About Glenbard Township High School District 87 Illinois
School buildings constructed or renovated between the 1950s and 1980s reportedly contained asbestos-containing materials throughout their mechanical and structural systems. The facility maintained an extensive boiler and pressure vessel system documented in the Illinois Department of Labor registry, with equipment installed from 1955 through 2000 across multiple boiler rooms, mechanical rooms, kitchen equipment areas, shop spaces, and gymnasiums. Boiler manufacturers on file include Kewanee, Stover, P S T, Bell & Gossett, Adamson, Pacific, Kargard, Cleaver Brooks, Patterson Kelly, Western, Wood, Raypak, Buckeye, Weil Mclain, Cleveland Range, Ace, Manchester, Welbilt, Melben, Rite, Market Forge, and Ruscio, with pressure ratings ranging from 15 to 200 PSI and fuel types including gas and oil. Tradesmen who worked on these systems — during original installation, routine maintenance, or later renovation — are alleged to have faced elevated fiber exposures with every repair cycle.General Equipment at Glenbard Township High School District 87 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.
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 Glenbard Township High School District 87 Illinois
School building tradesmen working on mechanical and structural systems between the 1950s and 1980s faced elevated asbestos exposure. Occupations at highest risk included: boilermakers and boiler maintenance workers reportedly exposed to asbestos-containing boiler block insulation, gaskets, and rope seals; pipefitters and pipe insulators who may have been exposed to asbestos pipe covering and fitting cement on every job; HVAC mechanics allegedly disturbing asbestos duct insulation and vibration dampeners during routine service calls; heat and frost insulators reportedly working directly with raw asbestos-containing insulation products throughout installation; electricians who may have been exposed to asbestos-containing electrical panels, arc chutes, and conduit wrapping; millwrights allegedly encountering asbestos fireproofing during equipment installation in mechanical rooms; and maintenance workers reportedly disturbing pipe lagging and ceiling tile debris during daily repair operations. The exposure risk was not limited to the tradesman doing the primary work. In confined mechanical rooms and crawl spaces, bystander exposure from adjacent trades was reportedly as significant as direct contact. Union locals whose members are alleged to have worked extensively with asbestos-containing materials include: Heat and Frost Insulators Local 1, UA Local 562 (United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters), Boilermakers Local 27, and IBEW Local 1 (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers).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
Many Missouri school tradesmen also filed claims in Madison County, Illinois or St. Clair County, Illinois. Both venues have documented histories of plaintiff-favorable outcomes in asbestos litigation and are appropriate for claimants with qualifying Illinois exposure.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.