General Equipment at Curtiss-Wright Airplane Factory St. Louis Missouri

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 Curtiss-Wright Airplane Factory St. Louis Missouri

Bystander Exposure Is Legally Recognized

The trades with the highest direct asbestos exposure—insulators, pipefitters, boilermakers—are the most obvious claimants. But asbestos litigation in Missouri and Illinois has consistently recognized bystander exposure as a valid legal basis for claims. Asbestos fibers released during installation or maintenance work became airborne, traveled throughout work areas, and settled on surfaces. Any subsequent disturbance—foot traffic, moving equipment, nearby work—re-suspended those fibers. Workers in adjacent trades who never touched a piece of insulation in their careers inhaled the same fibers as the insulators who installed it.

Insulators and Heat and Frost Workers

Exposure Level: Among the highest of any trade in American industry

Members of the Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers—particularly Local 1 (St. Louis) and Local 27 (Kansas City)—have been devastated by asbestos-related disease. The epidemiological record is unambiguous: insulation work at mid-twentieth century American industrial facilities produced mesothelioma, asbestosis, and lung cancer at rates far exceeding the general population. Their work at Curtiss-Wright allegedly included:

  • Installing calcium silicate block insulation
  • Installing pipe and block insulation asbestos-cement blocks on boilers and piping
  • Applying spray-applied fireproofing including spray fireproofing
  • Removing and replacing asbestos pipe covering
  • Mixing and applying insulating cement finishes
  • Wrapping irregular fittings with asbestos cloth and tape

If you were a member of Local 1 or Local 27 and worked at Curtiss-Wright or any St. Louis-area aerospace or manufacturing facility during this era, you have almost certainly been exposed to asbestos products from multiple manufacturers. You may have a claim against several of them simultaneously—including claims against asbestos bankruptcy trust funds established by companies like pipe covering and insulationand that are still paying out today.

Pipefitters and Steamfitters

Exposure Level: High—direct and bystander

Pipefitters worked directly alongside insulators on steam and process piping. They cut old insulation to access pipe joints, replaced asbestos gaskets and packing, and worked in confined spaces where fiber concentrations were highest. They also worked in areas where insulators were actively applying asbestos materials—putting them in the bystander exposure category simultaneously with their direct exposure work. Key products pipefitters reportedly encountered:

  • Asbestos pipe covering during removal and access work
  • gaskets and packingand asbestos gaskets during valve and flange work
  • A.W. Chesterton asbestos rope packing during pump and valve maintenance

Boilermakers

Exposure Level: High—confined space, extended duration

Boilermakers worked inside and immediately around industrial boilers. Boiler repair required removing existing asbestos insulation,

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.