General Equipment at Hercules Inc. Aqualon

The equipment below represents the systems and infrastructure documented or typically present at this facility during the era when asbestos-containing materials were specified in industrial construction. This is general facility-equipment reference — not a legal attribution of any specific product, manufacturer, or exposure event to this facility. Material-category and manufacturer information is addressed in the AsbestosIndex Product Crosswalk linked under the records table below.

Industrial Boilers View crosswalk › Process Piping View crosswalk › Pipe Insulation View crosswalk › Block Insulation View crosswalk › Valves View crosswalk › Gaskets View crosswalk › Pumps View crosswalk › Heat Exchangers View crosswalk › Cooling Equipment View crosswalk ›

Documented Asbestos Evidence

The records below are verified, state-documented asbestos removals at this facility. Each entry represents a regulated abatement project where the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (Missouri DNR) was notified under federal NESHAP rules, the work was logged, and the asbestos-containing material was confirmed and removed under regulated conditions. These are not allegations or estimates — they are paper records tying documented asbestos-containing material to this specific site.

No Missouri DNR NESHAP abatement notifications have been identified for this facility in current public records. Per the framing above, absence of state-agency documentation should not be read as absence of asbestos — only as absence of a formal, regulated abatement event meeting reporting thresholds. Workers who recall encountering pipe insulation, block insulation, gaskets, or other asbestos-era construction materials at this facility may still have viable claims regardless of whether a state record exists.

Material Categories in Documented Records

The materials documented above (and similar asbestos-containing materials commonly encountered in records of this type) appear in the AsbestosIndex catalog with historical manufacturer and trust-fund information. Click a category to view manufacturers historically associated with that material:

Thermal System Insulation View crosswalk › Asbestos-Cement Board View crosswalk › Pipe Insulation View crosswalk › Roofing & Flashing View crosswalk › Spray Fireproofing View crosswalk › Floor Tile & Mastic View crosswalk › Ceiling Tile View crosswalk › Gaskets & Packing View crosswalk ›

Who May Have Been Exposed at Hercules Inc. Aqualon

  • Insulators: Members of unions like Heat and Frost Insulators Local 1 (St. Louis, MO) or Local 27 (Kansas City, MO) reportedly handled and installed asbestos-containing insulation. This included pipe covering, calcium silicate insulation, or pipe insulation on pipes, boilers, tanks, and equipment. Their work often involved cutting, fitting, and removing these materials, which could release substantial amounts of asbestos fibers.

  • Pipefitters: Members of Plumbers and Pipefitters UA Local 562 (St. Louis, MO) or Local 268 (Kansas City, MO) may have worked closely with asbestos-insulated pipes. They often needed to remove or disturb insulation from pipe covering and insulationor to access piping for repairs or modifications. Similar activities were common at sites like Granite City Steel in Illinois, Monsanto Chemical in St. Louis, or the Shell Oil / Roxana Refinery in Illinois.

  • Boilermakers: Members of unions such as Boilermakers Local 27 (St. Louis, MO) were allegedly involved in the construction, maintenance, and repair of boilers. Boilers frequently used asbestos-containing materials such as block insulation from pipe covering and insulationor pipe and block insulation for insulation. This work would have mirrored tasks at power plants like the Rush Island Energy Center in Missouri.

  • Electricians: May have encountered asbestos in wiring insulation, electrical panels, and conduit systems, especially during renovation or repair work involving older electrical components.

  • Maintenance Workers: General maintenance staff performing routine upkeep, repairs, or inspections throughout the plant may have disturbed ACMs (floor tiles/adhesives) or gaskets and packing (gaskets) without proper protective measures.

  • Demolition Workers: Those involved in dismantling structures or equipment containing asbestos, such as asbestos-cement board panels from insulating boardor , would have faced a high risk of exposure.

  • Construction Workers: Any workers involved in the original construction or later renovations of buildings and systems where ACMs, like asbestos cement products or block insulation, were installed.

  • Laborers: General laborers assisting various trades, potentially including those working alongside union members from Plumbers and Pipefitters UA Local 562, may have been present in areas where asbestos fibers were released. Family members of these workers may also be at risk through “take-home” exposure, a known route of exposure for Missouri and Illinois families. Asbestos fibers were unknowingly carried home on clothing, tools, or hair. An asbestos cancer lawyer St. Louis can evaluate your potential exposure and legal options.

Diseases Caused by Asbestos Exposure

Asbestos fiber exposure, even for a short period, can lead to serious and often fatal diseases. These diseases typically have a long latency period, and symptoms may not appear for 10 to 50 years after initial exposure. Primary diseases associated with asbestos exposure include:

  • Mesothelioma: A rare, aggressive cancer affecting the lining of the lungs (pleural mesothelioma), abdomen (peritoneal mesothelioma), or heart (pericardial mesothelioma). Asbestos exposure almost exclusively causes it.

  • Asbestosis: A chronic, non-cancerous lung disease featuring scarring of the lung tissue, leading to shortness of breath, coughing, and reduced lung function.

  • Lung Cancer: Asbestos exposure significantly increases the risk of developing lung cancer, particularly in individuals who also smoke.

  • Other Cancers: Studies link asbestos exposure to an increased risk of cancers of the larynx, pharynx, stomach, and colorectal region.

  • Pleural Plaques: Thickening and calcification of the pleura (lining of the lungs), indicating asbestos exposure and potentially leading to impaired lung function.

Critical Filing Deadline & Next Steps

Missouri law gives mesothelioma and asbestos-disease claimants 5 years from the date of medical diagnosis to file a personal-injury lawsuit (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 516.120). For wrongful-death claims after an asbestos-related death, the filing window is 3 years from the date of death (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 537.100). The two deadlines run on separate tracks — preserving one does not extend the other.

The personal-injury clock runs from diagnosis, not from exposure. Mesothelioma latency is typically 20 to 50 years, so workers exposed in the 1950s–1980s are being diagnosed today.

Practical first steps

  1. Document what you remember. Pay stubs, W-2s, union cards, photographs, coworker names, and dates of employment. The WorkChain widget on this page can save a copy you can email yourself.
  2. Preserve medical records. Pathology reports, biopsy results, imaging, and pulmonary-function tests are central to both civil claims and trust-fund filings.
  3. Identify household members. Spouses who laundered work clothing and children of plant workers are eligible for secondary-exposure claims when diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease.
  4. Speak with an asbestos attorney with Missouri experience. The first conversation is free and confidential. Asbestos trust-fund claims and civil claims run on different tracks — both can be pursued in parallel.

Asbestos-Related Diseases

Asbestos fiber exposure can cause several specific diseases that typically appear decades after the original exposure. The latency period — the gap between exposure and diagnosis — usually runs 20 to 50 years. That's why workers exposed in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s are receiving diagnoses today.

Mesothelioma

A rare, aggressive cancer that affects the lining of the lungs (pleural mesothelioma), abdomen (peritoneal), or heart (pericardial). Mesothelioma is almost exclusively caused by asbestos exposure, which is why a mesothelioma diagnosis often points directly to historical workplace exposure. Average latency from first exposure to diagnosis is 30-50 years.

Asbestosis

A chronic, non-cancerous scarring of lung tissue caused by inhaled asbestos fibers. Asbestosis causes progressive shortness of breath, persistent cough, and reduced lung function. It does not improve with treatment, and it is a recognized basis for compensation under most trust schedules and civil claims.

Lung Cancer

Asbestos exposure significantly increases the risk of lung cancer, particularly when combined with a history of smoking. Asbestos-related lung cancer is compensable under the same trust schedules and civil claim avenues as mesothelioma.

Other Recognized Diseases

Pleural plaques, pleural thickening, laryngeal cancer, ovarian cancer, and certain gastrointestinal cancers are also recognized as asbestos-related under various trust schedules and case-law authorities, though eligibility and proof requirements vary by claim type.

If you have any of these diagnoses and you worked at this facility, lived with someone who did, or were exposed in any documented capacity, you may have a claim worth pursuing. Speak with an attorney before assuming you don't qualify.

Data Sources

Information about facility equipment, industrial materials, and occupational records referenced on this page is drawn from publicly available sources where applicable, including:

If specific equipment or product claims in this article are sourced from a non-public database, the source is identified parenthetically within the text above.