Iowa mesothelioma Lawyer for Marshalltown Power Station Asbestos Exposure

For Workers, Families, and Former Employees Diagnosed with Mesothelioma or Asbestosis

If you worked at Marshalltown Power Station in Iowa and have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer, a Iowa mesothelioma lawyer can help protect your legal rights. Workers at this facility may have been exposed to asbestos-containing materials decades ago — and the filing clock is running right now.

⚠️ URGENT: Iowa Filing Deadline — Read This First

Iowa’s asbestos statute of limitations for personal injury claims is 5 years from the date of diagnosis under Iowa Code § 614.1(2). That clock starts the day you received your diagnosis — not the day of your last exposure decades ago.

Do not assume you have time to spare.

There is an additional reason to move now. ** File before August 28, 2026. File before your 5-year window closes. Call a Iowa asbestos attorney today.

Why You Need a Iowa asbestos Attorney — Now

Power generation facilities rank among the heaviest industrial users of asbestos-containing materials in American history. Mesothelioma and asbestos-related lung cancer take 20 to 40 years to appear after initial exposure — which means workers diagnosed today may have been exposed at facilities like Marshalltown Power Station in the 1960s, 1970s, or early 1980s. Your legal rights may still be fully intact, but the filing deadlines are running.

Many workers who labored at Marshalltown Power Station had careers that crossed multiple facilities — power stations, refineries, and industrial plants throughout the Mississippi River industrial corridor connecting Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois. Workers who also spent time at Missouri facilities such as the Labadie Energy Center, Portage des Sioux Power Plant, or Monsanto chemical operations — or at Granite City Steel across the river in Illinois — may have accumulated additional asbestos exposure that significantly compounds their legal claims.

If you are a Iowa resident with an asbestos-related diagnosis, contact a Iowa mesothelioma attorney today. Every month of delay narrows your options.

Facility Background: Marshalltown Power Station

Location and Operating History

Marshalltown Power Station, operated by MidAmerican Energy Company and its predecessor entities — Iowa Public Service Company and Midwest Power Systems — is located in Marshalltown, Iowa. The facility generated electricity for the region across decades when coal-fired generation dominated Midwest power supply.

Generating stations of this type required:

Continuous high-temperature boiler and steam system operations
Steam turbines running at pressures and temperatures exceeding 1,000°F
Miles of pipe insulation and heat exchangers
Extensive valve, gasket, and mechanical seal systems

Equipment manufacturers and insulation contractors routinely specified asbestos-containing materials for all of these systems from approximately the 1920s through the late 1970s.

Why Asbestos-Containing Materials Were Standard in Power Stations

Asbestos-containing materials were not optional add-ons at facilities like Marshalltown Power Station — they were the engineered solution that kept these systems running. Manufacturers and contractors specified them for documented reasons:

Heat resistance — chrysotile, amosite, and crocidolite asbestos fibers withstand temperatures that destroy organic insulating materials
Thermal efficiency — asbestos-containing insulation reduced heat loss from pipes, boilers, and turbines
Fire resistance — asbestos-containing fireproofing protected structural steel and equipment from combustion hazards
Chemical resistance — asbestos-containing gaskets and packing held up against corrosive steam, condensate, and cleaning agents
Mechanical durability — asbestos-reinforced materials withstood vibration, mechanical stress, and repeated thermal cycling

Manufacturers That Supplied Asbestos-Containing Materials

Major manufacturers that produced and distributed asbestos-containing materials used in Midwest power generation facilities comparable to Marshalltown Power Station included:

Johns-Manville Corporation — pipe insulation, block insulation, and blanket insulation products containing asbestos fibers
Owens-Illinois (Kaylo division) — Kaylo brand pipe and block insulation products containing asbestos
Owens Corning — asbestos-containing insulation products
Phillip Carey — asbestos-containing insulation and roofing materials
Armstrong World Industries — asbestos-containing gaskets, packing, and thermal insulation
W.R. Grace — asbestos-containing insulation materials
Combustion Engineering — equipment manufacturer that reportedly specified and supplied asbestos-containing materials in power generation equipment

Internal documents produced through decades of asbestos litigation — including cases tried in Polk County District Court and Madison County, Illinois — demonstrate that these manufacturers held documented knowledge going back to the 1930s and 1940s that their products posed serious health risks to workers who applied, removed, or worked near them. These companies are alleged to have suppressed and concealed that knowledge from workers, contractors, and the public for decades.

Asbestos Exposure at This Facility: Timeline and Risk Periods

Peak Use: 1930s Through Late 1970s

The primary period of asbestos-containing material use at Marshalltown Power Station is generally understood to span from the 1930s through the mid-to-late 1970s. During this period:

Original construction of boiler systems, turbine halls, and associated piping reportedly involved extensive application of asbestos-containing pipe insulation, block insulation, and boiler lagging from Johns-Manville, Owens-Illinois Kaylo products, and Owens Corning
Capacity additions and unit expansions introduced additional asbestos-containing materials through new construction
Routine annual and major maintenance outages — called “turnarounds” in the industry — involved removing, repairing, and replacing insulation, gaskets, and packing materials that may have contained asbestos fibers

Maintenance and Repair: The Overlooked Exposure Source

Original construction was not the only source of potential asbestos exposure at facilities like Marshalltown Power Station. Ongoing maintenance and repair work generated some of the highest airborne fiber concentrations found in any occupational setting:

Annual boiler inspections and repairs — boiler tubes, refractory, and asbestos-containing insulation regularly torn out and replaced
Turbine overhauls on multi-year cycles — disassembly of turbine casings, removal of asbestos-containing packing and gaskets, reinstallation of new materials
Valve maintenance throughout the facility — workers cut, handled, and replaced asbestos-containing packing and gaskets routinely, using products from Garlock Sealing Technologies and Armstrong World Industries
Pipe insulation repair and replacement — required by steam leaks and deterioration of existing Johns-Manville and Owens-Illinois insulation products

Workers performing maintenance at Marshalltown Power Station during the mid-twentieth century may have been exposed to substantial quantities of airborne asbestos fibers. Removing and repairing asbestos-containing insulation is among the highest-fiber-generating activities in the entire occupational asbestos record.

Abatement Era: 1980s and Beyond

Federal asbestos regulations tightened through the 1970s and 1980s, prompting utility abatement programs at facilities across the Midwest. The abatement period itself created additional exposure risks:

Workers performing abatement — removing existing asbestos-containing materials from Johns-Manville, Owens-Illinois, and other suppliers — may have been exposed to asbestos fibers when removal was improperly controlled
Asbestos-containing materials encapsulated or left in place at inaccessible locations meant workers in later decades could still encounter them during unplanned maintenance or renovation work

High-Exposure Occupations: Who Faced the Greatest Risk

Research on occupational asbestos exposure at power generation facilities consistently identifies specific trades as carrying the heaviest exposure burden. Workers in the following occupations who worked at Marshalltown Power Station may have been exposed to asbestos-containing materials during the course of normal job duties.

Note on Missouri union members: Members of Heat and Frost Insulators Local 1 (St. Louis), Boilermakers Local 27 (St. Louis), and UA Local 562 (St. Louis) pipefitters and steamfitters regularly performed contract work at Iowa facilities including Marshalltown Power Station during major construction outages and turnarounds. Missouri and Iowa union members routinely traveled throughout the Mississippi River industrial corridor — connecting Missouri and Illinois industrial centers with Iowa generating stations.

If you are a Iowa resident who worked at Iowa power stations in addition to Iowa facilities, your mesothelioma settlement rights may be substantial. Call a St. Louis asbestos attorney immediately.

Insulators: Highest-Risk Occupational Group

The epidemiological record on this point is unambiguous: insulation workers who applied and removed asbestos-containing pipe and block insulation in industrial settings developed mesothelioma and asbestos-related lung disease at rates far exceeding the general population. At facilities comparable to Marshalltown Power Station, insulators — including traveling members of Heat and Frost Insulators Local 1 out of St. Louis — may have:

Applied asbestos-containing pipe covering, block insulation, and blanket insulation to boilers, turbines, heat exchangers, and piping — products from Johns-Manville, Owens-Illinois Kaylo, and Owens Corning
Mixed and applied asbestos-containing finishing cements and mastics in paste or slurry form
Cut, sawed, and shaped asbestos-containing insulation to fit pipe dimensions and complex equipment contours
Removed and replaced deteriorated asbestos-containing insulation during maintenance outages
Worked in enclosed boiler rooms, turbine halls, and confined pipe chases where fiber concentrations reached extreme levels

Insulators also worked continuously alongside other trades disturbing asbestos-containing materials — creating chronic background airborne fiber exposure on top of their own direct-handling work.

Pipefitters and Steamfitters

Pipefitters and steamfitters at power generation facilities faced consistent, heavy potential exposure. Members of UA Local 562 out of St. Louis and comparable Iowa and Midwest locals may have performed pipefitting and steamfitting work at Marshalltown Power Station during construction and outage periods:

Valve work — Power stations contain thousands of valves requiring packing to prevent steam leakage. Asbestos-containing valve packing from Garlock Sealing Technologies and Armstrong World Industries was standard through the 1970s and into the 1980s. Replacing packing required removing old asbestos-containing material — a task that may have generated substantial airborne fiber release.
Flange gaskets — Every flanged pipe joint required a gasket. Asbestos-containing compressed sheet gaskets, spiral-wound gaskets, and ring-joint gaskets from Garlock, Armstrong, and comparable manufacturers were standard in high-temperature, high-pressure steam service. Cutting, fitting, and removing these gaskets released asbestos fibers.
Pipe system installation and modification — New and modified steam piping required cutting and fitting insulated pipe sections, disturbing asbestos-containing materials at every joint and connection point.
Bystander exposure — Pipefitters working in the same areas as insulators applying or removing asbestos-containing insulation may have been exposed to significant fiber concentrations even when not personally handling asbestos-containing materials.

Boilermakers

Boilermakers rank among the trades most heavily represented in mesothelioma case histories at Midwest power generation facilities. Members of Boilermakers Local 27 out of St. Louis and comparable Iowa locals may have worked at Marshalltown Power Station during major outages and construction projects:

Boiler maintenance and repair — disassembly and reassembly of boiler sections required removing and replacing asbestos-containing refractory, insulation, and gasket materials
Boiler tube work — tube rolling, plugging, and replacement disturbed asbestos-containing insulation and refractory surrounding the tube arrays