Mesothelioma Lawyer Wisconsin: Your Rights After Asbestos Exposure at Nelson Dewey Generating Station

Nelson Dewey Generating Station | Cassville, Wisconsin | Wisconsin Power and Light Co.

⚠️ URGENT FILING DEADLINE WARNING FOR Wisconsin workers

**Wisconsin’s asbestos statute of limitations is 3 years under Wis. Stat. § 893.54 — and that window does not pause while you consider your options.

** Do not wait. If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or lung cancer linked to occupational asbestos exposure, contact an asbestos attorney wisconsin today. Every month of delay is a month closer to a legal landscape that may be significantly less favorable to you and your family.

Your Rights as a Former Worker: Asbestos Exposure Claims in Wisconsin

If you worked at the Nelson Dewey Generating Station in Cassville, Wisconsin, and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or lung cancer, you may have legal rights — including the right to file claims against manufacturers who allegedly supplied asbestos-containing materials to this power plant. Workers at mid-century coal-fired generating stations faced some of the highest occupational asbestos exposures in American industrial history.

Nelson Dewey sits on the Mississippi River, placing it squarely within the Mississippi River industrial corridor — a stretch of coal-fired power plants, steel mills, chemical facilities, and refineries running from St. Louis northward through Illinois and Wisconsin that employed tens of thousands of union tradespeople from Missouri and Illinois as well as Wisconsin. Workers from Missouri and Illinois frequently traveled to plants like Nelson Dewey for construction, turnarounds, and major maintenance outages. If you were one of those workers, your legal rights may be governed in part by Missouri or Illinois law, and your claims may be filed in Wisconsin or Illinois courts — including some of the most plaintiff-favorable venues in the country.

The Wisconsin asbestos statute of limitations under Wis. Stat. § 893.54 gives you 5 years from diagnosis to act — and pending legislation threatens to impose new procedural burdens on claims filed after August 28, 2026. The sooner you contact an asbestos cancer lawyer Milwaukee, the more legal options remain available to you.

This page covers what allegedly happened at Nelson Dewey, which trades carried the greatest risk, what diseases asbestos causes, and how to file a claim — with particular attention to the rights of Wisconsin and Illinois workers who may be entitled to benefits from an Asbestos Wisconsin or traditional litigation recovery.

Nelson Dewey Generating Station: Facility Overview and Asbestos Exposure Risk

The Nelson Dewey Generating Station sits on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River in Cassville, Grant County, Wisconsin — approximately 60 miles north of Dubuque, Iowa. Wisconsin Power and Light Company (WP&L) — later absorbed into Alliant Energy Corporation — owned and operated the plant from construction through retirement.

Facility Facts:

Location: Cassville, Grant County, Wisconsin (Mississippi River corridor)
Operator: Wisconsin Power and Light Company (later Alliant Energy)
Generation Type: Coal-fired steam electric
Unit 1: Commercial operation began 1955; Unit 2: 1958
Capacity: Approximately 108 megawatts at peak output
Status: Decommissioned
Regional Context: Located on the same Mississippi River corridor as Ameren’s Labadie Energy Center and Portage des Sioux Plant (Missouri), the Granite City Steel complex (Illinois), and multiple other major industrial facilities that employed the same union tradespeople across state lines

Why Power Plants Were Built With Asbestos-Containing Materials

Coal-fired power plants generate steam at temperatures sometimes exceeding 1,000°F to drive turbines. Engineers in the 1950s specified asbestos-containing insulation because no synthetic substitute matched its combination of heat resistance, fire retardance, chemical stability, and low cost. Boilers, steam lines, turbines, valves, and auxiliary equipment throughout plants like Nelson Dewey were reportedly built with these materials from the ground up.

The same insulation products, gaskets, and refractory materials were reportedly used throughout the Mississippi River corridor — at Labadie, Portage des Sioux, and the former Monsanto chemical complex in St. Louis County, among others. Union tradespeople from Missouri and Illinois who worked at multiple facilities along this corridor may have accumulated asbestos exposure at each site. If you are a Missouri worker seeking an asbestos attorney wisconsin or mesothelioma lawyer wisconsin, a documented multi-facility work history strengthens your claim considerably.

Manufacturers including Johns-Manville, Owens-Illinois, Armstrong World Industries, W.R. Grace, and Georgia-Pacific reportedly supplied asbestos-containing materials to utilities during this period. Internal industry documents produced in litigation show these manufacturers withheld knowledge of asbestos health hazards from workers and facility operators for decades.

Facility Operator: Wisconsin Power and Light Company (Alliant Energy)

WP&L owned and operated Nelson Dewey from construction through its operational life. As facility operator, WP&L bore responsibility for worker safety conditions and hazard communication. WP&L was later merged into Alliant Energy Corporation.

Missouri and Illinois union tradespeople who worked at Nelson Dewey as contractors or subcontractors were not WP&L employees — but they may have claims against the manufacturers of the asbestos-containing materials to which they were allegedly exposed. Those claims can be filed in Wisconsin or Illinois courts regardless of the Wisconsin location of the facility.

Those claims are subject to Wisconsin’s current 5-year asbestos statute of limitations — and to the significant procedural changes that

Asbestos-Containing Materials Allegedly Present at Nelson Dewey

Construction Phase — Mid-1950s

The mid-1950s construction period represents the most intensive alleged use of asbestos-containing materials at this facility. At that time:

Insulation contractors reportedly applied asbestos-containing pipe insulation throughout the steam distribution systems
Boilermakers and insulators — including members of Heat and Frost Insulators Local 1 (St. Louis) and Boilermakers Local 27 (St. Louis) and affiliated unions — may have installed asbestos block insulation, asbestos cloth, and asbestos cement around boiler shells, headers, and steam drums
Members of UA Local 562 (United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters, St. Louis) and traveling pipefitters from Missouri and Illinois may have worked on steam distribution systems insulated with asbestos-containing materials
Electricians may have worked with asbestos-containing wiring components and electrical insulation
Construction workers allegedly applied asbestos-containing fireproofing to structural steel

Manufacturers had not publicly disclosed inhalation hazards at the time of construction, despite internal knowledge of those risks documented in litigation. Workers received no warnings.

Operations and Maintenance — 1955 Through Retirement

Work that disturbs installed asbestos-containing materials generates the highest fiber concentrations — and power plants require constant maintenance. At Nelson Dewey, ongoing operations and maintenance allegedly produced repeated asbestos exposure through:

Boiler outages and overhauls: Removal and replacement of asbestos-containing insulation during scheduled and emergency repairs, often performed by traveling union crews from Missouri and Illinois
Turbine maintenance: Work on gaskets, packing, and insulation associated with General Electric and Westinghouse Electric equipment
Pipe repair and rerouting: Cutting and handling existing asbestos-containing pipe insulation during steam system modifications
Valve and pump work: Removal and replacement of asbestos-containing packing and gaskets
Electrical maintenance: Contact with asbestos-containing components in electrical equipment
Decommissioning and abatement: Disturbance of installed asbestos-containing materials during facility retirement

Specific Asbestos-Containing Products Allegedly Used at Nelson Dewey

Thermal Insulation Products

Pipe Insulation

Workers at Nelson Dewey may have been exposed to asbestos-containing pipe insulation from:

Unibestos pipe covering (Owens-Illinois / Owens-Corning)
Kaylo insulation (Owens-Illinois / Owens-Corning)
Thermobestos products (multiple manufacturers)
Armstrong World Industries, Johns-Manville, Fibreboard Corporation, and Georgia-Pacific product lines

These same product lines were allegedly used throughout the Mississippi River industrial corridor, including at the Labadie Energy Center and Portage des Sioux Plant in Missouri. Missouri and Illinois workers who may have encountered these products at Nelson Dewey may have encountered them at other corridor facilities as well — a documented pattern that strengthens both exposure history and potential Wisconsin mesothelioma settlement claims.

Block Insulation

Applied to boiler surfaces, headers, steam drums, and high-temperature equipment. Manufacturers supplying this market included Johns-Manville Corporation, Carey Manufacturing, and W.R. Grace. These products often contained high percentages of chrysotile or amosite asbestos by weight.

Boiler Insulation and Cement

Thermo-11 (Johns-Manville)
Pabco insulating cement (Pabco Products)
Gold Bond asbestos-containing formulations
Monokote spray-applied fireproofing products

Insulating Blankets and Cloth

Flexible asbestos-containing blankets, pads, and woven cloth from Armstrong World Industries and Johns-Manville were reportedly used on irregularly shaped equipment, expansion joints, and flexible connections. These materials are documented to release high concentrations of respirable fibers when cut, torn, or otherwise disturbed.

Gaskets and Packing: High-Risk Exposure Sources

Power plants contain thousands of flanged connections, valves, pumps, and mechanical seals. Routine maintenance on these components requires removal of old gasket and packing material — work that allegedly generated substantial fiber release at every outage. Manufacturers whose products may have been present at Nelson Dewey include:

Garlock Sealing Technologies — asbestos sheet gaskets and valve packing
John Crane, Inc. — mechanical seal packing, including Superex products
Flexitallic Gasket Company — spiral-wound asbestos-containing gaskets
A.W. Chesterton Company — valve packing compounds

Turbine and Mechanical Equipment

Steam turbines require insulation of casings, steam inlets, and exhaust systems. General Electric and Westinghouse Electric reportedly specified asbestos-containing insulation for their turbine products during this era, including Aircell and similar high-temperature products. Workers performing turbine inspections, overhauls, and maintenance may have been exposed to asbestos-containing materials in this equipment.

Electrical Components

Electrical equipment manufactured for power plants in the 1950s through 1970s reportedly incorporated asbestos-containing materials including:

Arc chutes and arc shields in circuit breakers (General Electric, Westinghouse Electric, Square D Corporation)
High-temperature wire insulation
Panel linings and switchgear components
Motor starter insulating parts

Building Materials

Throughout facility structures, asbestos-containing building materials may have been present:

Vinyl asbestos floor tiles and sheet flooring
Asbestos-containing roofing materials
Gold Bond and similar asbestos-containing wallboard and ceiling products
Spray-applied fireproofing on structural steel

Trades at Greatest Risk for Asbestos Exposure at Nelson Dewey

Asbestos-related disease risk tracks closely with specific occupational trades. At Nelson Dewey, the following workers may have faced the highest exposure levels. Missouri and Illinois union members who traveled to Nelson Dewey for construction or outage work carried that exposure history with them — and their legal claims follow them home.

Insulators (Heat and Frost Insulators) Insulators worked directly with asbestos-containing pipe covering, block insulation, and cement — mixing, cutting, fitting, and finishing these materials throughout the facility. Fiber concentrations during active insulation work are among the highest documented in any industrial setting. Members of Heat and