If you have worked and lived in Missouri for a significant amount of time, there is a chance that you were exposed to asbestos at home or in the workplace. Prolonged exposure to asbestos can lead to serious health problems, including pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma and asbestos-exposure-related lung disease. Many asbestos providers recklessly polluted the environment and put profits before people.
Mesothelioma is a rare and aggressive form of cancer that is hard to diagnose and treat. Tumors form in the mesothelium (membrane that surrounds the lungs and abdomen). These tumors are difficult to spot, and since most mesothelioma victims do not have physical symptoms until Stage III or Stage IV, doctors do not perform extensive diagnostic tests. Any late-stage cancer that has spread to other parts of the body is almost impossible to treat.
A mesothelioma lawyer in Kansas City obtains the compensation these victims need to deal with their illnesses and also holds polluters responsible for their actions. Compensation in a civil claim usually includes money for economic losses, such as medical bills, and noneconomic losses, such as pain and suffering. The punitive damages available in these cases force companies to change the way they do business and truly put safety first.
Asbestos Mining
Until the government banned the practice in 2002, large asbestos mines were located in St. Francois County and adjacent Iron County. Several former mines in this area contain documented asbestos occurrences. Mining activity disrupts the deposits and releases dangerous fibers into the air.
These fibers endanger miners and the people who live near mines. Most asbestos mining companies did not require workers to wear adequate PPE (personal protective equipment). Instead, they lied about the risk. Furthermore, since asbestos fibers are only slightly heavier than air, they usually float for at least seventy-two hours.
Furthermore, an unnamed prospect in the Mark Twain National Forest, a manganese mine in Winona, and a copper mine in Astoria had documented natural asbestos. Mining activities at these locations could have potentially disturbed the existing deposits and made the dangerous fibers become airborne.
Asbestos Use Across Missouri Industries
In addition to the natural asbestos deposits in St. Francois and Iron counties, industries throughout the state put workers at risk with their use of asbestos-containing materials and products.
Manufacturing
GAF Corporation, later known as Ruberoid, operated a plant near Kansas City that produced asbestos roofing materials. These products put workers in the plant, as well as construction workers and consumers, at risk of exposure. Another large asbestos product manufacturer, CertainTeed, had a plant-based near GAF and produced asbestos-laced cement pipe. Furthermore, when these facilities closed in the late 1970s, they improperly disposed of their hazardous asbestos waste along the Maline Creek shoreline. Despite some local government cleanup efforts, much asbestos waste remains there today.
Automotive
Before 1980, almost all domestically produced auto parts contained asbestos. Many imported automotive parts, like brake linings, still use some amount of asbestos today, putting mechanics and workers in vehicle assembly plants at an increased risk of exposure to the toxin. Workers at the Mack Truck assembly plant in Joplin used several asbestos-containing parts that they often handled, including gaskets and brake linings.
Asbestos Superfund Sites in Missouri
Two sites in Missouri are on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund List because of asbestos waste and other environmental concerns. The Maline Creek area was also considered for the list after many investigations over the years. Various cleanup efforts by local agencies took place over the years, finally concluding in 2001.
Lake City Army Ammunition Plant
The Lake City Army Ammunition Plant occupies nearly 4,000 acres of land in Independence. The site has been used for various industrial operations, including manufacturing and testing ammunition, since 1941. Over decades of use, hazardous wastes have built up on the site and contaminated the soil and groundwater. In their initial investigation, the EPA noted asbestos siding, construction debris, metals, PCBs, and other toxic waste around the property. The site was added to the Superfund List in 1989 and underwent extensive long-term cleaning efforts. As of 2009, the site was declared to need no further action, though monitoring is ongoing.
Weldon Spring Chemical Plant and Quarry
The Weldon Spring site includes the Weldon Spring Chemical Plant and the Weldon Spring Quarry. The site is located in St. Charles County, and the two operations are approximately four miles apart. The site was used to convert uranium and process other concentrates, like thorium. These materials and their decay products contaminated the building, equipment, sewer system, and surrounding area. The EPA found a variety of other hazards, including asbestos debris, lead, and various metals. For cleanup, a large disposal cell was constructed for the waste products in 2001, and the agency is dedicated to long-term monitoring and continued cleanup of surrounding soils and groundwater.
Exposure in Cities
Steelworkers and many builders in Kansas City, Missouri, used asbestos-containing products until the 1980s. Workers and family members exposed to asbestos may be at risk of developing mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases.
Asbestos in places like Kansas City is not yesterday’s problem. In 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor found a Leawood, Missouri, contractor had exposed its workers to workplace hazards. The Department of Labor recommended more than $200,000 in penalties for the company in addition to previous unpaid penalties.
The exposures likely happened when work was done on several buildings in Kansas City. Workers were exposed to asbestos and other hazardous materials. It is not uncommon for contractors to violate safety rules to save money and complete projects within certain timelines.
Other asbestos hotspots in the Kansas City area include Cape Girardeau, Lake City, Fulton, Saint Joseph, Kirksville, Ladue, Marshall, Labadie, Hannibal, Jefferson City, Independence, North Kansas City, New Madrid, Centralia, and Chamois.
Auto Assembly Plants
Ford Kansas City Assembly Plant (Claycomo, MO)
The Ford assembly plant at 8121 NE 69 Highway in Claycomo has built vehicles since the 1950s, and for decades its production lines used brake shoes, clutch facings, and gaskets that contained asbestos. Line workers, mechanics, and maintenance crews who ground, replaced, or blew out those parts released asbestos fibers into the shop air. Workers from every era before the mid-1980s phase-out may have been exposed, and take-home exposure reached many of their families.
General Motors Fairfax Assembly Plant (Kansas City, KS)
GM has operated in the Fairfax district since 1945, first in the original plant and since 1987 in the current one. The earlier decades of production involved asbestos-containing brake, clutch, and gasket components, along with asbestos insulation on plant steam lines and equipment. Assembly workers, skilled trades, and maintenance staff from the pre-1985 era carry the heaviest exposure history. Our Kansas City mesothelioma lawyer page covers claims across the metro on both sides of the state line.
Military and Federal Facilities
Bendix / Bannister Federal Complex / Honeywell (Kansas City, MO)
The former Bannister Federal Complex housed the Bendix plant and later Honeywell operations producing components for the federal government. Federal environmental reviews of the complex documented historical asbestos among the site contaminants. Machinists, maintenance trades, and production staff who worked in the older buildings were exposed to asbestos insulation and materials over decades of operation.
Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant (De Soto, KS)
The Sunflower plant produced propellants and munitions from World War II onward and is now a federal Superfund site. Its long operating history included asbestos insulation on steam lines, boilers, and process equipment. Production workers, boiler operators, and maintenance crews carried the highest exposure, and the plant drew its workforce from across Johnson County and the wider metro.
Railroads and Rail Yards
Union Pacific, BNSF, and Kansas City Southern Rail Yards
Kansas City is one of the largest rail hubs in the country, and the Argentine Yard, Armourdale Yard, and Neff Yard employed generations of rail workers. Locomotive brake shoes, boiler and pipe insulation, and gaskets in engines and shop equipment all contained asbestos. Yard crews, shop machinists, and carmen worked around these materials daily. Railroad workers’ claims follow the Federal Employers Liability Act, a separate track from ordinary injury claims, covered on our railroad workers page.
Power Plants and Refineries
Hawthorn, Iatan, and Montrose Generating Stations
The coal-fired stations serving the Kansas City region ran on boilers, turbines, and steam lines wrapped in asbestos insulation for most of the twentieth century. Boilermakers, insulators, pipefitters, and plant operators who built, maintained, and overhauled these units were exposed during routine work, and outage crews faced the heaviest concentrations when insulation was stripped and replaced.
BPU Generating Stations (Quindaro, Kaw, and Nearman, KS)
The Board of Public Utilities stations at Quindaro, Kaw, and Nearman served the Kansas side of the metro with boilers, turbines, and steam piping insulated with asbestos for most of the twentieth century. Boilermakers, insulators, and plant operators who built, ran, and overhauled these units worked around the material daily.
Kansas City Area Refineries
Historic refining operations along the Missouri River, including facilities operated under the Standard Oil, Sinclair, and Phillips names, used asbestos to insulate process piping, tanks, and equipment. Refinery operators, pipefitters, and maintenance trades encountered asbestos across these facilities for decades before modern controls.
Sugar Creek Refinery Complex (Sugar Creek, MO)
The Standard Oil refinery complex at Sugar Creek, east of Kansas City, used asbestos in cracking units, gaskets, valve packing, and high-temperature insulation through decades of operation. Refinery operators, pipefitters, and maintenance trades encountered asbestos across the complex, and outage and turnaround crews faced the heaviest concentrations when insulation was stripped and replaced.
Public and Commercial Buildings
Kemper Arena and Kansas City Municipal Auditorium
Kansas City’s older institutional and public buildings were constructed with asbestos materials, including fireproofing, insulation, and ceiling and floor products. Tradespeople who built, renovated, or maintained these venues, and workers in older downtown commercial buildings generally, were exposed when those materials were cut, sanded, or disturbed.
West Bottoms Packing Houses (Armour, Cudahy, and Wilson)
The meatpacking industry that anchored the West Bottoms for generations used asbestos in refrigeration systems, boilers, steam lines, and plant insulation. Packing house workers, refrigeration mechanics, and boiler operators at the Armour, Cudahy, and Wilson operations carried exposure through the packing era, on both sides of the state line.
Procter & Gamble Kansas City, KS Plant
The Procter & Gamble plant in Kansas City, Kansas used asbestos in process equipment and boiler insulation for decades. Production workers, pipefitters, and maintenance staff who kept the plant running were exposed during routine operation and repair work.
Common Questions About Kansas City Asbestos Exposure
What Kansas City Job Sites Are Most Linked to Asbestos Exposure
The Kansas City area’s heaviest documented asbestos exposure came from auto assembly at Ford Claycomo and GM Fairfax, the Argentine, Armourdale, and Neff rail yards, the Lake City and Sunflower army ammunition plants, the Bannister Federal Complex, area generating stations and refineries, and older public buildings. If you worked at any of these sites, or lived with someone who did, that history may support a claim. We review work histories at no cost in a free, no-obligation consultation.
Does It Matter Whether My Exposure Happened in Missouri or Kansas
It can matter a great deal. Missouri generally allows five years for a personal injury claim, while Kansas allows two, so the same work history can carry very different deadlines depending on where the exposure happened and which state’s law applies. Many Kansas City careers crossed the state line. We sort out which state’s law fits your case as part of a free, no-obligation case review.
Connect With a Hard-Working Asbestos Exposure Lawyer
Mesothelioma victims need and deserve significant compensation. For a confidential consultation with an experienced mesothelioma lawyer in Kansas City, contact the Throneberry Law Group. You have a limited amount of time to act.