today. Every day of delay narrows your options.

Asbestos trust fund claims and Ohio mesothelioma settlement lawsuits can be pursued simultaneously — maximizing your potential recovery. Trust assets are finite and depleting. The time to act is now.

What Was the Middletown Works and Why Was Asbestos Used There?
When Were Asbestos-Containing Materials Used at This Facility?
Which Jobs Carried the Highest Risk?
What Asbestos-Containing Products Were Allegedly Used?
What Diseases Result from Asbestos Exposure?
Was Your Family Exposed? Secondary and Paraoccupational Exposure
Your Legal Rights Under Ohio Law
Contact an Experienced Asbestos Attorney Ohio

What Was the Middletown Works and Why Was Asbestos Used There?

The Facility’s History and Operations

The Middletown Works sits in Butler County along the Great Miami River and has operated for well over a century. The facility has passed through multiple corporate owners:

Armco Steel (historical ownership)
AK Steel (mid-to-late 20th century)
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (following acquisition in March 2020)

At peak employment, the facility supported thousands of workers across multiple operational areas and trades. The Middletown Works is part of a broader Ohio steel industry legacy that includes Republic Steel’s Youngstown operations, Cleveland-Cliffs’ Cleveland operations, and other integrated mills that made Ohio one of the most concentrated asbestos-exposure regions in the country. Ohio unions serving workers at these facilities historically included USW Local 1307 (Lorain), Boilermakers Local 900, and Asbestos Workers Local 3 (Cleveland), among others representing workers across the state’s steel corridor.

Operations at the Complex

The Middletown Works historically ran the full spectrum of integrated steel production:

Blast furnace ironmaking
Basic oxygen furnace (BOF) steelmaking
Continuous casting
Hot strip and cold rolling mills
Galvanizing and coating lines
Coke ovens (historically)
Power generation and utility systems

Why Asbestos Was Used in Steelmaking

Steelmaking generates sustained extreme heat. Blast furnaces ran above 2,000°F. Basic oxygen furnaces exceeded 2,900°F. Steam systems and boilers operated at extreme temperatures and pressures throughout the plant. Before the industry acknowledged asbestos as a carcinogen, manufacturers marketed asbestos-containing materials as the standard solution for thermal insulation and fireproofing.

The same types of asbestos-containing products that may have been used at the Middletown Works were also reportedly present at other major Ohio steel and manufacturing facilities — including Republic Steel in Youngstown, Cleveland-Cliffs’ Cleveland operations, Goodyear’s Akron facilities, and B.F. Goodrich’s Akron plants — reflecting an industry-wide pattern of ACM use throughout Ohio’s manufacturing sector. Manufacturers including Johns-Manville, Owens-Illinois (headquartered in Toledo, Ohio), and Armstrong World Industries sold asbestos-containing products based on their thermal resistance, tensile strength, chemical resistance, electrical insulating properties, and low cost.

What the manufacturers knew: Industry researchers, physicians, and executives at major asbestos manufacturers knew by the 1930s and 1940s that asbestos fibers caused fatal lung diseases. They suppressed that information and did not warn workers. The continued sale and installation of asbestos-containing materials at facilities like the Middletown Works was a business decision, not an unavoidable consequence of the era. That fact drives asbestos litigation in Ohio today.

When Were Asbestos-Containing Materials Used at This Facility?

Pre-1940s Through 1950s: Construction and Heavy Installation

During original construction and major expansion phases, asbestos-containing materials were reportedly installed throughout the plant as standard industrial practice. Thermal insulation for steam piping, boilers, and high-temperature process equipment was almost universally asbestos-based during this period.

Installing new asbestos-containing insulation releases far more fiber than leaving materials undisturbed. Construction workers — including members of insulators and ironworkers unions serving the Ohio region — who worked during this era may have been among the most heavily exposed.

1960s–1970s: Peak Asbestos Use Despite Known Dangers

The 1960s and 1970s were the highest-volume asbestos years in U.S. industry, even as scientific evidence of harm accumulated. Major manufacturers allegedly continued selling asbestos-containing products directly to integrated steel mills across Ohio:

Johns-Manville — asbestos-containing insulation and gasket products
Owens-Illinois (Toledo, Ohio) — thermal insulation systems
Armstrong World Industries — pipe covering and block insulation
W.R. Grace — asbestos-containing materials
Eagle-Picher — insulation products
Garlock Sealing Technologies — gasket materials
Crane Co. — valve and equipment components containing asbestos-containing materials

These manufacturers may have supplied insulation, gaskets, packing, refractory materials, and other asbestos-containing products to integrated steel mills including the Middletown Works. Workers in maintenance and construction trades — including members of Asbestos Workers Local 3 (Cleveland) and Boilermakers Local 900 — were routinely cutting, fitting, and removing asbestos-containing insulation during major maintenance and capital improvement projects throughout this period. Similar exposure patterns have been documented at Republic Steel in Youngstown and Ford’s Lorain Assembly Plant, where Ohio union members worked with comparable asbestos-containing product lines during the same decades.

1978–1990: Regulatory Pressure and Gradual Transition

After EPA regulatory action and OSHA permissible exposure limits took effect, new asbestos-containing product installation declined. The transition was not clean:

Existing asbestos-containing materials remained installed in boilers, furnaces, and pipe systems
Maintenance and renovation work on aging asbestos-containing insulation continued to generate exposure
Workers who replaced gaskets, removed deteriorated pipe covering, or performed maintenance in affected areas faced ongoing risk through this period

1990s and Beyond: Legacy Materials and Renovation Exposure

Even after new asbestos-containing product installation largely stopped, legacy materials remained in older portions of the facility. Workers involved in renovation, demolition, or equipment replacement during the 1990s and 2000s may have been exposed to asbestos-containing materials installed 30 or 40 years earlier. Ohio EPA NESHAP abatement notifications have documented asbestos-containing materials in aging industrial facilities across Butler County and the broader Ohio manufacturing corridor during this period.

Which Jobs Carried the Highest Risk?

Exposure risk at the Middletown Works varied by job title, work location, era of employment, and specific tasks performed. The trades below faced the most direct and frequent contact with asbestos-containing materials. These same job categories are well-documented in Cuyahoga County asbestos lawsuit litigation and claims arising from steel and manufacturing facilities across Ohio, including Republic Steel Youngstown, Cleveland-Cliffs Cleveland, Goodyear Akron, and B.F. Goodrich Akron.

Ohio Statute of Limitations — Act Now: If you worked in any of the trades described below and have been diagnosed with mesothelioma or an asbestos-related disease, Ohio’s two-year statute of limitations under Ohio Rev. Code § 2305.10 — running from your diagnosis date — means delay is not an option. An experienced asbestos attorney in Ohio can evaluate your claim at no cost and with no obligation.

Insulators (Asbestos Workers) — Highest-Risk Trade

Insulators — including members of Asbestos Workers Local 3 (Cleveland), the Ohio-region affiliate of the Heat and Frost Insulators union — worked directly with asbestos-containing thermal insulation on pipes, boilers, turbines, and furnaces. Their core tasks generated the highest fiber concentrations of any trade at the facility.

Tasks generating heavy fiber release:

Mixing and applying asbestos-containing insulating cement
Cutting and fitting pipe-covering insulation allegedly containing amosite or chrysotile asbestos-containing materials
Removing and replacing deteriorated asbestos-containing insulation
Applying asbestos-containing block insulation to furnace walls and boiler casings

Medical and epidemiological literature consistently places insulators at steel mills among the occupational groups with the highest documented mesothelioma rates. In Ohio, Asbestos Workers Local 3 members who worked at the state’s integrated steel mills have been among the most frequently represented plaintiffs in asbestos litigation filed in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court and other Ohio venues.

Pipefitters and Steamfitters — Routine Contact with Asbestos-Containing Materials

Pipefitters and steamfitters — including members of USW Local 1307 (Lorain) and other Ohio-based union locals representing workers at the Middletown Works — worked extensively with steam, process water, and chemical distribution systems throughout the plant.

Asbestos-containing material sources for pipefitters:

High-temperature steam pipes allegedly insulated with asbestos-containing pipe covering from manufacturers including Johns-Manville and Armstrong World Industries
Flanges and valves sealed with compressed asbestos fiber (CAF) gaskets from Garlock Sealing Technologies and Crane Co.
Pipe packing materials allegedly containing asbestos-containing fibers
Repair and maintenance work requiring cutting through or disturbing existing asbestos-containing insulation

Pipefitters who were not the primary insulation trade still worked alongside insulators whose activities generated significant airborne fiber concentrations in shared work areas.

Boilermakers — Multiple Exposure Pathways

Boilermakers — including members of Boilermakers Local 900, which represented workers at Ohio industrial facilities including steel mills — may have been exposed through several distinct mechanisms at the Middletown Works:

Asbestos-containing material sources for boilermakers:

Block insulation, blanket insulation, and insulating cement on large industrial boilers, allegedly containing asbestos-containing materials from Johns-Manville, Owens-Illinois (Toledo), and Armstrong World Industries
Refractory linings inside boilers and high-temperature vessels allegedly containing asbestos-containing materials
Boiler door gaskets, manhole gaskets, and valve packings allegedly containing asbestos-containing fibers

Boilermakers routinely entered confined spaces — boiler tubes, chambers — where accumulated fibers had settled. Cleaning and repairing boiler interiors generated direct exposure during removal and repair of asbestos-containing refractory materials.

Data Sources

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

Cleveland-Cliffs Burns Harbor