About Multi Hearth Furnace Belle Mo

The Kingsford Manufacturing Company’s Multi Hearth Furnace in Belle, Maries County, Missouri, allegedly incorporated asbestos-containing materials extensively. Many industrial plants of its era, from St. Louis City to Madison County, Illinois, did the same. These materials reportedly maintained operational efficiency and safety in high-temperature environments common to furnace operations. While a complete timeline of asbestos use is not available, its presence was widespread in industrial settings for many decades. Publicly available Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) NESHAP (National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants) records for the Kingsford Manufacturing Company – Multi Hearth Furnace document specific asbestos-containing materials, including insulation (general) and roofing felt/shingles. Regulatory records confirm abatement and demolition activities involving asbestos at the site.

MDNR NESHAP records detail multiple instances where asbestos-containing materials were addressed during renovations and demolitions at the Kingsford Belle facility. These records, while not exhaustive, confirm such materials were present and handled. Key documented projects include ID:6470-2014 (09/08/2014) involving demolition of the “Dryer Building” with removal of roofing material by B & R Insulation, and ID:10974-2021 (10/05/2021) involving demolition of the “Multi Hearth Furnace” with “unknown” asbestos-containing material by Gillespie and Powers, Inc. Numerous other projects involving the “Retort Multi-Hearth Furnace,” “After Combustion Chamber (ACC),” and “furnace cyclones” by companies such as Industrial Furnace Company, Inc., Double Diamond Refractory Service LLC, DIMC, and Gillespie + Powers, Inc., indicate ongoing maintenance and upgrades in areas where high-temperature insulation was critical.

General Equipment at Multi Hearth Furnace Belle Mo

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.

Publicly available Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) NESHAP (National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants) records for the Kingsford Manufacturing Company – Multi Hearth Furnace document specific asbestos-containing materials. These include:

  • Insulation (general)
  • Roofing felt/shingles

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 Multi Hearth Furnace Belle Mo

Workers involved in the construction, operation, maintenance, and demolition of the Kingsford Multi Hearth Furnace facility may have been exposed to asbestos fibers. When asbestos-containing materials are disturbed, they can release microscopic fibers into the air. If inhaled or ingested, these fibers can lead to serious health issues years or even decades later.

Trades that may have been at particular risk of exposure in Missouri include: Insulators — Members of Heat and Frost Insulators Local 1 who worked on furnaces, pipes, and other equipment, and were also responsible for its removal, potentially at facilities across Missouri and Illinois. Pipefitters — Members of Plumbers and Pipefitters UA Local 562 (St. Louis, MO) may have cut, fitted, and repaired pipes, often disturbing asbestos insulation. Boilermakers — Members of Boilermakers Local 27 (St. Louis, MO) allegedly worked on boilers, furnaces, and other high-temperature vessels, potentially encountering asbestos insulation, gaskets, and refractory materials. Maintenance Workers — Allegedly performed routine repairs and upkeep throughout the facility, disturbing asbestos-containing components in various areas, including insulation, gaskets, and packing. Electricians — May have encountered asbestos in electrical panels, wiring insulation, or conduit, especially during repairs or upgrades. Demolition Workers — MDNR records show workers involved in the demolition of structures like the Dryer Building and Multi Hearth Furnace allegedly directly handled and removed asbestos-containing materials. Laborers — May have assisted various trades and been present in areas where asbestos fibers were airborne, or handled asbestos-containing debris. Supervisors and Engineers — While not directly handling materials, they worked in the same environment and may have been present during asbestos-disturbing activities. Family members of these workers may also have faced secondary exposure, as asbestos fibers were reportedly carried home on clothing, hair, or tools.

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.

Cross-State & Regional Corridor Workers

Workers from Plumbers and Pipefitters UA Local 562 (St. Louis, MO) and Heat and Frost Insulators Local 1 (St. Louis, MO) may have been involved in projects at the facility. The article references workers at facilities like Granite City Steel (Granite City, IL), Monsanto Chemical (St. Louis, MO), Shell Oil Roxana Refinery (Roxana, IL), and Rush Island Energy Center (Festus, MO) as performing similar tasks, and notes that insulation work potentially occurred “at facilities across Missouri and Illinois.”

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.