Asbestos Exposure at Vectren Energy — F.B. Culley Station Newburgh Newburgh Indiana Vectren / Southern Indiana Gas and Electric power plant coal steam generating station asbestos products Johns-Manville Owens-Illinois Combustion Engineering block insulation pipe covering steam boilers turbines feed water heaters: Former Worker Claims

For Former Workers, Families, and Those Diagnosed with Mesothelioma or Asbestosis

⚠️ CRITICAL INDIANA FILING DEADLINE WARNING

Indiana law gives mesothelioma and asbestosis victims only TWO YEARS from the date of diagnosis to file a lawsuit. Under Ind. Code § 34-20-3-1, if you miss this deadline, you may permanently lose your right to compensation — regardless of how strong your case is or how severe your illness.

The two-year clock starts running from your diagnosis date — not from when you were exposed, and not from when symptoms first appeared. If you or a loved one has already been diagnosed, that deadline is already counting down. Do not wait.

Most asbestos bankruptcy trust funds — which may pay compensation separately from and simultaneously with any Indiana court judgment — have no strict statutory filing deadline, but their assets are finite and are being paid out every day. Waiting means less money may be available when your claim is filed.

Contact an asbestos attorney in Indiana today. Every day you delay is a day closer to losing your legal rights forever.

Asbestos Exposure at F.B. Culley Station: What Indiana Workers Need to Know

If you worked at the F.B. Culley Generating Station in Newburgh, Indiana — or if a family member did — you may have been exposed to asbestos-containing materials that cause mesothelioma, asbestosis, and lung cancer decades after initial exposure. The F.B. Culley Station, operated by Southern Indiana Gas and Electric Company (SIGECO; later Vectren Energy Delivery, now CenterPoint Energy), was a coal-fired steam electric generating facility where workers may have been exposed to asbestos-containing insulation, pipe covering, gaskets, and related products during construction, operation, and maintenance.

If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, lung cancer, or pleural disease and worked at this facility, you may have legal rights worth pursuing — but Indiana’s two-year filing deadline under Ind. Code § 34-20-3-1 begins running the moment you receive your diagnosis. This article covers what is known about asbestos-containing materials reportedly present at the F.B. Culley Station, which trades faced the greatest asbestos exposure risk, and what legal options may be available under Indiana law — including your right to file simultaneously against asbestos bankruptcy trusts while pursuing an asbestos lawsuit in Indiana court. Time is not on your side. Read this carefully and act quickly.

F.B. Culley Generating Station: Facility Overview

Location and Operational History

The F.B. Culley Generating Station sits on the Ohio River in Warrick County near Newburgh, Indiana. Named after a former SIGECO executive, it operated as a coal-fired steam-electric generating station serving southwestern Indiana. Although less well-known than the massive industrial corridor along Lake Michigan — home to U.S. Steel Gary Works, Bethlehem Steel Burns Harbor, and Inland Steel East Chicago — the F.B. Culley Station was a significant industrial workplace in southwestern Indiana and part of the same post-war construction boom that drove widespread asbestos-containing materials use across Indiana’s energy and manufacturing sectors.

Original operator: Southern Indiana Gas and Electric Company (SIGECO)
Successor operator: Vectren Corporation (Vectren Energy Delivery of Indiana)
Current owner: CenterPoint Energy (acquired Vectren in 2019)
Construction period: Post-World War II expansion era (1950s–1960s)
Units: Culley Units 1, 2, and 3, added during multiple expansion phases
Facility type: Coal-fired steam-electric power generation requiring large volumes of high-temperature insulation

Corporate Succession and Asbestos Liability

Corporate succession determines liability in asbestos litigation under Indiana law:

Southern Indiana Gas and Electric Company (SIGECO) — original operator; regional utility headquartered in Evansville, Indiana
Vectren Corporation — formed from SIGECO assets and regional mergers; operated the facility as a regulated utility subsidiary headquartered in Evansville
CenterPoint Energy, Inc. — acquired Vectren in 2019; current corporate successor with assumed liability exposure

Each entity may carry potential liability for worker exposure to asbestos-containing materials at the facility during the periods each controlled operations. Indiana courts — including Warrick County Circuit Court and, depending on where claims are filed, Vanderburgh County Superior Court in Evansville — have jurisdiction over claims arising from Warrick County industrial facilities.

Indiana’s two-year statute of limitations under Ind. Code § 34-20-3-1 runs from your diagnosis date. If you have already been diagnosed, contact an asbestos cancer lawyer in Indiana immediately.

Why Coal-Fired Power Plants Used Asbestos-Containing Materials

Operating Conditions and Industry Standards

Coal-fired steam generating stations operated under extreme physical conditions:

Steam exceeded 1,000°F in many applications
High-pressure systems ran throughout piping and turbine equipment
Around-the-clock operation demanded reliable, durable insulation
Utilities required low-cost materials that in-house crews could install and maintain

Asbestos-containing materials became the industry standard from the 1940s through the 1970s because they performed effectively at high temperatures, were inexpensive, and were aggressively marketed by major manufacturers including Johns-Manville, Owens-Illinois, Combustion Engineering, Armstrong World Industries, and W.R. Grace. These products were written into engineering standards and utility procurement specifications. Construction and maintenance trades used them routinely across Indiana — at coal-fired power plants like F.B. Culley Station in southwestern Indiana, at steel mills along the Lake Michigan shoreline including U.S. Steel Gary Works and Bethlehem Steel Burns Harbor, at diesel engine manufacturing facilities like Cummins Engine in Columbus, Indiana, and at chemical and refining plants throughout the state.

What Manufacturers Knew About Asbestos Health Risks

Major asbestos manufacturers knew about health risks while continuing to market their products to utilities. Internal corporate documents from companies including Johns-Manville show that executives had evidence of mesothelioma and asbestosis risks among workers but continued selling asbestos-containing products to power plants throughout the 1960s and 1970s. That documented knowledge gap — manufacturer awareness versus worker ignorance — is a core basis for asbestos claims against those manufacturers in Indiana courts, and it has supported verdicts and settlements for Indiana power plant workers and their families.

This history of deliberate concealment matters directly to your case. Manufacturers who hid known hazards from workers face significant liability — but you must act within Indiana’s two-year filing window from your diagnosis date to pursue that liability in court.

Asbestos-Containing Materials Reportedly Present at F.B. Culley Station

Product Categories Frequently Used in Power Generation

Based on the facility’s age, design, and construction era, the following categories of asbestos-containing materials were reportedly present at facilities of this type:

Pipe covering and thermal insulation (wrapped around steam and feedwater lines)
Block insulation (applied to boilers, steam headers, and high-temperature surfaces)
Boiler insulating cement and finishing cements (spray-applied or troweled onto equipment)
Gaskets and packing materials (installed in valves, flanges, and expansion joints throughout steam systems)
Insulating blankets and cloth (used in turbine areas and high-temperature equipment rooms)
Turbine insulation (applied to steam turbine casings and associated piping)
Asbestos-containing floor tile, transite board, and roofing materials (used in building construction and maintenance)

Johns-Manville Asbestos Products

Johns-Manville Corporation (now a Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary) was one of the largest U.S. manufacturers of asbestos-containing insulation. Products sold under the Johns-Manville name that may have been present at the F.B. Culley Station include:

Thermobestos® pipe covering — calcium silicate pipe insulation containing chrysotile asbestos; widely used on steam lines at coal-fired power plants across Indiana, and reportedly present at facilities comparable to F.B. Culley Station
Superex® block insulation — asbestos-containing block insulation used on high-temperature boiler surfaces and steam headers
Kaylo® thermal insulation — pre-formed pipe and block insulation containing asbestos fibers
Asbestos-containing boiler insulating cement
Asbestos cloth and blanket products

Johns-Manville internal documents — central to landmark asbestos litigation beginning in the 1970s — showed that company executives knew about lethal asbestos hazards while continuing to market these products to utilities nationwide. Those documents have supported mesothelioma claims brought by power plant workers across Indiana, including workers from southwestern Indiana facilities comparable to F.B. Culley Station.

Johns-Manville filed for bankruptcy and the Johns Manville Asbestos Personal Injury Settlement Trust was established. Indiana residents diagnosed with mesothelioma or asbestosis who may have been exposed to Johns-Manville products at the F.B. Culley Station may have the right to file a claim with this trust simultaneously with any court action — a critical procedural right discussed further below. Trust fund assets are finite and are being distributed to claimants every day. File your asbestos trust fund claim as soon as possible.

Owens-Illinois and Owens Corning Products

Owens-Illinois (later Owens Corning) manufactured Kaylo®, a pre-formed pipe and block insulation product containing chrysotile and, in some formulations, amosite asbestos. Workers may have been exposed to Kaylo® pipe covering, block insulation, and related asbestos-containing materials at the F.B. Culley Station during construction, maintenance, and removal work. Evidence produced in asbestos litigation shows the company was aware of health hazards from its asbestos-containing products during the peak-use period.

Owens Corning and Fibreboard Corporation both filed for bankruptcy, and their respective asbestos trust — the Owens Corning/Fibreboard Asbestos Personal Injury Trust — accepts claims from Indiana residents who may have been exposed to their products. Indiana workers, including those from the F.B. Culley Station area in Warrick County and surrounding regions, may file asbestos trust fund claims simultaneously with pending Indiana litigation. Because trust assets are being depleted by ongoing claims, earlier filing generally produces better outcomes for claimants.

Combustion Engineering Boiler Systems

Combustion Engineering, Inc. manufactured industrial boilers supplied to utilities nationwide, including Indiana coal-fired power plants. Those boiler systems reportedly included asbestos-containing pipe covering, block insulation, and cement coatings applied to boiler exteriors, steam drums, superheaters, and associated high-temperature equipment. Workers performing construction, maintenance, repair, or insulation removal on Combustion Engineering boiler systems at the F.B. Culley Station may have been exposed to asbestos-containing materials — whether those workers were SIGECO employees, contractor personnel, or members of Asbestos Workers Local 18, Boilermakers Local 374, or other Indiana union locals. Combustion Engineering’s successor, the Combustion Engineering 524(g) Asbestos Personal Injury Trust (CE Trust), accepts claims from Indiana residents who may have been exposed to CE products.

Other Manufacturers Whose Products Were Commonly Present

Other manufacturers whose asbestos-containing products were commonly present at coal-fired power stations comparable to the F.B. Culley Generating Station include:

Armstrong World Industries — Gold Bond™ pipe covering and block insulation; acoustic products; floor tiles
W.R. Grace & Co. — Monokote® spray-applied fireproofing and thermal insulation allegedly containing asbestos fibers
Garlock Sealing Technologies — asbestos-containing gaskets, packing, and sealing products installed in valves, flanges, and expansion joints
Georgia-Pacific Corporation — asbestos-containing insulation and building materials
Celotex Corporation — pipe covering and insulation products
Crane Co. — valves with asbestos-containing gaskets and packing materials
Eagle-Picher Industries — thermal insulation products; Eagle-Picher’s bankruptcy trust, the Eagle-Picher Industries Personal Injury Settlement Trust, accepts claims from Indiana residents who may have been exposed to their products

Trades and Occupations at Greatest Risk

Coal-fired power plant workers were not equally exposed to as

Vectren Energy