Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation — Plants in Mississippi

Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that they were exposed to asbestos while working at Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation plants in Mississippi. This page documents the Mississippi portion of Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation’s multi-state operations. For the full corporate summary and plants in other states, see the Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation manufacturer page.

Premises Description

Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation (founded 1946 by Henry J. Kaiser; today Kaiser Aluminum Corporation) was through the 20th century the third-largest U.S. aluminum producer behind Alcoa and Reynolds. Kaiser operated through the asbestos era a comprehensive vertically-integrated U.S. aluminum network with major sites including:

  • Ravenswood WV — flagship Ohio River smelter and rolling mill (closed 2009, reopened as Constellium)
  • Mead WA (Spokane-area) — Pacific Northwest hydroelectric-powered smelter (closed 2000)
  • Tacoma WA — Pacific Northwest smelter (closed 2002)
  • Trentwood WA — rolling mill
  • Chalmette LA — Mississippi River smelter (closed 1983)
  • Gramercy LA — alumina refining
  • Various downstream fabrication and specialty plants

Kaiser Aluminum entered Chapter 11 reorganization in 2002 driven in substantial part by asbestos personal-injury liability and emerged through asbestos-trust mechanisms. The Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation Asbestos Personal Injury Trust was established as part of the reorganization plan.

Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that Kaiser Aluminum — as premises owner — exposed its aluminum-worker workforce (USW Local representation) and contractor pipefitters, insulators, boilermakers, electricians, and trade workers to extensive asbestos via reduction-cell refractory and electrical insulation, plant pipe covering, fireproofing, and process gaskets.

Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation has been named as a Premises Defendant in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation, and its asbestos liability is partially channeled through the Kaiser Aluminum Asbestos PI Trust.

Workers Exposed

  • United Steelworkers Local members at Ravenswood, Mead, Tacoma, Trentwood, Chalmette, Gramercy
  • Refinery and mill pipefitters and millwrights
  • Insulators (HFIAW Local members) on Kaiser construction and turnaround crews
  • Boilermakers (IBB Local members) building Kaiser smelter equipment
  • Electricians (IBEW Local members) working Kaiser potline electrical systems
  • Construction-trade workforces on Kaiser EPC projects

If You Worked at a Kaiser Aluminum Smelter, Refinery, or Mill

If you worked at a Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation aluminum smelter, alumina refinery, or rolling mill during the asbestos era — as a Kaiser employee or as a dispatched contractor trade worker — and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, lung cancer, or another asbestos-related illness, you may have legal rights — including potentially a trust claim against the Kaiser Aluminum Asbestos PI Trust.

Free, confidential case evaluation: Speak with O’Brien Law Firm — (314) 237-3332

Named Plants and Operating Era

Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation did not allegedly operate a primary aluminum smelter or rolling mill inside Mississippi during the U.S. asbestos era. Kaiser’s Gulf Coast primary aluminum and alumina operations were located across the state line at Chalmette LA (Mississippi River smelter, principal asbestos-era operations approximately 1951-1983, closed 1983) and Gramercy LA (alumina refinery, principal asbestos-era operations approximately 1959-1980s). Rather than a Kaiser-owned Mississippi plant, plaintiffs allegedly identified Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation asbestos-containing products as distributed and applied at Mississippi industrial jobsites — refineries along the Mississippi Gulf Coast (Pascagoula), pulp and paper mills, chemical plants, and Mississippi River-corridor industrial sites where Kaiser refractory brick and aluminum-related asbestos products were specified.

Plant-Era ACM Narrative

At Mississippi industrial jobsites where Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation products were allegedly specified during the U.S. asbestos era (approximately 1930s-1980):

  • Asbestos-block lagging on cast house holding furnaces and launder troughs at aluminum fabrication and downstream users
  • Asbestos-refractory brick (Kaiser Refractories Division product) installed in industrial furnaces, boiler settings, kilns, and process heaters at Mississippi refineries, paper mills, and chemical plants
  • Asbestos-fabric drive belts and asbestos-packed bearing seals in aluminum-fabrication rolling operations at downstream Mississippi users of Kaiser aluminum coil and plate
  • Asbestos gaskets and packing at Kaiser-supplied aluminum process equipment installed in Mississippi industrial sites
  • Asbestos-refractory homogenizing furnace and heat-treat furnace lining at downstream aluminum service centers

Trades and Local Union Coverage

Plaintiffs alleged that Mississippi installation of Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation products was allegedly performed by tradesmen from the following unions and Locals during the asbestos era:

BAC Bricklayers Local 1 Mississippi for Kaiser Refractories asbestos brick installation at refinery, paper mill, and chemical plant furnace settings; HFIAW Insulators Local 45 (New Orleans area with jurisdiction extending into MS Gulf Coast) and the Jackson-area Local for pipe covering adjacent to Kaiser-equipment installations; UA Pipefitters Local 619 (Jackson) and Local 436 (Meridian) for flange work; IBEW Electricians Local 480 (Jackson) for switchgear; and USW / United Steelworkers Local members at downstream Mississippi aluminum-fabrication and service-center sites using Kaiser feedstock.

Documented ACM Product Vectors Named in Litigation

Products from AP defendant manufacturers that plaintiffs allegedly identified as supplied to or specified at Mississippi industrial jobsites where Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation products were installed during the asbestos era:

Mesothelioma Resources for Mississippi Workers

Chemical-plant asbestos exposure like this is a leading cause of mesothelioma, often diagnosed decades later. If you or a family member worked here: