Asbestos Exposure at Owensboro Municipal Utilities Green Station Power Plant

Former Workers and Families May Face Serious Health Risks from Alleged Asbestos-Containing Materials at This Owensboro, Kentucky Coal-Fired Generating Facility

⚠️ KENTUCKY FILING DEADLINE WARNING — ACT IMMEDIATELY

Kentucky imposes one of the shortest asbestos filing deadlines in the nation: just ONE YEAR from diagnosis under KRS § 413.140(1)(a). Families have as little as 12 months after a mesothelioma or asbestos disease diagnosis to file a civil lawsuit — after that, the right to sue is permanently lost. If your loved one was recently diagnosed, the clock is already running. Contact an asbestos attorney Kentucky today.

Owensboro Municipal Utilities’ Green Station power plant — a coal-fired steam generating facility along the Ohio River in Owensboro, Kentucky — reportedly supplied electrical power to Daviess County and the surrounding region for decades. Like virtually every coal-fired steam generating station built or operated in the United States before the early 1980s, Green Station allegedly incorporated asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) throughout its construction, operation, and repeated maintenance cycles.

If you or a loved one worked at Green Station and has since been diagnosed with mesothelioma or another asbestos disease, time is critically short. Kentucky’s one-year filing deadline means you may have as little as 12 months from diagnosis to protect your legal rights — and that deadline cannot be extended. Former workers, family members, and contractors who performed work at this facility may have been exposed to airborne asbestos fibers — a confirmed human carcinogen — and may now carry elevated risk of mesothelioma, asbestosis, lung cancer, or other asbestos-related diseases. A mesothelioma lawyer Kentucky can evaluate your claim at no cost, but you must act now.

Table of Contents

1. What Green Station Was and Why Asbestos Was Used Throughout
2. Why Power Plants Relied on Asbestos-Containing Materials
3. Specific Asbestos Products Workers May Have Encountered
4. Which Trades and Workers Faced the Highest Exposure Risk
5. How Families Get Exposed: Secondary (Take-Home) Contamination
6. Asbestos-Related Diseases and Your Health Risk
7. Why Diagnoses Appear Decades Later: The Latency Issue
8. Your Legal Rights and Options Under Kentucky Law
9. How Attorneys Build Asbestos Cases
10. Take Action Now: Free Case Evaluation

What Green Station Was and Why Asbestos Was Used Throughout

Owensboro Municipal Utilities and Green Station Background

Owensboro Municipal Utilities (OMU) is a publicly owned utility serving Owensboro and much of Daviess County in western Kentucky. As a municipally owned electric and natural gas distribution system, OMU operated generating assets that powered homes and industries throughout the region for well over half a century, making it one of the largest utility operations in western Kentucky.

Green Station — referenced in regulatory and municipal documents variously as the Green Street generating station or Green Power Station — reportedly functioned as a conventional coal-fired steam electric generating plant. It operated during an era when asbestos-containing insulation and fireproofing materials were standard at every commercial power-generating facility in America.

Green Station was not unique in western Kentucky. Across the Commonwealth, coal-fired generating facilities including LG&E’s Mill Creek and Cane Run power plants in Louisville and Big Sandy Station in Lawrence County allegedly incorporated the same asbestos-containing insulation systems, the same manufacturer supply chains, and exposed workers to similar hazards. Workers and tradespeople who moved between Kentucky generating facilities — employed by OMU, Louisville Gas and Electric, or contractors who serviced multiple plants — may have accumulated exposures across multiple job sites throughout their careers.

How Coal-Fired Power Plants Operated

These facilities burned coal to heat water in large boilers, producing high-pressure steam that drove turbines connected to electrical generators. That engineering demanded enormous quantities of thermal insulation and fireproofing throughout the plant’s operational life:

• Large boilers requiring heat retention
• Steam lines and piping spanning miles of the facility
• Turbines and generators requiring precision insulation
• Feed water heaters and condensers
• Thousands of valves, flanges, and bolted fittings

From the post-World War II era through roughly the mid-1980s, the thermal insulation and fireproofing industry was dominated by asbestos-containing products. Coal-fired power plants like Green Station were, as a result, reportedly among the heaviest users of asbestos-containing materials in American industrial history.

Workers who built, operated, maintained, and repaired facilities like Green Station may have been exposed to asbestos fibers on a near-daily basis — often without warning, without adequate protective equipment, and without any knowledge that the materials around them were causing irreversible damage to their lungs and pleural tissue.

Why Power Plants Relied on Asbestos-Containing Materials

The Properties That Made Asbestos the Industrial Standard

Asbestos offered a combination of properties that made it, for decades, the default insulation material across heavy industry:

• Naturally fireproof — does not burn; withstands temperatures exceeding 1,000°F
• Effective thermal insulator — resists heat conduction
• Durable and flexible — can be woven into cloth, formed into rigid block, mixed into cement, or sprayed onto surfaces
• Inexpensive — mined in large volumes from deposits in Canada, South Africa, and the United States

For a coal-fired generating station, those properties were operationally necessary. Steam boilers run at temperatures and pressures that demand reliable thermal insulation. Turbines require precise heat management. Miles of steam and condensate piping must stay insulated to preserve thermodynamic efficiency.

Why Asbestos Dominated Industrial Supply Chains

Every valve, flange, expansion joint, and fitting required insulation and packing. Before EPA and OSHA began restricting asbestos use in the 1970s, major manufacturers specified asbestos-containing materials for these applications as standard practice. Manufacturers including Johns-Manville Corporation, Owens-Illinois, Inc., Armstrong World Industries, Inc., W.R. Grace & Co., and Celotex Corporation supplied asbestos-containing insulation products to coal-fired power plants throughout Kentucky and the nation.

These manufacturers are alleged to have known for decades that asbestos fiber inhalation caused fatal disease — yet continued supplying asbestos-containing materials to industrial facilities like Green Station without adequate warnings. That alleged concealment of known hazards is the legal and factual foundation of asbestos litigation in the United States.

Specific Asbestos Products Workers May Have Encountered at Green Station

Based on the era of construction and operation, facility type, and documented supply chains of major asbestos product manufacturers during the mid-20th century, workers at Green Station may have been exposed to asbestos-containing materials across multiple product categories. The following products and companies are alleged to have supplied ACMs to coal-fired power plants of this type and era.

Thermal Insulation — Block and Pipe Covering

Johns-Manville Corporation

Johns-Manville Corporation was, for much of the 20th century, the largest manufacturer of asbestos-containing insulation products in the United States. Workers at Green Station may have been exposed to asbestos-containing materials from Johns-Manville, including:

• Thermobestos® pipe covering — molded sectional pipe insulation manufactured with chrysotile and amosite asbestos, widely used on steam and condensate lines throughout power plant environments
• Kaylo® block insulation — high-temperature block insulation manufactured with asbestos for use on boilers, turbines, and large-diameter steam equipment
• Monokote® spray-applied fireproofing — asbestos-containing spray-on insulation applied to structural steel and equipment surfaces
• Asbestos-containing insulating cement — mixed on-site and applied to irregularly shaped fittings, flanges, and valves

Johns-Manville actively marketed these products to utilities, engineering firms, and contractors supplying coal-fired generating stations throughout Kentucky and the Ohio River Valley industrial corridor. Workers at Green Station may have encountered Thermobestos, Kaylo, and related Johns-Manville asbestos-containing materials based on documented regional supply patterns.

Owens-Illinois and Owens Corning

Owens-Illinois Glass Company — a distinct legal entity from Owens Corning — manufactured Kaylo® high-temperature block insulation during the mid-20th century. Kaylo allegedly contained chrysotile and amosite asbestos and was marketed aggressively to utilities and industrial users. Owens Corning continued manufacturing asbestos-containing thermal insulation products after separation, including pipe covering and block materials. Workers at Green Station who may have handled, cut, installed, or removed Kaylo or equivalent Owens-Illinois and Owens Corning asbestos products may have been exposed to asbestos fibers released during those operations.

Armstrong World Industries

Armstrong World Industries, Inc. manufactured asbestos-containing pipe covering, block insulation, and insulating cement marketed to utilities and industrial facilities. Armstrong asbestos products may have been present at Green Station for thermal insulation of secondary systems, condensers, and feed water heaters.

Celotex Corporation

Celotex Corporation manufactured asbestos-containing insulation board, pipe covering, and cement products. Celotex asbestos materials may have been used at Green Station for equipment insulation, pipe wrapping, and structural fireproofing.

Eagle-Picher Industries

Eagle-Picher Industries, Inc. allegedly manufactured asbestos-containing pipe covering and block insulation supplied to power plants and industrial facilities throughout this era. Workers at Green Station may have been exposed to Eagle-Picher asbestos-containing materials during installation, removal, and maintenance operations.

Steam Boiler Equipment and Refractory Materials

Combustion Engineering, Inc.

Combustion Engineering, Inc. (C-E) was a major manufacturer and installer of industrial and utility steam boilers throughout the 20th century. C-E boilers were commonly specified in municipal utility and industrial power plants across the United States, and Green Station may have incorporated C-E boiler equipment or C-E-designed systems.

Steam boilers of this era were typically constructed with — or subsequently insulated using — substantial quantities of asbestos-containing refractory and insulating materials, including:

• Asbestos-containing boiler block insulation
• Asbestos rope and gasket packing for access doors and inspection ports
• Asbestos-containing refractory cement applied to interior and exterior boiler surfaces

Workers who performed construction, repair, or maintenance on boilers at Green Station may have been exposed to asbestos-containing materials during those operations.

Steam Turbines and Generator Equipment

Large steam turbines — the primary power-generating equipment at coal-fired stations — were insulated extensively with asbestos-containing materials. Turbine casings, steam chests, and associated piping were reportedly wrapped with asbestos-containing block insulation from Johns-Manville, Owens-Illinois, Armstrong World Industries, and others, along with cloth lagging and asbestos-containing cement.

General Electric Company and Westinghouse Electric Corporation supplied turbine-generator equipment to facilities of this type throughout Kentucky and the Ohio River Valley. The insulation systems associated with their equipment may have incorporated asbestos-containing materials from major suppliers. Kentucky workers who may have serviced GE or Westinghouse turbines at Green Station — and who also performed similar work at LG&E’s Cane Run or Mill Creek facilities or at Armco Steel’s Ashland plant — may have accumulated significant asbestos exposures across multiple job sites over the course of a career.

Gaskets, Packing, and Valve Components

High-pressure steam systems require gaskets, valve packing, and flange seals capable of withstanding extreme temperatures and pressures. Before the widespread commercial availability of non-asbestos alternatives in the mid-1980s, these components were routinely manufactured with asbestos-containing materials.

Garlock Sealing Technologies and Crane Co. were among the major manufacturers of asbestos-containing gaskets and packing materials supplied to industrial facilities throughout this era. Workers at Green Station — particularly pipefitters, millwrights, and maintenance mechanics — who routinely cut, handled, or removed sheet gas

Generating Unit Equipment — Public Registry

The following generating units are documented in the North American Electric Generating Plants database for this facility. This database is maintained by UDI/S&P Global and draws on federal EIA filings and state regulatory records.

Source: UDI/S&P Global North American Electric Generating Plants database (NAMERICA 2025). Public reference data.

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