About Kinmundy Power Station Patoka Illinois
Facility Overview and Ownership
The Kinmundy Power Station sits near Patoka, Illinois in Marion County — within the broader Mississippi River industrial corridor that stretches from St. Louis northward through Madison and St. Clair Counties in Illinois, and across the river through St. Louis City and County, St. Charles County, and Jefferson County in Missouri. This corridor encompasses some of the most heavily industrialized territory in the American Midwest: oil refineries, steel mills, chemical plants, and major power generation facilities built during the same decades when asbestos use was at its peak.
Ownership and operational timeline:
- Originally operated by Union Electric Co.
- Transferred to Ameren Corporation following the 1997 merger of Union Electric Company and CIPSCO Incorporated
- Currently held with 100% ownership interest by Ameren Corporation
- Operating capacity: approximately 135 megawatts (MW)
- Reported under Ameren management since approximately 2001
Comparable Ameren facilities within this corridor — the Labadie Energy Center (Franklin County, MO), Portage des Sioux Power Plant (St. Charles County, MO), Sioux Energy Center (St. Charles County, MO), and Rush Island Energy Center (Jefferson County, MO) — share nearly identical construction-era asbestos exposure profiles. Workers who moved between Kinmundy and these Missouri facilities, or who worked for the same union contractors serving multiple plants, may have accumulated asbestos exposure across the entire corridor.
Why Power Plants Used Asbestos-Containing Materials
Like virtually all power generation facilities built during the mid-to-late twentieth century, the Kinmundy Power Station relied on mechanical systems routinely constructed and insulated using asbestos-containing materials (ACMs). Manufacturers supplying those materials allegedly included Corporation**.
The power industry turned to asbestos because nothing else matched its industrial properties:
- Withstood temperatures exceeding 1,000°F
- Resisted fire and flame — essential in fuel-burning facilities
- Resisted chemical degradation from oil, gas, and petroleum by-products
- Held up under high-pressure pipe systems and mechanical stress
- Cost less than alternatives and was available nationwide
Plant systems that routinely incorporated asbestos-containing materials:
- Boiler insulation and refractory materials
- Steam and hot-water pipe insulation
- Turbine casing insulation
- Gaskets and packing at valve connections and flanges
- Electrical insulation and switchgear components
- Welding blankets and curtains
- Brake and clutch components on auxiliary equipment
From the boiler room to the turbine hall to the electrical switchgear rooms, asbestos-containing materials, and other manufacturers may have been present throughout facilities of this type and era.
General Equipment at Kinmundy Power Station Patoka Illinois
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.
Documented Asbestos Evidence
The records below are verified, state-documented asbestos removals at this facility. Each entry represents a regulated abatement project where the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois EPA) 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 Illinois EPA 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:
Who May Have Been Exposed at Kinmundy Power Station Patoka Illinois
Asbestos exposure at a power generation facility like Kinmundy was not limited to a single job classification. When asbestos-containing materials, or other manufacturers were disturbed, fibers became airborne. Every worker in the immediate area may have inhaled them — regardless of whether their own trade directly handled asbestos products.
Insulators and Asbestos Workers
Workers in this trade may have handled asbestos-containing pipe insulation — including calcium silicate pipe insulation and Thermobestos — as well as block insulation and blanket insulation on a daily basis. Tasks included measuring, cutting, shaping, and applying asbestos-containing insulation to boilers, steam lines, turbines, and heat exchangers. These workers were likely represented by Heat and Frost Insulators Local 1 (St. Louis, MO), whose jurisdiction historically covered industrial facilities on both sides of the Mississippi River, including facilities in Madison and St. Clair Counties, Illinois. Epidemiological research documents some of the highest individual asbestos fiber burdens in this trade classification.
Pipefitters and Steamfitters
Pipefitters may have been exposed through asbestos-containing gaskets and packing at valve connections, flanges, and pump seals. They worked alongside insulators in confined spaces where calcium silicate pipe insulation, Thermobestos, and comparable insulation was cut and applied. Gasket replacement required scraping old asbestos-containing material — a task that releases significant fiber quantities with each pass of a wire brush or scraper. These workers were likely represented by UA Local 562 (Plumbers and Pipefitters, St. Louis, MO), one of the largest pipefitter locals in the Midwest, with jurisdiction that historically encompassed Ameren facilities throughout Missouri and southern Illinois.
Boilermakers
Older boiler insulation and refractory systems may have incorporated asbestos-containing cements, block insulation, and refractory materials. Boilermakers entered boiler vessels where accumulated asbestos dust from disturbed insulation products may have reached dangerous concentrations. They worked with asbestos-containing gaskets and rope seals on boiler doors, manholes, and inspection ports, and used welding blankets and curtains that may have been manufactured with asbestos-containing materials by. These workers were likely represented by Boilermakers Local 27 (St. Louis, MO), whose members worked at Ameren facilities throughout Missouri and at comparable Illinois plants.
Electricians and Electrical Workers
Switchgear rooms and electrical equipment bays may have contained asbestos-containing insulation —, or comparable manufacturers — on high-voltage equipment. Electrical insulation materials, including cloth, tape, and panel backing, may have incorporated asbestos fibers. Work involving modification, replacement, or repair of aging electrical systems may have disturbed these materials without adequate respiratory protection. Electricians working in enclosed switchgear rooms where asbestos-containing materials were disturbed by other trades had no practical means of avoiding the resulting airborne fibers.
Maintenance Mechanics and Mill
Generating Unit Equipment — Public Registry
The following generating units are documented in the North American Electric Generating Plants database for this facility. This database is maintained by UDI/S&P Global and draws on federal EIA filings and state regulatory records.
| Unit | Year | Capacity | Fuel | Boiler Type | Boiler/Steam Sys Mfr | Turbine Mfr | Generator Mfr | Steam Params | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kinmundy Gt 1 | 2001 | 117 MW | Gas | N/A | N/A | Wh | Wh | Operating | |
| Kinmundy Gt 2 | 2001 | 117 MW | Gas | N/A | N/A | Wh | Wh | Operating |
Source: UDI/S&P Global North American Electric Generating Plants database (NAMERICA 2025). Public reference data.
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Critical Filing Deadline & Next Steps
Illinois law gives mesothelioma and asbestos-disease claimants 2 years from the date of medical diagnosis to file a personal-injury lawsuit (735 ILCS 5/13-202). For wrongful-death claims after an asbestos-related death, the filing window is 2 years from the date of death (740 ILCS 180/2). 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
- 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.
- Preserve medical records. Pathology reports, biopsy results, imaging, and pulmonary-function tests are central to both civil claims and trust-fund filings.
- 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.
- Speak with an asbestos attorney with Illinois 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:
- EPA ECHO Facility Compliance Database — enforcement and compliance records for industrial facilities
- OSHA Establishment Search — federal workplace inspection history
- EIA Form 860 Plant Data — power-plant equipment and ownership records (where applicable)
- Illinois Environmental Protection Agency NESHAP asbestos abatement notification records
- Published asbestos trial and trust fund records (publicly filed court documents)
- AsbestosIndex Product & Manufacturer Crosswalk — historical asbestos-containing product schedules linked to manufacturers
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.