Legally Reviewed by Michael Throneberry, Attorney on October 4, 2026. President, National Trial Lawyers Asbestos & Mesothelioma Bar (2025 and 2026).
If you worked in Flagstaff or northern Arizona before the 1980s, you may have breathed asbestos dust at a lumber mill, a power plant, a paper mill, a cement plant or a campus boiler room. Asbestos was built into boilers, pipe insulation, gaskets and kiln linings across the region because it held up to heat. Mesothelioma and other asbestos diseases often show up decades after the work that caused them.
Throneberry Law Group helps northern Arizona workers and their families trace an illness back to the places and products that caused it. This page lists the northern Arizona worksites that asbestos bankruptcy trusts recognize as places where workers were exposed.
Which Northern Arizona Sites Are on Asbestos Trust Lists?
Many companies that made asbestos products went bankrupt and set up trusts to pay people who got sick. Each trust keeps a list of worksites where it accepts that its products were used. The northern Arizona sites below appear on those lists.
| Site | Town | What it was | Trust listings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Forest Industries pulp and paper mill | Snowflake | Pulp and paper mill; closed in 2012 | 4 trusts |
| Phoenix Cement Company plant | Clarkdale | Cement plant with rotary kilns | 4 trusts |
| Navajo Generating Station | Page | Coal-fired power plant; closed in 2019 | 3 trusts |
| Cholla Power Plant | Joseph City | Coal-fired power plant; stopped burning coal in 2025 | 2 trusts |
| Northern Arizona University, formerly Arizona State Teachers College | Flagstaff | Campus heating plants | 2 trusts |
| Southwest Lumber Mills; Saginaw and Manistee Lumber Company; Ponderosa Paper Products | Flagstaff | Sawmills and paper products | 1 trust each |
| Flagstaff Electric Light Company power plant | Flagstaff | Early city power plant | 1 trust |
Trust listings as of October 2026, based on Throneberry Law Group’s review of asbestos trust approved-site lists. A listing does not by itself establish a claim.
Where Was Asbestos Used in Flagstaff?
In Flagstaff, asbestos was most common in the sawmills and paper plant that ran steam boilers around the clock. The Arizona Lumber and Timber Company, which took over an 1882 sawmill in 1887, was Flagstaff’s largest employer for about 50 years, according to Northern Arizona University’s Cline Library. Later mills run by Southwest Lumber Mills and the Saginaw and Manistee Lumber Company, and the Ponderosa Paper Products plant, each appear on one trust’s list. The insulation and gaskets on their boilers often contained asbestos, and boiler tenders, millwrights and maintenance crews worked closest to that equipment. The Flagstaff Electric Light Company’s early power plant is also on a trust list.
Was There Asbestos at Northern Arizona University?
Two asbestos bankruptcy trusts list Northern Arizona University, one under its old name, Arizona State Teachers College, as a place where workers were exposed. The school opened in 1899 and took the teachers college name in 1929, according to NAU’s history page. Its north campus plant ran large water-tube power boilers built by Erie City in 1966 and 1969, according to Arizona state boiler inspection records. The Industrial Commission of Arizona oversees boiler inspections in the state. Boiler operators, maintenance workers, pipefitters and contractors in those plants were the most likely to be exposed.
Which Northern Arizona Power Plants Are on Trust Lists?
Three asbestos bankruptcy trusts list Navajo Generating Station near Page, which burned coal until its last unit shut down on November 18, 2019. Our Navajo Generating Station page covers the plant’s equipment, jobs and history in detail.
Two trusts list the Cholla Power Plant near Joseph City, which burned coal for Arizona Public Service until March 17, 2025, according to the Arizona Corporation Commission. Arizona state boiler inspection records show its main boilers were built by Combustion Engineering, the first in 1961 and two more in the mid-1970s. Arizona Public Service plans to convert two of the plant’s units to natural gas, according to its Cholla conversion page, a plan the Arizona Corporation Commission addressed in a July 2, 2026 statement. Our guide to the anatomy of a power plant asbestos case explains where asbestos sat in plants like Cholla and who breathed it.
Did the Snowflake Paper Mill Use Asbestos?
The Southwest Forest Industries pulp and paper mill outside Snowflake, later run by Abitibi and Catalyst Paper, appears on the approved-site lists of four asbestos bankruptcy trusts, tied with the Clarkdale cement plant for the most in northern Arizona. Arizona state boiler inspection records, which list the mill under a later owner, show it ran large Babcock & Wilcox power boilers, one built in 1961 and another in 1974. One trust’s records note refractory repair work on the mill’s lime kiln. Mill workers, maintenance crews and contractors may all have been exposed. The mill closed in 2012, according to the U.S. Treasury’s CDFI Fund.
Was There Asbestos at the Clarkdale Cement Plant?
The Phoenix Cement Company plant in Clarkdale appears on four asbestos trust lists. Cement kilns are lined with heat-resistant brick and refractory, and trust records for this plant describe kiln lining installation and tear-out work. That kind of work raised clouds of dust in tight spaces.
Which Jobs in Northern Arizona Carried the Most Risk?
The workers who handled asbestos materials directly faced the most exposure. Others breathed the same dust while working nearby.
- Boilermakers and boiler operators: at the power plants, the mills and the NAU heating plants.
- Pipefitters, insulators and millwrights: cutting, wrapping and tearing out insulation on steam lines.
- Kiln and refractory workers: relining kilns at the Clarkdale cement plant and the Snowflake mill.
- Maintenance mechanics and electricians: repairs and overhauls in boiler rooms and power plants.
- Contractors: outside crews brought in for construction and shutdowns.
How Do Trust Site Lists Help Prove Exposure?
A trust’s approved-site list is evidence that its products were used at a worksite, which helps show where a worker was exposed. A claim still rests on a work history: where you worked, what years, and what equipment you worked on or near, backed by coworkers, union records and Social Security earnings records. Arizona’s filing deadlines are short, and our statute of limitations page explains them.
Common Questions About Asbestos in Northern Arizona
What asbestos sites are near Flagstaff?
In Flagstaff itself, asbestos trusts list Northern Arizona University’s heating plants, the Southwest Lumber Mills and Saginaw and Manistee Lumber Company sawmills, the Ponderosa Paper Products plant and the Flagstaff Electric Light Company power plant. Farther out, the region’s most-listed sites are the Phoenix Cement Company plant in Clarkdale, the Snowflake paper mill, Navajo Generating Station near Page and the Cholla Power Plant near Joseph City.
Are there listed asbestos sites in Prescott, Williams or Winslow?
Yes, though each has fewer trust listings than the larger plants. Trust lists include the Prescott Electric power plant, the Grand Canyon Electric Light and Power plant in Williams, and Navajo Ice and Cold Storage in Winslow. Other smaller listings include the Santa Fe Railway at Grand Canyon, the United Verde copper operations in Clarkdale and Mingus Union High School in Cottonwood.
Were NAU students and office staff exposed to asbestos?
Students and office staff were much less likely than boiler and maintenance workers to handle asbestos materials. The trust listings for Northern Arizona University relate to the campus heating plants, where boiler operators, pipefitters and contractors worked directly with insulated equipment.
Could family members of northern Arizona workers be exposed?
Yes. Asbestos dust rode home on the work clothes of mill, plant and boiler room workers, and shaking out or washing those clothes could put fibers in the air at home. Our page on take-home asbestos exposure explains how that works.
Talk With a Lawyer About Asbestos Exposure in Northern Arizona
Tell us where you worked and what you remember about the job. A lawyer will review your history at no cost, and you owe no attorney fees unless we recover money for you. Start with our Arizona mesothelioma lawyers page, or contact us about your Arizona case to set up a free case review.