About Carbondale Community High School District 165 Illinois
School construction from the 1950s through the 1970s reportedly relied heavily on asbestos-containing materials — not through negligence, but by deliberate industry choice. Pipe insulation, ceiling tiles, floor tiles, duct wrap, spray-applied fireproofing, and boiler block insulation reportedly contained asbestos fibers selected for their fire resistance and durability. That decision created decades of occupational hazard for every tradesman who worked inside those buildings.
The following boilers and pressure vessels were registered with the Illinois Department of Labor for this facility: multiple Cleaver Brooks units (1965, 30 PSI), Adamson units (1965, 125 PSI), an American Standard unit (1969, 30 PSI), and three Weil Mclain units (1988, 1991, 1991 — all 30 PSI), located in boiler rooms and basement areas, fueled by gas.
General Equipment at Carbondale Community High School District 165 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 Carbondale Community High School District 165 Illinois
Boilermakers and pipefitters are among the trades with the most heavily documented asbestos exposure histories in school settings. These workers were reportedly exposed when installing, repairing, and decommissioning boiler systems and steam distribution lines insulated with asbestos-containing pipe covering, block insulation, and gasket materials. Members of Heat and Frost Insulators Local 1, UA Local 562, and Boilermakers Local 27 reportedly encountered these conditions throughout their working careers in Missouri school facilities.
Insulators and HVAC mechanics were allegedly exposed during routine maintenance, emergency repairs, and material removal — work that required direct disturbance of aged, friable asbestos-containing insulation. That disturbance reportedly released respirable fibers into confined mechanical spaces with limited ventilation, concentrating airborne exposure in exactly the areas where these workers spent their shifts.
Electricians and millwrights are alleged to have sustained asbestos exposure when working in mechanical rooms and building systems alongside asbestos pipe wrap, insulation blankets, and spray-applied fireproofing — materials they did not install themselves but worked in proximity to throughout their careers. School district maintenance personnel and facilities staff reportedly faced a different but equally serious exposure pattern: prolonged, cumulative contact with asbestos-containing materials through years of routine building repairs. Unlike project-based tradesmen who moved between sites, these workers stayed — often spending entire careers in the same buildings, disturbing the same aging materials season after season.
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.
Cross-State & Regional Corridor Workers
Missouri residents are not limited to Missouri courts — the Mississippi River industrial corridor creates legitimate jurisdictional options on both sides of the river, and a skilled asbestos attorney Illinois will evaluate where your case has the strongest footing.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.