Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation — Plants in Ohio

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 Ohio. This page documents the Ohio 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) 936-2956

Named Plants and Operating Era

Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation’s principal Ohio Valley operations were located at the Ohio River rolling mill and smelter complex historically identified as Ravenswood on the West Virginia side of the Ohio River (Ravenswood WV) with operating footprint and supply chain extending into eastern Ohio. Kaiser Aluminum-branded downstream Ohio fabrication and service center operations included:

  • Kaiser Aluminum Ravenswood Complex (WV side, Ohio River) — Ohio River smelter and rolling mill serving Ohio-side fabrication customers, principal asbestos-era operations approximately 1955-1980s, closed 2009 (site reopened as Constellium)
  • Kaiser Aluminum Ohio Service Centers and Fabrication Operations — various Ohio downstream sites for aluminum coil, plate, and extrusion sales / fabrication serving Ohio automotive, appliance, and construction customers during the asbestos era

Plant-Era ACM Narrative

At Kaiser Aluminum’s Ohio River / Ohio operations, plaintiffs allegedly encountered the following plant-era asbestos exposure pathways during the U.S. asbestos era (approximately 1930s-1980):

  • Asbestos-fabric potline hood cladding and asbestos-block busbar insulation on reduction cells at the Ravenswood smelter side
  • Asbestos-refractory cathode collector bar insulation during pot rebuilds
  • Asbestos-block lagging on cast house holding furnaces and launder troughs
  • Asbestos-fabric ingot mold coating on cast house DC caster molds
  • Asbestos-fabric rolling mill drive belts and asbestos-packed roll bearing seals in the Ravenswood rolling mill
  • Asbestos-refractory homogenizing furnace and heat-treat furnace lining
  • Asbestos pipe covering on process piping, steam headers, and utility lines throughout the complex
  • Asbestos sheet gaskets at heat exchanger and process-piping flanges

Trades and Local Union Coverage

Plaintiffs alleged that Kaiser Aluminum Ohio-side and Ohio Valley plant work was allegedly performed by tradesmen from the following unions and Locals during the asbestos era:

BAC Bricklayers Local 6 Ohio / Local 3 Ohio for pot rebuild refractory work; HFIAW Insulators Local 3 (Pittsburgh) and Local 84 (Ohio Valley / Cincinnati) for pipe covering; UA Pipefitters Local 396 (Marietta / Ohio Valley) for flange work; IBEW Electricians Local 972 (Marietta) for potline bus bar and cast house work; and USW / United Steelworkers Local 5668 (historically the Ravenswood USW Local) for operating and maintenance crews.

Documented ACM Product Vectors Named in Litigation

Products from AP defendant manufacturers that plaintiffs allegedly identified as supplied to or specified at Ohio Valley Kaiser Aluminum operations during the asbestos era: