About Upjohn Company Kalamazoo Michigan

Manufacturing processes requiring precise temperature control used high-pressure steam distribution systems throughout their facilities. Pipe covering, block insulation, and fitting insulation on those systems were reportedly supplied by manufacturers including. Maintenance workers who regularly accessed valves and equipment beneath that insulation may have been exposed to asbestos-containing materials on a near-daily basis.

Boiler plants generated steam for entire campuses. Boilers and associated equipment may have been insulated with asbestos-containing products from. Boiler rooms consistently rank among the highest-concentration asbestos areas in any industrial plant—a fact documented in industrial hygiene studies introduced in asbestos litigation for decades.

Reactors, dryers, evaporators, and distillation columns used in manufacturing processes may have been insulated with asbestos-containing products including calcium silicate pipe insulation thermal insulation , Thermobestos , and ceiling tile products. Workers performing routine maintenance on this equipment may have encountered friable asbestos-containing materials every time a flange was opened or a valve was replaced.

Asbestos-containing transite board reportedly covered laboratory bench surfaces at industrial facilities well into the 1970s. Asbestos tape and asbestos-containing protective gloves distributed through product lines including those of were standard laboratory equipment for decades.

Facilities handling flammable solvents required fireproofing of structural steel. Asbestos-containing spray fireproofing products such as spray-applied fireproofing (allegedly produced by ) were applied to structural steel throughout industrial facilities. Workers present during application or subsequent renovation of those fireproofed structures may have been exposed to asbestos-containing materials.

General Equipment at Upjohn Company Kalamazoo Michigan

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.

Industrial Boilers View crosswalk › Process Piping View crosswalk › Pipe Insulation View crosswalk › Block Insulation View crosswalk › Valves View crosswalk › Gaskets View crosswalk › Pumps View crosswalk › Heat Exchangers View crosswalk › Cooling Equipment View crosswalk ›

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:

Thermal System Insulation View crosswalk › Asbestos-Cement Board View crosswalk › Pipe Insulation View crosswalk › Roofing & Flashing View crosswalk › Spray Fireproofing View crosswalk › Floor Tile & Mastic View crosswalk › Ceiling Tile View crosswalk › Gaskets & Packing View crosswalk ›

Who May Have Been Exposed at Upjohn Company Kalamazoo Michigan

Union members affiliated with Heat and Frost Insulators Local 1 in Michigan may have performed contract work at industrial facilities across the state. These workers installed, removed, and replaced asbestos-containing pipe insulation—including products bearing trade names such as calcium silicate pipe insulation and Thermobestos from. They handled raw asbestos-containing materials in friable form and faced the most direct, highest-intensity exposures of any trade on a job site. Insulators are among the strongest candidates for mesothelioma claims, and their cases have produced substantial verdicts and trust fund recoveries in Michigan courts.

Members of Boilermakers Local 27 in Missouri operated in the highest-concentration areas on industrial campuses. They removed and replaced deteriorating asbestos-containing insulation on boiler systems—products from, and —to access equipment for repair. The work required disturbing friable asbestos-containing materials.

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

  1. 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.
  2. Preserve medical records. Pathology reports, biopsy results, imaging, and pulmonary-function tests are central to both civil claims and trust-fund filings.
  3. 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.
  4. 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

Members of Boilermakers Local 27 in Missouri operated in the highest-concentration areas on industrial campuses.

Data Sources

Information about facility equipment, industrial materials, and occupational records referenced on this page is drawn from publicly available sources where applicable, including:

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.