Asbestos Jobsites in Louisiana
Throughout the 20th century, many industries used asbestos at their job sites for its heat resistance, affordability, and durability. Asbestos job sites were particularly common along the bank of the lower Mississippi River. The most common job sites for asbestos exposure in Louisiana were shipyards, oil refineries, chemical plants, paper mills, fertilizer manufacturing facilities, power plants, and commercial buildings.
Last Updated:
- May 16, 2025
Shipyards
Nearly all branches of the military used asbestos, including in the construction and repair of Navy and Coast Guard ships. This usage peaked in World War II, but the military continued using asbestos heavily during the Vietnam War, Korean War, and Cold War eras.
Both veterans and civilian workers experienced asbestos exposure on ships and in shipyards, as the mineral was used in boiler rooms and for pipe insulation in nearly every ship made during that time. Shipyard workers often did maintenance and repair work in small, poorly ventilated rooms, and any disturbance of asbestos-containing materials on ships would trap toxic fibers in the room with workers.
The following Louisiana shipyards are known to have used asbestos in the construction, maintenance, repair, and demolition of ships:
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- Avondale Shipyard – New Orleans
- Boland Marine Shipyard – New Orleans
- Bollinger Shipyards – Lockport
- Conrad Industries, Inc. – Morgan City
- Delta Shipbuilding – New Orleans
- Dixie Shipyard – New Orleans
- Equitable Shipyard – New Orleans
- Halter Marine – New Orleans
- Higgins Shipyard – New Orleans
- Main Iron Works – Houma
- McDermott Shipyard – Morgan City and Amelia
- Todd Shipyard – New Orleans
Oil Refineries
Oil refining uses chemicals and high heat, prompting many refineries to protect their machinery with asbestos insulation and gaskets. Today, old machinery and pipes in oil refineries may still have asbestos gaskets or other materials.
In Louisiana, multiple oil refineries have been proven to use asbestos at their sites, including the following:
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- Tenneco Oil Refinery – Chalmette
- ConocoPhillips (Tosco, BP Amoco) Oil Refinery – Belle Chasse
- ExxonMobil Refinery – Baton Rouge
- Motiva (Star/Texaco) Oil Refinery – Convent
- Murphy Oil Refinery – Meraux
- Shell Oil Refinery – Norco
- Citgo Oil Refinery – Lake Charles
Chemical Plants
For decades, the chemical industry used asbestos in its production plants, equipment, and machinery. Chemical plant workers were exposed to high-temperature thermal insulation products, fireproofing materials, gaskets, asbestos blankets, and equipment designed to work with asbestos products as component parts. The mineral’s fireproof nature helped prevent burns and harmful chemical reactions–all while exposing workers to asbestos fibers.
Louisiana chemical plants that used asbestos at their sites include the following:
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- Albemarle (Ethyl) – Baton Rouge
- Allied Chemical Plant – Baton Rouge
- BASF – Geismar
- Chemtura (Crompton/Uniroyal) – Geismar
- Chemtura (Witco) – Jefferson
- Chevron Oronite Chemical – Belle Chasse
- ChevronPhillips – St. James
- CII Carbon – Norco
- Criterion (So. Ionics Alcoa) – Geismar
- Deltech (Foster Grant) – Baton Rouge
- Dow – Plaquemine
- DuPont – Various locations
- DuPont (LaPlace) – LaPlace
- Enterprise Products – Various locations
- Enterprise Products – C3 Splitter – Mont Belvieu
- ExxonMobil Chemical – Baton Rouge
- ExxonMobil Lubes – Baton Rouge
- ExxonMobil Plastics – Baton Rouge
- ExxonMobil Poly (Allied/Paxon) – Baton Rouge
- ExxonMobil Resins – Baton Rouge
- Ferro – Zachary
- Formosa (Allied) – Baton Rouge
- Georgia Gulf – Plaquemine
- Great Lakes Carbon (Alcoa) – Port Allen
- Hexion (Borden) – Geismar
- Hexion (Resolution Performance Products) – Baton Rouge
- Huntsman (Ciba) – Geismar
- Ineos (ICI) – Plaquemine
- Innophos (Rhodia) – Geismar
- Lion Copolymer (DSM) – Baton Rouge
- Monsanto – Luling
- Mosaic (IMC – Agrico, Uncle Sam) – St. James
- Mosaic (IMC-Agrico) – Faustina
- Motiva – Geismar
- Nalco (Ondeo Nalco) – Garyville
- Norco Chemical, Shell (NMC) – Norco
- OxyChem (Convent) – Convent
- OxyChem (Vulcan) – Geismar
- Oxychem (Hooker) – Geismar
- PCS Nitrogen (Arcadian) – Geismar
- Pioneer (Stauffer) – St. Gabriel
- Pinnacle Polymers (Epsilon) – Garyville
- Poly One (Geon) – Plaquemine
- Praxair – Multiple locations
- Rhodia (Stuaffer) – Baton Rouge
- Rubicon/Huntsman – Geismar
- Shell Chemical – Norco
- Shell Chemical (East & West) – Geismar
- Shintech (BCP) – Plaquemine
- Shintech – PVC – Plaquemine
- Sid Richardson – Carbon Black – Addis
- Syngenta (Novartis & Zeneca) – St. Gabriel
- Total Petrochemicals (Atofina, Cosmar & Fina) – Carville
- UOP (LaRoche) – Baton Rouge and Shreveport
- West Lake (Geismar Vinyls, BCP) – Geismar
- Williams (Union Texas) – Geismar
Industrial Gas Production
Like other industries involving plants, mills, refineries, construction, insulation, and heavy machinery, the industrial gas production industry extensively used asbestos in the 20th century. Louisiana companies known to have used asbestos at their industrial gas production facilities include:
View Gas Production Facilities
- Air Liquide – Multiple locations
- Air Products – Multiple locations
- BOC Gases – Geismar
- Praxair – Multiple locations
Power Plants
Power generation plants used asbestos to protect machinery from high heat. Asbestos was also used in insulation and protective clothing for workers. In the US, more than 150 power plant companies, including several in Louisiana, are known to have caused occupational asbestos exposure.
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- Calpine – Various locations
- LSU Power Station – Baton Rouge
- Willow Glen – St. Gabriel
- Entergy Power Generation Plants throughout Louisiana
- Louisiana Power and Light Plants throughout Louisiana
Pulp and Paper Mills
Equipment and building materials at paper mills often contained asbestos. Most exposure at these facilities occurred through equipment maintenance. Mills built before the 1990s may still contain asbestos in machinery and construction materials. Because pulping, paper making, and boiler operations involve high heat, asbestos was used to insulate pipes and vessels.
In addition, talc is used as a paper additive in the bleaching and refining process of paper manufacturing. Because talc is mined near where asbestos naturally occurs, it can be contaminated with asbestos.
The paper mills in Louisiana known to have used asbestos include:
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- Bogalusa Paper Mill – Bogalusa, LA
- Boise Cascade Paper Mill – DeRidder, LA
- Brown Container Paper Mill – Monroe, LA
- Calcasieu Paper Mill – Elizabeth, LA
- Calkraft Paper Mill – Port Hudson, LA
- Gaylord-Crown Zellerbach Paper Mill – Bogalusa, LA
- Georgia Pacific Paper Mill – Port Hudson, LA
- International Paper Mill – Mansfield, LA
- Pineville Kraft Paper Mill – Pineville, LA
- Smurfit-Stone Container-Continental Can Paper Mill – Hodge, LA
- Southern Kraft Paper Mill – West Monroe, LA
- Temple Inland-Gaylord Bag-Graphic Packaging-Olin Kraft-Brown-Manville Forest Products-Riverwood Paper Mill – West Monroe, LA
- Tembec (Crown) Paper Mill – St. Francisville, LA
- Valentine Pulp & Paper Mill – Lockport, LA
- West Monroe Paper Mill – West Monroe, LA
- Weyerhaeuser Paper Mill – Zwolle, LA
- Willamette-Mead Paper Mill – Campti, LA
Aluminum Refineries
Aluminum plants used asbestos to help materials withstand chemicals, high heat, and high-voltage power, and the mineral’s non-corrosive properties made it ideal for aluminum smelting.
The following two refineries in Louisiana are known to have used asbestos:
View Aliminum Refineries
- Kaiser Aluminum – Gramercy, Baton Rouge, and Chalmette
- Ormet, Burnside – Burnside
Fertilizer Plants
Some fertilizer brands were contaminated with asbestos. Vermiculite, a mineral often used in fertilizer production in the past, sometimes contains a naturally occurring asbestos called tremolite-actinolite. Asbestos can also be found in farm equipment, machinery, plant equipment, and plant construction.
The following fertilizer plants in Louisiana used asbestos in their facilities and production:
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- CF Industries – Donaldsonville
- Terra (Triad) – Donaldsonville
Sugar Refineries
In the 20th century, asbestos was widely used to insulate thermo-hydraulic systems and furnaces at sugar refinery plants. Workers, especially those engaged in running and maintaining the thermo-hydraulic systems, were potentially exposed to asbestos for a long time.
Asbestos was also heavily used in the construction and maintenance of the mills, especially at the following:
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- Domino Sugar – Chalmette
- Imperial (Colonial) Sugar – Gramercy
Metal Processing Plants
Boilers, ovens, steel molds, and more equipment in metal processing plants often contained zasbestos during the manufacturing of products. Asbestos was also used in protective clothing to guard against hot steel and other high-heat materials at these locations:
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- American Iron Reduction – Convent
- CS Metals – Convent
Commercial Buildings
Commercial buildings built before the 1980s may contain asbestos in insulation and tiles, potentially exposing construction workers and staff to the toxic fibers. Homeowners, students, and visitors to schools, churches, or hospitals may also be exposed. Building renovations may disturb asbestos materials, and older buildings in disrepair may have disturbed asbestos present.
Asbestos is especially present in the following types of older buildings:
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- Hospitals
- Churches
- Schools
- Museums
- Libraries
A Local 60 Pipefitter's Story
“We didn't know it was that dangerous.”
I joined the Local 60 in 1963 and served a five-year apprenticeship. I went to several job sites all up and down Mississippi River. I was exposed to asbestos while cutting out insulation to put in pipes. Anytime we had to cut into a line, we knocked off the insulation or asbestos insulation. We didn’t know it was that dangerous. But when they needed a fitter to go in there and help them, I went in there. We called ’em the asbestos crew.
Content Reviewed by
Todd Kale
Todd Kale meets with mesothelioma patients and their families across Louisiana to investigate their asbestos exposure, providing compassionate support and guidance during a difficult time.