About Pulliam Power Plant | Green Bay, WI | Wisconsin

The Wisconsin region hosted some of America’s largest coal-fired electricity generating facilities and heavy industrial manufacturing centers. The Green Bay and Fox River corridor — a historic industrial spine connecting Green Bay, Brown County, and the surrounding Fox River Valley communities of northeast Wisconsin — provided cooling water, shipping access for coal and raw materials, and a geographic anchor for the concentration of power plants, paper mills, foundries, and heavy manufacturing plants that employed tens of thousands of workers from the 1920s through the 1990s.

Major Power Plants (We Energies & Regional Operators):

  • comparable regional power stations (the region) — documented in EIA Form 860 plant data as a multi-unit coal facility with an extensive operational history; one of Wisconsin’s largest power-generating facilities
  • comparable regional power stations (the region) — major regional generation facility situated along the Lake Michigan shoreline
  • comparable regional power stations (the region) — coal-fired generation complex in the the region industrial zone
  • comparable regional power stations (the region) — We Energies generation asset in the region

Major Industrial Facilities Along the Northeast Wisconsin Corridor:

  • regional steel operations (the regional industrial corridor) — integrated metal manufacturing complex in the region; one of the largest industrial employers in the Wisconsin industrial corridor
  • regional specialty steel operations (the region) — specialty steel production facility in the region
  • regional paper and packaging operations (the region) — industrial paper and materials manufacturing
  • regional chemical operations (the region) — large-scale chemical manufacturing operations serving industrial customers throughout the corridor
  • regional refining operations (the region) — petroleum refining complex in the region
  • regional refining and processing operations (the region) — petroleum refining operations in the region

These facilities were built and expanded during the precise historical period when asbestos-containing materials were most heavily used in American industrial construction — and when manufacturers were most actively concealing health hazards from the workers handling their products.

Timeline of Construction & Operation:

  • 1920s–1950s: Original construction and major expansions incorporating asbestos-containing materials throughout all major systems at Wisconsin facilities
  • 1940s–1970s: Peak employment across the northeast Wisconsin industrial corridor; workers may have faced sustained exposure from routine maintenance and unscheduled repairs at power plants and industrial facilities throughout the region
  • 1970s–1990s: Regulatory transition; OSHA and EPA asbestos standards took effect; older asbestos-containing materials installed in prior decades remained in place and posed ongoing exposure risks during maintenance, repair, and eventual abatement work

Coal-fired power plants operate on a straightforward principle: burning fuel generates extreme heat, which converts water to high-pressure steam, which drives turbines connected to electrical generators. That process creates extraordinary temperatures and pressures throughout every major system. Wisconsin facilities like comparable regional power stations, and the industrial plants along the Fox River and Green Bay waterfront operated continuously under these conditions for decades.

Temperature & Pressure Extremes at Wisconsin Facilities:

  • Steam temperatures: 750°F to 1,000°F or higher in boiler systems at facilities including comparable regional power stations
  • Boiler operating pressures: 1,500 to 2,500+ pounds per square inch
  • Turbine components: requiring insulation capable of maintaining heat differentials in rotating machinery operating continuously under load
  • Electrical systems: requiring materials resistant to both heat and electrical conductivity
  • Refinery processing systems at regional refining operations: temperatures and pressures comparable to power generation equipment
  • Steel mill operations at regional steel operations: extreme heat from furnaces and molten metal handling requiring sustained thermal management
  • Chemical processing systems at regional chemical operations (the region): high-temperature reaction vessels and piping systems requiring insulation throughout

General Equipment at Pulliam Power Plant | Green Bay, WI | 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.

Boilers View crosswalk › Steam Turbines View crosswalk › Steam Traps View crosswalk › Condensers View crosswalk › Feedwater Heaters View crosswalk › Cooling Towers View crosswalk › Pipe Insulation View crosswalk › Block Insulation View crosswalk › Refractory Lining View crosswalk › Valves View crosswalk › Gaskets View crosswalk › Pumps 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 Pulliam Power Plant | Green Bay, WI | Wisconsin

Workers at Wisconsin facilities were represented by multiple skilled trade unions whose members were dispatched across the northeast Wisconsin industrial corridor:

  • Heat and Frost Insulators — thermal insulators dispatched to power plants and industrial facilities throughout Wisconsin; members are alleged to have worked with asbestos-containing pipe covering, block insulation, and fitting insulation at comparable regional power stations, regional steel operations, and regional chemical operations facilities
  • UA Pipefitters (Plumbers and Pipefitters) — pipefitters and steamfitters dispatched to regional facilities throughout the corridor; members allegedly performed pipe work and valve maintenance in the presence of asbestos-containing materials at Wisconsin power plants and industrial facilities
  • Boilermakers — boilermakers performing construction, maintenance, and repair work on boilers and pressure vessels at power plants and industrial facilities throughout the Wisconsin corridor; members are alleged to have worked in the immediate vicinity of deteriorating asbestos-containing refractory and insulation materials

Thousands of workers across these trades spent decades performing maintenance, repair, and construction work at Wisconsin facilities while asbestos-containing materials were actively present and increasingly deteriorated.

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

Traveling tradespeople regularly crossed state lines for union work, contract maintenance jobs, and construction projects at facilities like these. Members of the Heat and Frost Insulators and the Boilermakers are alleged to have worked at power plants and industrial sites in Wisconsin and in neighboring states throughout the peak asbestos-use era.

Wisconsin’s northeast industrial corridor — stretching from Green Bay and the Fox River Valley along the Lake Michigan shoreline — concentrated tens of thousands of workers in power generation, paper manufacturing, metal production, and chemical processing during the decades when asbestos-containing materials were most heavily deployed in American industry. Workers who traveled out of state for union jobs, contract maintenance assignments, and construction projects, and tradespeople whose careers spanned facilities in more than one state, may have legal claims in more than one state simultaneously.

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.