About Kalkaska CT 1 Power Station
Kalkaska CT 1 is a combustion turbine (CT) power generation facility in Kalkaska County, northwestern Lower Michigan. Peaker plants like this one burn natural gas or fuel oil to spin turbines that drive electrical generators, coming online during periods of peak electricity demand.
Kalkaska CT 1 has historically been operated by Consumers Energy (formerly Consumers Power Company) (documented in EIA Form 860 plant data).
The facility was built during the mid-to-late twentieth century — the same era when asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) were standard industrial practice across the Mississippi River industrial corridor and throughout the Midwest. Manufacturers, and allegedly supplied ACMs to utilities and contractors across Michigan, Missouri, and Illinois during this period. Many of the same product lines and manufacturer relationships that allegedly supplied Kalkaska CT 1 also may have supplied Missouri facilities such as Labadie, Portage des Sioux, and the Monsanto complex, as well as Illinois facilities including Granite City Steel.
Combustion turbines operate at temperatures exceeding 2,000°F in some configurations. High-pressure auxiliary boilers, heat recovery systems, and process piping add to the thermal load. Facilities handling flammable fuels also faced strict fire-resistance requirements. ACMs solved all three problems cheaply — they resisted heat, suppressed fire, and were commercially available throughout most of the twentieth century.
General Equipment at Kalkaska CT 1 Power Station
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 Michigan EGLE (Environment, Great Lakes & Energy) (Michigan EGLE) 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 Michigan EGLE 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 Kalkaska CT 1 Power Station
Insulators (Heat and Frost Insulators) applied, removed, and repaired insulation on turbines, pipes, boilers, and valves. They may have worked daily with block insulation and pipe covering products including calcium silicate pipe insulation and Thermobestos, as well as spray-applied insulation. Many Midwest insulators who may have worked at Kalkaska CT 1 were members of Heat and Frost Insulators Local 1 (St. Louis, MO) or affiliated Midwest locals, dispatched to Michigan job sites through the union hiring hall.
Pipefitters and Steamfitters may have removed and replaced pipe insulation and handled asbestos-containing gaskets. Many Midwest pipefitters who may have worked at Kalkaska CT 1 belonged to Plumbers and Pipefitters UA Local 562 (St. Louis, MO), which dispatched members to major utility construction and overhaul projects throughout the region. Pipefitters also faced bystander exposure when insulators worked on adjacent systems.
Boilermakers worked on pressure vessels, heat exchangers, and related equipment — often in confined spaces with limited ventilation where fiber concentrations build rapidly. They may have encountered refractory cements and high-temperature gaskets, rope packing on high-temperature surfaces, and insulating materials. Missouri members of Boilermakers Local 27 (St. Louis) were among the traveling crafts dispatched to power plant construction and overhaul work throughout Michigan and the broader Midwest industrial corridor.
Electricians worked with arc chutes and arc barriers in circuit breakers, wire and cable insulation, conduit penetration seals, and fire-resistant switchgear components. They may have been exposed to spray-applied fireproofing during work in machine rooms and equipment buildings.
Millwrights and Maintenance Mechanics repaired turbines, generators, and auxiliary mechanical systems. That work may have brought them into direct contact with asbestos-containing gaskets, packing materials, and insulating products. Plant Operators and Control Room Personnel may have experienced lower-intensity but long-duration exposures — working in buildings where ACMs were present in floor tiles, ceiling panels, and pipe runs overhead.
Critical Filing Deadline & Next Steps
Michigan law gives mesothelioma and asbestos-disease claimants 3 years from the date of medical diagnosis to file a personal-injury lawsuit (MCL § 600.5805(13)). For wrongful-death claims after an asbestos-related death, the filing window is 3 years from the date of death (MCL § 600.5852). 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 Michigan 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 workers who rotated through Michigan power plants during their careers also logged significant time at facilities along the Mississippi River industrial corridor stretching through Missouri and Illinois — including the Labadie Energy Center (Franklin County, MO), Portage des Sioux Power Plant (St. Charles County, MO), Granite City Steel (Madison County, IL), and the former Monsanto chemical complex in St. Louis County. If your work history includes any of these sites in addition to Kalkaska CT 1, you may have viable claims in both Michigan and in Missouri or Illinois courts.
High-risk trades during construction included insulators, pipefitters, boilermakers, electricians, and laborers. Many of these workers were members of Missouri and Illinois union locals — including Heat and Frost Insulators Local 1 (St. Louis), UA Local 562 (St. Louis), and Boilermakers Local 27 (St. Louis) — who reportedly traveled to Michigan and other Midwest job sites for construction and major overhaul work.
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)
- Michigan EGLE (Environment, Great Lakes & Energy) 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.