General Equipment at Old Ben Coal Company Sesser Franklin County 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.
The following 1 project notification(s) are documented with the Illinois EPA (NESHAP program) for AMOCO Oil Company in Sugar Creek. These are public regulatory records.
| Project ID | Year | Site / Building | Operation | ACM Removed | Contractor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2876-2001 | 2001 | Sugar Creek Asbestos Abatement | Renovation | 1,000 sq. ft. acoustical ceiling texture, 247 ln. ft. duct wdork | Major Abatement & Demolition Inc. |
Source: Illinois EPA, NESHAP Asbestos Abatement & Demolition/Renovation Notification Program — public regulatory records.
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 Old Ben Coal Company Sesser Franklin County Illinois
Underground Miners
While primarily associated with coal dust lung disease, underground miners at Old Ben’s Franklin County operations faced additional asbestos exposure through:
- Work near shaft areas lined with asbestos-insulated pipe runs
- Travel through shaft houses containing calcium silicate pipe insulation, Thermobestos, and other insulated mechanical systems
- Maintenance work on underground mechanical systems incorporating asbestos materials
- Break time spent in lamphouses and administrative areas containing Armstrong and other asbestos floor tiles
Underground miners who also performed maintenance work carried compound exposure histories that, in our experience, produce some of the strongest claims.
Heat and Frost Insulators (Highest Risk)
Insulators document some of the heaviest asbestos exposure of any construction or maintenance trade. Members of Heat and Frost Insulators Local 1 (St. Louis) performed installation, repair, and removal of asbestos pipe covering, block insulation, and boiler lagging throughout Old Ben’s Franklin County surface facilities.
Every day on that job meant cutting, fitting, and applying materials that were, on average, 15–40% asbestos by weight. Insulators who worked Old Ben facilities during the peak installation years have been diagnosed with mesothelioma at rates that reflect that exposure.
If you held an Insulators Local 1 card and worked Old Ben, call immediately. Your exposure history is well-documented and your claim may be among the strongest available.
Pipefitters and Steamfitters
Members of Plumbers and Pipefitters UA Local 562 and affiliated locals who worked Old Ben’s steam distribution and process piping systems may have been exposed to asbestos at every stage of that work:
- Cutting and fitting asbes
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.