About Petersburg Generating Station Petersburg Indiana
Petersburg Generating Station sits in Pike County, southwestern Indiana, approximately two miles outside the city of Petersburg along the White River. Indianapolis Power & Light Company (IPL) owns and operates the facility. IPL is a subsidiary of IPALCO Enterprises, Inc., itself owned by AES Corporation.
Construction Timeline: Four Units, Decades of Asbestos-Containing Materials
The facility was built in phases between the early 1960s and 1979:
- Unit 1 — Construction began early 1960s; reportedly came online approximately 1967
- Unit 2 — Reportedly came online approximately 1969
- Unit 3 — Reportedly came online approximately 1972
- Unit 4 — The largest unit; reportedly came online approximately 1979
By the time Unit 4 was completed, Petersburg Generating Station ranked among Indiana’s largest coal-fired plants. Each unit required hundreds of tradespeople and enormous quantities of asbestos-containing materials that were industry standard during this era.
The facility reportedly operated all four units for decades through the late 2000s and beyond. Petersburg Generating Station’s workforce spanned multiple generations of Indiana construction workers and plant employees affiliated with regional labor unions including Boilermakers Local 374, Asbestos Workers Local 18 (Indiana insulator union), and Indiana Pipe Trades affiliated locals, as well as other skilled trades organizations representing workers throughout southwestern Indiana and the broader Wabash Valley region.
General Equipment at Petersburg Generating Station Petersburg Indiana
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.
Documented Asbestos Evidence — Indiana
The records below are verified, state-documented asbestos removals at this facility. Each entry represents a regulated abatement project where the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) 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 IDEM 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:
Who May Have Been Exposed at Petersburg Generating Station Petersburg Indiana
Asbestos-related disease does not discriminate by job title. Workers across every trade and classification who may have been present at Petersburg Generating Station during construction and operation potentially face asbestos disease risk:
Construction Trades During Plant Build-Out (1960s–1979)
- Pipefitters and steamfitters — installed and maintained all high-pressure steam and condensate lines
- Boilermakers — constructed, tested, and maintained the
Generating Unit Equipment — Public Registry
The following generating units are documented in the North American Electric Generating Plants database for this facility. This database is maintained by UDI/S&P Global and draws on federal EIA filings and state regulatory records.
| Unit | Year | Capacity | Fuel | Boiler Type | Boiler/Steam Sys Mfr | Turbine Mfr | Generator Mfr | Steam Params | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Petersburg 1 | 1967 | 253.4 MW | Coal | Tangent | Ce | Wh | Wh | 1800 PSI / 1000°F | Operating |
| Petersburg Ic 1 | 1967 | 2.75 MW | Oil | N/A | N/A | Operating | |||
| Petersburg Ic 2 | 1967 | 2.75 MW | Oil | N/A | N/A | Operating | |||
| Petersburg Ic 3 | 1967 | 2.75 MW | Oil | N/A | N/A | Operating | |||
| Petersburg 2 | 1969 | 471 MW | Coal | Tangent | Ce | Ge | Ge | 2401 PSI / 1000°F | Operating |
| Petersburg 3 | 1977 | 574.4 MW | Coal | Tangent | Ce | Ge | Ge | 2400 PSI / 1000°F | Operating |
| Petersburg 4 | 1986 | 574.2 MW | Coal | Tangent | Ce | Ge | Ge | 2400 PSI / 1000°F | Operating |
Source: UDI/S&P Global North American Electric Generating Plants database (NAMERICA 2025). Public reference data.
Indiana — Filing Deadline & Next Steps
Indiana law gives mesothelioma and asbestos-disease claimants 2 years from the date of medical diagnosis to file a personal-injury lawsuit (Ind. Code § 34-11-2-4). For wrongful-death claims after an asbestos-related death, the filing window is 2 years from the date of death (Ind. Code § 34-23-1-1). 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
- 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.
- Preserve medical records. Pathology reports, biopsy results, imaging, and pulmonary-function tests are central to both civil claims and trust-fund filings.
- 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.
- Speak with an asbestos attorney with Indiana 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 — Indiana
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 compensation 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.
Data Sources — Indiana
Information about facility equipment, industrial materials, and occupational records referenced on this page is drawn from publicly available sources where applicable, including:
- EPA ECHO Facility Compliance Database — enforcement and compliance records for industrial facilities
- OSHA Establishment Search — federal workplace inspection history
- EIA Form 860 Plant Data — power-plant equipment and ownership records (where applicable)
- Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) NESHAP asbestos abatement notification records
- Published asbestos trial and trust fund records (publicly filed court documents)
- AsbestosIndex Product & Manufacturer Crosswalk — historical asbestos-containing product schedules linked to manufacturers
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.