Mesothelioma Lawyer Ohio: Asbestos Exposure at Killen Generating Station

⚠️ CRITICAL FILING DEADLINE WARNING FOR Ohio residents

Ohio law currently provides a 5-year statute of limitations for asbestos personal injury claims under Ohio Rev. Code § 2305.10, running from the date of diagnosis — not the date of exposure.

That window is under active legislative threat right now. In 2026, ** Do not assume you have time to wait. If you or a family member has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer, contact an experienced mesothelioma lawyer in Ohio before the 2026 legislative changes take effect. Every month of delay is a month you cannot get back.

Why This Matters Now: Asbestos Exposure at Killen Generating Station

If you worked at Killen Generating Station in Manchester, Ohio — during construction in the late 1970s, during plant operations, or during maintenance and renovation projects — you may have been exposed to asbestos-containing materials. That exposure may have caused mesothelioma, asbestosis, or lung cancer to develop years or decades later.

This guide explains what happened at Killen, which workers faced the highest risk, how asbestos exposure occurred, and what legal options exist to recover compensation. Workers from Missouri and Illinois frequently traveled to large utility construction and maintenance projects across the Ohio River industrial corridor. If you are a Ohio resident who worked at Killen Generating Station, your legal rights — including where you may file suit, which statute of limitations applies, and whether you may simultaneously pursue bankruptcy trust claims — depend on your state of residence and where your asbestos exposure occurred.

Time is not on your side. Ohio’s 2-year filing window under Ohio Rev. Code § 2305.10 runs from diagnosis — but pending 2026 legislation could impose significant new procedural burdens on cases filed after August 28, 2026. If you have already received a diagnosis, treat this as an emergency. Consult with a Ohio asbestos attorney today — not next month.

Killen Generating Station: Facility Overview

Killen Generating Station is a coal-fired electric power plant in Manchester, Adams County, Ohio, on the Ohio River.

Key facts:

Unit 1 reportedly came online in 1982 following construction in the late 1970s
Capacity: Approximately 600 megawatts
Original operator: Dayton Power and Light Company (DP&L)
Current operator: AES Ohio LLC (following AES Corporation’s acquisition)
Co-owner: Columbus Southern Power Company (now part of American Electric Power / AEP)
Plant type: Conventional pulverized-coal steam-electric generating unit

Coal-fired generating stations require materials that withstand steam line temperatures above 1,000°F, resist chemical corrosion, seal high-pressure systems, and protect against fire. During the 1970s and early 1980s, asbestos-containing materials were the industry standard for every one of those applications.

Killen Generating Station sits along the Ohio River — part of the broader Mississippi and Ohio River industrial corridor that connects Missouri and Illinois industrial workers to major utility and manufacturing facilities across the Midwest and Mid-South. Union members from Heat and Frost Insulators Local 1 (St. Louis), UA Local 562 (St. Louis), and Boilermakers Local 27 (St. Louis) who traveled to Ohio River basin projects during the construction boom of the late 1970s and early 1980s may have worked at Killen and similar facilities during that period.

Why Asbestos-Containing Materials Were Used at Power Plants

Asbestos-containing materials were standard in coal-fired power plants because asbestos resists heat up to 1,000°F (537°C), bonds chemically with cement and insulating compounds, withstands acids and alkalis, and cost less than any available alternative during the 1960s through 1980s. Manufacturers including Johns-Manville, Owens-Illinois, Owens Corning, Armstrong World Industries, Eagle-Picher, W.R. Grace, Combustion Engineering, Crane Co., Georgia-Pacific, and Celotex actively marketed asbestos-containing materials to utilities and industrial contractors as the standard solution for high-temperature insulation.

Internal documents produced in asbestos litigation have established that many of these manufacturers knew about the lethal health risks of asbestos decades before warning workers or the public. That concealed knowledge is the foundation of corporate liability in every asbestos injury case.

The same manufacturers whose asbestos-containing products were allegedly used at Killen Generating Station reportedly supplied ACMs to Missouri and Illinois facilities along the Mississippi River industrial corridor — including Labadie Power Plant (Franklin County, Missouri), Portage des Sioux Power Plant (St. Charles County, Missouri), Monsanto chemical facilities (St. Louis area), and Granite City Steel (Granite City, Illinois).

Workers who rotated between Missouri, Illinois, and Ohio River basin project sites may have accumulated significant cumulative asbestos exposure across multiple worksites. In Ohio asbestos litigation, that cumulative exposure history strengthens liability arguments against every manufacturer whose product contributed to the total fiber burden.

Timeline: Asbestos Use at Killen

Construction Phase (Late 1970s – Early 1980s)

OSHA issued initial asbestos standards in 1971, but enforcement on large utility construction projects was reportedly inconsistent. During Killen’s construction, asbestos-containing materials were allegedly incorporated into:

Boiler systems and refractory linings
High-temperature steam piping insulation
Turbine and generator insulation
Electrical switchgear and panels
Structural fireproofing
Pump seals, valve packing, and gaskets
HVAC and ductwork insulation

Insulators, pipefitters, boilermakers, ironworkers, electricians, millwrights, and laborers may have been exposed to asbestos-containing materials through cutting, fitting, applying, and disturbing these materials during facility construction. Missouri and Illinois union members dispatched to Killen during this construction phase may have encountered the same ACM products that were simultaneously being installed at Missouri River and Mississippi River basin power stations during the same period.

Operational Phase (1982 – Present)

Killen required continuous maintenance, repair, and renovation that may have disturbed previously installed ACMs. EPA NESHAP regulations at 40 CFR Part 61, Subpart M require facilities to survey for asbestos before renovation or demolition work, implement proper abatement procedures when work will disturb regulated asbestos-containing materials, and file notification records with state environmental agencies.

NESHAP notification records filed with Ohio EPA are public documents and may document asbestos abatement projects at Killen across decades of operation. These records establish that asbestos-containing materials were present and actively managed — not eliminated — at the facility long after construction ended.

Regulatory Period (1980s – 2000s)

Following stricter federal and state regulations in the 1980s and 1990s, utilities reportedly undertook staged abatement programs. Large industrial facilities like Killen typically managed ACMs in place rather than removing all materials at once. Workers performing maintenance in proximity to undisturbed ACMs during this period may have faced ongoing asbestos exposure risks. Missouri and Illinois tradespeople dispatched to Killen during scheduled outage work and maintenance turnarounds may have worked alongside or in the immediate vicinity of materials undergoing abatement.

Occupational Groups at Highest Risk

Heat and Frost Insulators (Local 1 – St. Louis)

Insulators worked directly with asbestos-containing materials throughout their careers at power plants. Members of Heat and Frost Insulators Local 1 (St. Louis) who worked at Killen may have been exposed through:

Wrapping high-temperature steam and condensate lines with pre-formed asbestos pipe sections, asbestos blankets, and asbestos cement compounds
Mixing dry asbestos powder with water to produce asbestos cement — a task that generated among the highest airborne fiber concentrations of any trade activity
Cutting and fitting insulation around elbows, flanges, and tee connections
Removing deteriorated asbestos insulation during repair and re-insulation projects
Applying block insulation on boilers and high-temperature equipment
Handling asbestos blankets, tape, and rope

Local 1 members who traveled from St. Louis to Ohio River basin utility projects during the late 1970s construction boom — working at Killen before returning to Missouri projects such as Labadie or Portage des Sioux — may have accumulated significant cumulative asbestos fiber burdens across multiple worksites. Asbestos causes mesothelioma, asbestosis, and lung cancer. There is no safe level of occupational asbestos exposure.

**If you are a Ohio-resident insulator diagnosed with mesothelioma or asbestosis, you may have a viable claim under Ohio’s 2-year statute of limitations. Contact an experienced asbestos cancer lawyer in St. Louis immediately.

Pipefitters and Steamfitters (UA Local 562 – St. Louis)

Members of UA Local 562 (St. Louis) and other Missouri and Illinois pipefitter locals who worked at Killen may have been exposed through:

Working adjacent to insulators applying or removing ACM insulation, with airborne fibers dispersing through shared work areas
Removing pipe insulation to access pipe sections for repair or replacement
Handling asbestos-containing compressed fiber gaskets — reportedly manufactured by Garlock Sealing Technologies and other suppliers — at flanged joints throughout steam, water, and fuel systems
Working with asbestos rope packing in steam valve stem seals
Disturbing pipe covering during welding operations
Handling asbestos-containing flange isolation kits and bolt hole gasket materials

UA Local 562 has historically dispatched members to major utility and industrial construction projects throughout the Missouri, Illinois, and Ohio River basin region. Members who rotated between St. Louis-area facilities — including Monsanto plant sites and Mississippi River corridor refineries — and out-of-state utility projects such as Killen may have experienced cumulative asbestos exposures at each location. In Ohio asbestos litigation, that multi-site exposure history can support claims against multiple defendants simultaneously.

Boilermakers (Local 27 – St. Louis)

Boilermakers constructed, repaired, and maintained the plant’s coal-fired boilers. Members of Boilermakers Local 27 (St. Louis) and other Missouri and Illinois boilermaker locals who worked at Killen may have been exposed through:

Refractory brick and castable refractory lining in boiler fireboxes — some formulations allegedly contained asbestos as reinforcing fiber
Boiler insulation applied with asbestos-containing blankets, blocks, and cements allegedly supplied by Johns-Manville and Owens-Illinois
High-temperature gasket materials on boiler access doors, inspection ports, and internal sealing surfaces
Woven asbestos rope packing on pressure vessels and boiler door seals
Work inside boiler fireboxes and flue gas passages during outage and maintenance periods — confined, poorly ventilated spaces where fiber concentrations reached levels substantially higher than in open work areas

Boilermakers Local 27 members who worked at Killen during construction or outage maintenance, and who also worked at Granite City Steel, Labadie, Portage des Sioux, or other Mississippi River corridor industrial facilities, may have experienced cumulative asbestos exposure across multiple high-risk worksites.

Electricians and Controls Technicians

Electricians encountered asbestos-containing materials through pathways less commonly recognized than those affecting insulators — but no less dangerous:

Asbestos-containing electrical arc chutes and arc flash barriers inside switchgear and circuit breaker panels, allegedly manufactured by Westinghouse, General Electric, and Square D
Asbestos millboard used as fireproofing backing behind electrical panels and switchboards
Asbestos-containing wire and cable insulation in high-temperature areas of the plant
Disturbing overhead pipe insulation while running conduit through insulated pipe chases
Working in electrical vaults and control rooms where asbestos-containing materials were installed in surrounding structures

Electricians frequently performed work in the same physical spaces