About Globe Union (Lyondell) Milwaukee Wisconsin

Globe Union Incorporated manufactured automotive batteries and electrical components in Milwaukee from the early twentieth century through its 1978 acquisition by Johnson Controls. The facility employed skilled tradespeople, production workers, laborers, and maintenance personnel across a complex that reportedly contained extensive thermal insulation systems, electrical component manufacturing areas, and process equipment.

Lyondell Chemical Company (later LyondellBasell Industries) operated large-scale chemical manufacturing in Milwaukee, requiring insulated piping systems, boilers, furnaces, and heat-generating equipment throughout its operations. Chemical processing facilities of this type typically incorporated asbestos-containing materials throughout their operational infrastructure during the relevant period.

Combined operational period of concern: Approximately the 1930s through the 1980s—the era when asbestos-containing materials were standard in American industrial construction and maintenance, at facilities in neighboring states as much as in Wisconsin.

General Equipment at Globe Union (Lyondell) Milwaukee Wisconsin

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 — Wisconsin

The records below are verified, state-documented asbestos removals at this facility. Each entry represents a regulated abatement project where the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (Wisconsin DNR) 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 Wisconsin DNR 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 Globe Union (Lyondell) Milwaukee Wisconsin

Heat and Frost Insulators installed, removed, and replaced thermal insulation on pipes, boilers, vessels, tanks, and equipment, reportedly working with asbestos-containing products and comparable manufacturers. They handled pipe insulation, block insulation, blanket insulation, and spray-applied insulation materials as a routine part of daily work and generated substantial airborne fiber concentrations through cutting, fitting, and removing insulation. Members of Heat and Frost Insulators Local 1 in Wisconsin may have performed maintenance work at Milwaukee industrial facilities.

Pipefitters and Steamfitters cut through and disturbed asbestos-insulated pipe during system modifications and repairs, handled asbestos-containing gaskets and packing when opening flanged connections and valve assemblies, and worked on steam distribution systems and process piping throughout these facilities.

Boilermakers worked with reportedly thick blanket and block insulation on boiler shells, steam drums, and associated piping, performed boiler installation, repair, rebricking, and maintenance involving asbestos-containing insulation and refractory materials, and handled asbestos rope packing for manholes and handholes. Members of Boilermakers Local 107 in Wisconsin may have performed comparable work at neighboring states facilities.

Electricians at battery manufacturing facilities like Globe Union faced distinct exposure through electrical switchgear and panels manufactured with asbestos-containing arc chutes, insulating boards, and thermal barriers; asbestos-insulated wire and cable installation and maintenance; and asbestos cloth and tape used for electrical insulation.

Maintenance Mechanics and Millwrights moved throughout entire facilities, working around insulated pipes and vessels with asbestos-containing insulation, servicing pumps and valves with gaskets and packing materials, opening and maintaining asbestos-lined furnace and oven doors, and performing repair work on roofing and flooring materials potentially including asbestos products.

Production Workers and Laborers at battery manufacturing facilities like Globe Union may have been exposed through bystander exposure when maintenance and construction work occurred nearby, as workers in the immediate vicinity of asbestos-disturbing activity can sustain exposures comparable to those of direct-handling workers.

Chemical Operators and Process Workers at Lyondell-associated chemical facilities worked in areas where asbestos-insulated equipment was regularly maintained and repaired during normal operations and faced elevated exposure risk during planned maintenance shutdowns—“turnarounds”—when extensive repair and re-insulation work involving asbestos-containing materials was concentrated into compressed periods.

Supervisors, Foremen, and Plant Engineers moved throughout facilities to oversee work, which may have produced asbestos exposures comparable to or exceeding those of individual tradespeople, as presence across multiple work zones involving asbestos-containing materials created repeated, cumulative exposure opportunities.

Wisconsin — Filing Deadline & Next Steps

Wisconsin law gives mesothelioma and asbestos-disease claimants 3 years from the date of medical diagnosis to file a personal-injury lawsuit (Wis. Stat. § 893.54). For wrongful-death claims after an asbestos-related death, the filing window is 3 years from the date of death (Wis. Stat. § 893.54). 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 Wisconsin 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 — Wisconsin

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 a claim 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

Former workers at Globe Union’s Milwaukee battery manufacturing facility, Lyondell Chemical’s Milwaukee operations, or comparable industrial sites in neighboring states—including comparable regional power stations, regional chemical operations, and regional steel operations—from the 1940s through the 1980s who have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or lung cancer may be entitled to pursue a legal claim. Members of Heat and Frost Insulators Local 1 in Wisconsin may have performed maintenance work at Milwaukee industrial facilities and comparable Missouri sites. Members of Boilermakers Local 107 in Wisconsin may have performed comparable work at neighboring states facilities along the river industrial corridor.
Data Sources — Wisconsin

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.