Under the Missouri River country west of Bismarck lies one of the largest lignite deposits in the world, and from the 1960s on, North Dakota's electric cooperatives built big coal-fired power plants on top of it to send electricity across the Upper Midwest. Away from the coal, the state's heavy work was thinly spread: one oil refinery at Mandan, sugar-beet factories along the Red River, and two Cold War air bases ringed by missile silos. Each of them ran on boilers and steam, and asbestos kept the heat in the pipes and the boilers sealed. Most of the entries on the trusts' lists fall in four parts of the state:
- the lignite power belt of Mercer and Oliver counties — the Milton R. Young Station at Center, Basin Electric's Leland Olds Station at Stanton, and the Great Plains Synfuels Plant at Beulah;
- Bismarck and Mandan — the Mandan refinery and Montana-Dakota Utilities' Heskett Station;
- the air bases — Minot Air Force Base and Grand Forks Air Force Base, with the Safeguard missile complex at Nekoma; and
- the Red River Valley — the sugar-beet factory at Drayton, Northern States Power's plants at Fargo and Grand Forks, and North Dakota State University.
The state hospital at Jamestown and the state industrial school at Mandan appear on the lists too.
When these companies went bankrupt, the trusts set up to pay their asbestos claims each published a list of locations where its products were proven to be present. For North Dakota, those lists hold 334 entries across 50 communities, from 23 asbestos trusts. One plant can appear many times, under different names or on different trusts' lists.
Every asbestos trust claim has to prove two things: that a company's asbestos-containing product was present at a job site, and that the worker handled that product, or worked close enough to it, to breathe its dust. If you or your loved one worked at a site on those lists during the applicable years, the first half is already established, because the trust has acknowledged its products were there.
We help workers who are alive and recently diagnosed, adult children and spouses researching on behalf of someone who is sick, and families of workers who have already passed away from mesothelioma, lung cancer, or asbestosis. If you are a worker who has just been diagnosed, calling early keeps more options open for your family. There is still a claim to be made for families of workers who have already passed; we handle wrongful death cases routinely.
You don't need the product names or old records. No fee unless we recover compensation for your family.
North Dakota filing deadlines and trust eligibility, in brief
North Dakota's asbestos law gives a diagnosed worker three years to file. A court might apply the state's general six-year limit instead, but that isn't settled, so to be safe, count three years from the date of diagnosis. North Dakota can start the three years before the diagnosis: when symptoms or test results would have led a reasonable person to see a doctor, or when an earlier asbestos-related diagnosis, such as asbestosis, was made, so call us right away. A separate deadline applies once a worker has passed away. If your loved one is alive and diagnosed, calling early keeps more options open.
North Dakota deadlines, the wrongful-death rule, and how they apply to your family
Most workers exposed before 1983 can also file against the Johns-Manville Settlement Trust independently of anything documented at a specific site. How trust eligibility works.
We help families of workers who have already passed away. A spouse or adult child can call for the family.
The sites profiled below show confirmed asbestos products based on the asbestos trusts established for companies that did business there. Those trusts exist because Clarence Borel, a Gulf Coast insulator, chose to sue in 1969 — not for himself, but because he realized his coworkers would die the same way he was dying. His decision created the legal framework that produced the trust system you're about to scan.
Today the choice is yours. You can file trust claims based on the documented exposure at your loved one's worksite — paper claims, no courtroom. Or you can follow Clarence Borel and also sue the manufacturers and premises owners directly, which allows us to build a full exposure profile for every site your loved one worked at and recover from defendants the trust system doesn't reach. Read his story.
Asbestos trust coverage across North Dakota
The Johns-Manville Settlement Trust is open to most workers exposed before 1983, regardless of which specific worksite the exposure occurred at. Johns-Manville supplied so much asbestos and so many asbestos products across so many American industries that the trust does not require site-specific documentation. For mesothelioma claims, even one day of asbestos exposure before December 31, 1982 (at work or through a family member's work clothes brought into the home) can qualify a worker for Johns-Manville Settlement Trust compensation.
For lung cancer, asbestosis, and other non-mesothelioma asbestos diseases, the threshold is 60 months of total asbestos exposure with at least 6 months occurring before December 31, 1982. The one-day-of-exposure threshold for mesothelioma reflects how the disease actually develops (even brief exposure can cause it) and most major asbestos trusts apply similarly low-threshold eligibility for mesothelioma claims.
Because Johns-Manville keeps no site list of its own, every worksite on another trust's list also qualifies for Johns-Manville. Twenty-two other trusts list North Dakota worksites. The number of North Dakota entries on each trust's list:
- Johns-Manville: no list of its own; every site on the other trusts' lists qualifies
- Owens Corning: 90 entries (Kaylo and high-temperature pipe and block insulation)
- Babcock & Wilcox: 55 entries (industrial and utility boilers)
- W.R. Grace: 43 entries (Monokote spray fireproofing and Zonolite)
- A.P. Green: 28 entries (refractory brick, castables and cements)
- Eagle-Picher: 28 entries (insulating cements and pipe covering)
- Western Asbestos: 16 entries (insulation contracting and distribution)
- Fibreboard: 13 entries (Pabco pipe and block insulation)
- Owens-Illinois: 10 entries (Kaylo pipe and block insulation)
- Burns & Roe: 7 entries (power-plant engineering and construction)
- DII Industries (Halliburton): 7 entries (pumps, compressors and oilfield equipment)
- Combustion Engineering: 5 entries (boilers and refractory)
- Plibrico: 5 entries (refractory plastics and castables)
- U.S. Gypsum: 5 entries (joint compound, plaster and acoustical products)
- Fuller-Austin: 4 entries (insulation contracting)
- Pittsburgh Corning: 4 entries (Unibestos pipe insulation)
- ABB Lummus: 3 entries (refinery and petrochemical engineering)
- Flintkote: 3 entries (roofing, flooring and building products)
- GAF: 2 entries (roofing and building products)
- J.T. Thorpe (Texas): 2 entries (insulation and refractory contracting)
- NARCO: 2 entries (refractory gun mixes and castables)
- ACandS: 1 entry (insulation contracting)
- Turner & Newall: 1 entry (Limpet sprayed asbestos and asbestos textiles)
Trust coverage at this depth means most North Dakota workers with significant industrial exposure histories will trigger filings against multiple trusts simultaneously — typically Johns-Manville plus the site-specific trusts documented at their worksites.
North Dakota cities and their industries
Open a city to see the worksites there that the asbestos trusts recognize, grouped by industry, with why each industry used asbestos.
FargoFargo, the state's largest city, holds the most entries: North Dakota State University, the federal building, the West Acres shopping center, and Northern States Power's plant.
Public and commercial buildings. Office towers, hospitals, schools, hotels, and government buildings were built with asbestos fireproofing, insulation, plaster, and floor tile, exposing the trades who built and renovated them and the maintenance crews who kept their boilers and steam lines running.
- Federal Building and Post Office
- North Dakota State University (North Dakota Agricultural College)
- West Acres shopping center
Power plants and utilities. Power plants' boilers, turbines, and high-pressure steam lines were insulated, lined, and sealed with asbestos products, and every overhaul released dust across the plant.
- Northern States Power Co
MandanMandan, across the Missouri River from Bismarck, is home to North Dakota's only oil refinery, opened by Standard Oil of Indiana in 1954, and Montana-Dakota Utilities' Heskett power station.
Refineries and petrochemical plants. Refineries ran on heat: crude heaters, cat crackers, boilers, and miles of steam and process piping, all insulated, lined, and sealed with asbestos products into the late 1970s. Insulators, pipefitters, boilermakers, and the contract crews who worked turnarounds carried the heaviest exposure.
- Mandan refinery (Standard Oil of Indiana, later Amoco)
Public and commercial buildings. Office towers, hospitals, schools, hotels, and government buildings were built with asbestos fireproofing, insulation, plaster, and floor tile, exposing the trades who built and renovated them and the maintenance crews who kept their boilers and steam lines running.
- State Industrial School
Power plants and utilities. Power plants' boilers, turbines, and high-pressure steam lines were insulated, lined, and sealed with asbestos products, and every overhaul released dust across the plant.
- Montana-Dakota Utilities R.M. Heskett Station
StantonStanton, in Mercer County's lignite country, has two coal-fired power plants side by side: Basin Electric's Leland Olds Station and the Stanton Station built by United Power Association.
Power plants and utilities. Power plants' boilers, turbines, and high-pressure steam lines were insulated, lined, and sealed with asbestos products, and every overhaul released dust across the plant.
- Basin Electric Leland Olds Station
- Stanton Power Plant
- United Power Association Stanton Station
BeulahBeulah is the center of North Dakota's lignite industry: the Coyote Station power plant and the Great Plains Synfuels Plant, which makes synthetic natural gas from lignite.
Chemical plants. Chemical plants combined high heat with corrosive service: furnaces and reactors lined with asbestos refractory, steam lines wrapped in asbestos insulation, and acid-resistant asbestos gaskets and packing at every flange.
- Great Plains Synfuels Plant (ANG Coal Gasification)
Power plants and utilities. Power plants' boilers, turbines, and high-pressure steam lines were insulated, lined, and sealed with asbestos products, and every overhaul released dust across the plant.
- Coyote Station
DraytonDrayton, on the Red River north of Grand Forks, is a sugar-beet town; the trusts list its beet factory under American Crystal Sugar and Northern Sugar.
Food plants, breweries, and sugar mills. Sugar mills, breweries, corn and flour mills, and packing houses ran on steam: boilers, cookers, evaporators, and dryers, with miles of insulated pipe, all built with asbestos insulation, gaskets, and packing.
- American Crystal Sugar Company
- Northern Sugar Corp
Grand ForksGrand Forks is headquarters to Minnkota Power Cooperative and was served by Northern States Power; Grand Forks Air Force Base lies to the west, near Emerado.
Power plants and utilities. Power plants' boilers, turbines, and high-pressure steam lines were insulated, lined, and sealed with asbestos products, and every overhaul released dust across the plant.
- Minnkota Power Cooperative
- Northern States Power Co
CenterCenter, in Oliver County, is the site of the Milton R. Young Station, Minnkota Power Cooperative's lignite-fired plant.
Power plants and utilities. Power plants' boilers, turbines, and high-pressure steam lines were insulated, lined, and sealed with asbestos products, and every overhaul released dust across the plant.
- Milton R. Young Station (Minnkota Power Cooperative)
MinotMinot's entries center on Minot Air Force Base, north of the city, alongside the Great Northern railroad shops and the city's power plants.
Military installations. Military bases ran boiler plants, steam distribution systems, and aircraft and vehicle maintenance shops, and built and renovated for decades with asbestos-containing materials.
- Minot Air Force Base
Other North Dakota communitiesOne worksite each in 5 more communities.
Power plants and utilities. Power plants' boilers, turbines, and high-pressure steam lines were insulated, lined, and sealed with asbestos products, and every overhaul released dust across the plant.
- Basin Electric William J. Neal Station — Velva
- Coal Creek Station — Underwood
- Otter Tail Power Company — Devils Lake
Military installations. Military bases ran boiler plants, steam distribution systems, and aircraft and vehicle maintenance shops, and built and renovated for decades with asbestos-containing materials.
- Grand Forks Air Force Base — Emerado
Public and commercial buildings. Office towers, hospitals, schools, hotels, and government buildings were built with asbestos fireproofing, insulation, plaster, and floor tile, exposing the trades who built and renovated them and the maintenance crews who kept their boilers and steam lines running.
- North Dakota State Hospital — Jamestown
Mesothelioma settlement values at North Dakota's most-documented worksites
These worksites appear on the approved-site lists of at least two trusts besides Johns-Manville. Trust counts are minimums: a trust may list a site under a name we haven't yet matched to it. The years are the exposure window the trusts' lists recognize at each site; most lists end at 1982.
Open a worksite to see each trust that lists it, with the mesothelioma values the trust publishes and its current payment percentage. "Trust values together" adds up those trusts' values at their payment percentages: the low figure uses each trust's scheduled value, the high figure each trust's published maximum, which Individual Review can reach. Most mesothelioma claims are paid above the scheduled value. But each trust sets its own eligibility rules — the years, the work, and the length of exposure it requires — so few people qualify for every trust on a list, some trusts publish no fixed schedule, and these figures are not a prediction of any recovery. All trust values and payment percentages.
Mandan refinery (Standard Oil of Indiana, later Amoco)
| Trust | Mesothelioma value | Payment % | Payment at that % |
|---|---|---|---|
| A.P. Green | $165,694 | 6.0% | $9,941.64 |
| ABB Lummus | $1,000 – $400,000 | 9.5% | $95 – $38,000 |
| Babcock & Wilcox | $90,000 – $400,000 | 4.3% | $3,870 – $17,200 |
| Eagle-Picher | No fixed schedule | — | Set case by case |
| Fibreboard | $135,000 – $450,000 | 3.5% | $4,725 – $15,750 |
| Fuller-Austin | $58,500 | 45% | $26,325 |
| Owens Corning | $215,000 – $650,000 | 4.3% | $9,245 – $27,950 |
| Owens-Illinois | $100,000 – $382,600 | 65% | $65,000 – $248,690 |
| Pittsburgh Corning | $175,000 – $500,000 | 19% | $33,250 – $95,000 |
| Western Asbestos | $117,087 – $524,025 | 51.1% | $59,831.46 – $267,776.78 |
| Johns-Manville | $350,000 – $750,000 | 5.6% | $19,600 – $42,000 |
Milton R. Young Station (Minnkota Power Cooperative)
| Trust | Mesothelioma value | Payment % | Payment at that % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Babcock & Wilcox | $90,000 – $400,000 | 4.3% | $3,870 – $17,200 |
| Burns & Roe | Not published | — | — |
| DII Industries (Halliburton) | $60,718.95 – $256,000 | 60% | $36,431.37 – $153,600 |
| Eagle-Picher | No fixed schedule | — | Set case by case |
| GAF | $155,000 – $450,000 | 5.0% | $7,750 – $22,500 |
| NARCO | $75,000 – $1,379,580 | 100% | $75,000 – $1,379,580 |
| Owens Corning | $215,000 – $650,000 | 4.3% | $9,245 – $27,950 |
| Pittsburgh Corning | $175,000 – $500,000 | 19% | $33,250 – $95,000 |
| Western Asbestos | $117,087 – $524,025 | 51.1% | $59,831.46 – $267,776.78 |
| Johns-Manville | $350,000 – $750,000 | 5.6% | $19,600 – $42,000 |
Minot Air Force Base
| Trust | Mesothelioma value | Payment % | Payment at that % |
|---|---|---|---|
| A.P. Green | $165,694 | 6.0% | $9,941.64 |
| Burns & Roe | Not published | — | — |
| Combustion Engineering | $75,000 – $400,000 | 15.3% | $11,475 – $61,200 |
| Eagle-Picher | No fixed schedule | — | Set case by case |
| Flintkote | $184,000 – $450,000 | 15% | $27,600 – $67,500 |
| NARCO | $75,000 – $1,379,580 | 100% | $75,000 – $1,379,580 |
| Owens Corning | $215,000 – $650,000 | 4.3% | $9,245 – $27,950 |
| Owens-Illinois | $100,000 – $382,600 | 65% | $65,000 – $248,690 |
| Western Asbestos | $117,087 – $524,025 | 51.1% | $59,831.46 – $267,776.78 |
| Johns-Manville | $350,000 – $750,000 | 5.6% | $19,600 – $42,000 |
Montana-Dakota Utilities R.M. Heskett Station
| Trust | Mesothelioma value | Payment % | Payment at that % |
|---|---|---|---|
| A.P. Green | $165,694 | 6.0% | $9,941.64 |
| Babcock & Wilcox | $90,000 – $400,000 | 4.3% | $3,870 – $17,200 |
| Eagle-Picher | No fixed schedule | — | Set case by case |
| Fibreboard | $135,000 – $450,000 | 3.5% | $4,725 – $15,750 |
| Owens Corning | $215,000 – $650,000 | 4.3% | $9,245 – $27,950 |
| Owens-Illinois | $100,000 – $382,600 | 65% | $65,000 – $248,690 |
| Western Asbestos | $117,087 – $524,025 | 51.1% | $59,831.46 – $267,776.78 |
| Johns-Manville | $350,000 – $750,000 | 5.6% | $19,600 – $42,000 |
Grand Forks Air Force Base
| Trust | Mesothelioma value | Payment % | Payment at that % |
|---|---|---|---|
| A.P. Green | $165,694 | 6.0% | $9,941.64 |
| Combustion Engineering | $75,000 – $400,000 | 15.3% | $11,475 – $61,200 |
| Eagle-Picher | No fixed schedule | — | Set case by case |
| Owens Corning | $215,000 – $650,000 | 4.3% | $9,245 – $27,950 |
| Owens-Illinois | $100,000 – $382,600 | 65% | $65,000 – $248,690 |
| Western Asbestos | $117,087 – $524,025 | 51.1% | $59,831.46 – $267,776.78 |
| Johns-Manville | $350,000 – $750,000 | 5.6% | $19,600 – $42,000 |
Basin Electric Leland Olds Station
| Trust | Mesothelioma value | Payment % | Payment at that % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Babcock & Wilcox | $90,000 – $400,000 | 4.3% | $3,870 – $17,200 |
| Burns & Roe | Not published | — | — |
| DII Industries (Halliburton) | $60,718.95 – $256,000 | 60% | $36,431.37 – $153,600 |
| Eagle-Picher | No fixed schedule | — | Set case by case |
| Owens Corning | $215,000 – $650,000 | 4.3% | $9,245 – $27,950 |
| Western Asbestos | $117,087 – $524,025 | 51.1% | $59,831.46 – $267,776.78 |
| Johns-Manville | $350,000 – $750,000 | 5.6% | $19,600 – $42,000 |
North Dakota State University (North Dakota Agricultural College)
| Trust | Mesothelioma value | Payment % | Payment at that % |
|---|---|---|---|
| A.P. Green | $165,694 | 6.0% | $9,941.64 |
| Eagle-Picher | No fixed schedule | — | Set case by case |
| Owens Corning | $215,000 – $650,000 | 4.3% | $9,245 – $27,950 |
| W.R. Grace | $180,000 – $450,000 | 30.1% | $54,180 – $135,450 |
| Johns-Manville | $350,000 – $750,000 | 5.6% | $19,600 – $42,000 |
Coyote Station
| Trust | Mesothelioma value | Payment % | Payment at that % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Babcock & Wilcox | $90,000 – $400,000 | 4.3% | $3,870 – $17,200 |
| Burns & Roe | Not published | — | — |
| Fibreboard | $135,000 – $450,000 | 3.5% | $4,725 – $15,750 |
| Johns-Manville | $350,000 – $750,000 | 5.6% | $19,600 – $42,000 |
American Crystal Sugar Company
| Trust | Mesothelioma value | Payment % | Payment at that % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Babcock & Wilcox | $90,000 – $400,000 | 4.3% | $3,870 – $17,200 |
| Owens Corning | $215,000 – $650,000 | 4.3% | $9,245 – $27,950 |
| Western Asbestos | $117,087 – $524,025 | 51.1% | $59,831.46 – $267,776.78 |
| Johns-Manville | $350,000 – $750,000 | 5.6% | $19,600 – $42,000 |
Minnkota Power Cooperative
| Trust | Mesothelioma value | Payment % | Payment at that % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Babcock & Wilcox | $90,000 – $400,000 | 4.3% | $3,870 – $17,200 |
| DII Industries (Halliburton) | $60,718.95 – $256,000 | 60% | $36,431.37 – $153,600 |
| Eagle-Picher | No fixed schedule | — | Set case by case |
| Johns-Manville | $350,000 – $750,000 | 5.6% | $19,600 – $42,000 |
Northern States Power Co
| Trust | Mesothelioma value | Payment % | Payment at that % |
|---|---|---|---|
| A.P. Green | $165,694 | 6.0% | $9,941.64 |
| Babcock & Wilcox | $90,000 – $400,000 | 4.3% | $3,870 – $17,200 |
| DII Industries (Halliburton) | $60,718.95 – $256,000 | 60% | $36,431.37 – $153,600 |
| Johns-Manville | $350,000 – $750,000 | 5.6% | $19,600 – $42,000 |
North Dakota State Hospital
| Trust | Mesothelioma value | Payment % | Payment at that % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Babcock & Wilcox | $90,000 – $400,000 | 4.3% | $3,870 – $17,200 |
| Owens Corning | $215,000 – $650,000 | 4.3% | $9,245 – $27,950 |
| W.R. Grace | $180,000 – $450,000 | 30.1% | $54,180 – $135,450 |
| Johns-Manville | $350,000 – $750,000 | 5.6% | $19,600 – $42,000 |
United Power Association Stanton Station
| Trust | Mesothelioma value | Payment % | Payment at that % |
|---|---|---|---|
| GAF | $155,000 – $450,000 | 5.0% | $7,750 – $22,500 |
| Owens Corning | $215,000 – $650,000 | 4.3% | $9,245 – $27,950 |
| Turner & Newall | $200,000 – $600,000 | 2.9% | $5,800 – $17,400 |
| Johns-Manville | $350,000 – $750,000 | 5.6% | $19,600 – $42,000 |
Great Plains Synfuels Plant (ANG Coal Gasification)
| Trust | Mesothelioma value | Payment % | Payment at that % |
|---|---|---|---|
| ABB Lummus | $1,000 – $400,000 | 9.5% | $95 – $38,000 |
| Fibreboard | $135,000 – $450,000 | 3.5% | $4,725 – $15,750 |
| Johns-Manville | $350,000 – $750,000 | 5.6% | $19,600 – $42,000 |
Otter Tail Power Company
| Trust | Mesothelioma value | Payment % | Payment at that % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Combustion Engineering | $75,000 – $400,000 | 15.3% | $11,475 – $61,200 |
| Western Asbestos | $117,087 – $524,025 | 51.1% | $59,831.46 – $267,776.78 |
| Johns-Manville | $350,000 – $750,000 | 5.6% | $19,600 – $42,000 |
Northern Sugar Corp
| Trust | Mesothelioma value | Payment % | Payment at that % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Babcock & Wilcox | $90,000 – $400,000 | 4.3% | $3,870 – $17,200 |
| Owens Corning | $215,000 – $650,000 | 4.3% | $9,245 – $27,950 |
| Johns-Manville | $350,000 – $750,000 | 5.6% | $19,600 – $42,000 |
Federal Building and Post Office
| Trust | Mesothelioma value | Payment % | Payment at that % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eagle-Picher | No fixed schedule | — | Set case by case |
| W.R. Grace | $180,000 – $450,000 | 30.1% | $54,180 – $135,450 |
| Johns-Manville | $350,000 – $750,000 | 5.6% | $19,600 – $42,000 |
Northern States Power Co
| Trust | Mesothelioma value | Payment % | Payment at that % |
|---|---|---|---|
| DII Industries (Halliburton) | $60,718.95 – $256,000 | 60% | $36,431.37 – $153,600 |
| Plibrico | $350,000 – $750,000 | 0.94% | $3,290 – $7,050 |
| Johns-Manville | $350,000 – $750,000 | 5.6% | $19,600 – $42,000 |
West Acres shopping center
| Trust | Mesothelioma value | Payment % | Payment at that % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eagle-Picher | No fixed schedule | — | Set case by case |
| Fibreboard | $135,000 – $450,000 | 3.5% | $4,725 – $15,750 |
| Johns-Manville | $350,000 – $750,000 | 5.6% | $19,600 – $42,000 |
State Industrial School
| Trust | Mesothelioma value | Payment % | Payment at that % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owens Corning | $215,000 – $650,000 | 4.3% | $9,245 – $27,950 |
| Plibrico | $350,000 – $750,000 | 0.94% | $3,290 – $7,050 |
| Johns-Manville | $350,000 – $750,000 | 5.6% | $19,600 – $42,000 |
Stanton Power Plant
| Trust | Mesothelioma value | Payment % | Payment at that % |
|---|---|---|---|
| ACandS | $150,000 – $550,000 | 2.89% | $4,335 – $15,895 |
| Pittsburgh Corning | $175,000 – $500,000 | 19% | $33,250 – $95,000 |
| Johns-Manville | $350,000 – $750,000 | 5.6% | $19,600 – $42,000 |
Coal Creek Station
| Trust | Mesothelioma value | Payment % | Payment at that % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burns & Roe | Not published | — | — |
| Pittsburgh Corning | $175,000 – $500,000 | 19% | $33,250 – $95,000 |
| Johns-Manville | $350,000 – $750,000 | 5.6% | $19,600 – $42,000 |
Basin Electric William J. Neal Station
| Trust | Mesothelioma value | Payment % | Payment at that % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burns & Roe | Not published | — | — |
| Combustion Engineering | $75,000 – $400,000 | 15.3% | $11,475 – $61,200 |
| Johns-Manville | $350,000 – $750,000 | 5.6% | $19,600 – $42,000 |
A closer look at major North Dakota worksites
The worksites below are recognized by the most asbestos trusts in North Dakota — seven or more, counting Johns-Manville — together with the Red River Valley's sugar-beet factory at Drayton. Each profile draws on the trust signatures present at the site to identify the products workers handled, the trades most heavily exposed, and the asbestos types they likely encountered. Your specific worksite may be documented even if it doesn't appear here — call us.
Mandan refinery (Standard Oil of Indiana, later Amoco) — Mandan
Standard Oil Company (Indiana) opened the Mandan refinery in 1954 to run crude from the newly discovered Williston Basin oil fields, and it was North Dakota's only petroleum refinery until a small refinery near Dickinson opened in 2015. Standard of Indiana sold its products under the American Oil and Amoco names and took the Amoco name itself in 1985; after BP merged with Amoco, the refinery went to Tesoro in 2001, and it is now Marathon Petroleum's. The trusts list it under Standard Oil, Standard Oil of Indiana, American Oil, Amoco, and the Mandan Refinery; it is one facility.
Workers exposed. Refinery operations of this scale required pipefitters, insulators, boilermakers, refractory workers servicing the cat cracker and process heaters, process operators, instrument technicians, and mechanics. Contract maintenance trades — particularly insulators and pipefitters from outside contractors — saw repeated exposure across turnaround cycles.
Trust documentation: recognized by at least 11 asbestos trusts — A.P. Green, ABB Lummus, Babcock & Wilcox, Eagle-Picher, Fibreboard, Fuller-Austin, Owens Corning, Owens-Illinois, Pittsburgh Corning, Western Asbestos, and Johns-Manville. The trusts' lists document their products here from 1952 through 1982.
Products, trust signatures, and asbestos types. Because the Owens-Illinois trust signature is present, Owens-Illinois Kaylo high-temperature pipe insulation, an amosite (brown asbestos) product, was used at this site during the 1948–1958 manufacturing window — the refinery was built in the middle of it — with Owens Corning continuing the Kaylo line afterward; Pittsburgh Corning's amosite-rich Unibestos covered the hottest lines, and Fibreboard and Eagle-Picher supplied more pipe and block insulation and insulating cement, much of it applied by Fuller-Austin and Western Asbestos insulation crews. A.P. Green refractory lined the process heaters and the cat cracker, Babcock & Wilcox boilers carried insulation, refractory, and gaskets and packing on every steam connection, and ABB Lummus did refinery engineering and construction work. Chrysotile (white asbestos) ran through most of these product categories, and crocidolite (blue asbestos) appeared in the gaskets, packing, and cement pipe of the refinery's acid service.
Minot Air Force Base — Minot
Minot Air Force Base, north of Minot, opened in the late 1950s and has carried two nuclear missions for most of its history: B-52 bombers of the 5th Bomb Wing and the 91st Missile Wing's Minuteman missiles, in silos spread across the surrounding counties. The trusts list the base itself and individual projects on it — the central heating plant addition, the aircraft maintenance dock and alert hangar, dormitories and the mess hall, shops and warehouses, and utilities buildings — some of them filed under Tatman; it is one facility.
Workers exposed. Base civil engineering personnel, central heating plant operators, aircraft maintenance workers in the hangars and docks, missile maintenance crews, insulators, pipefitters, boilermakers, and mechanics, along with the construction trades who built the base. Federal civilian employees and active-duty Air Force personnel were both exposed.
Trust documentation: recognized by at least 10 asbestos trusts — A.P. Green, Burns & Roe, Combustion Engineering, Eagle-Picher, Flintkote, NARCO, Owens Corning, Owens-Illinois, Western Asbestos, and Johns-Manville. The trusts' lists document their products here from 1956 through 1982.
Products, trust signatures, and asbestos types. Because the Owens-Illinois trust signature is present, Owens-Illinois Kaylo high-temperature pipe insulation, an amosite (brown asbestos) product, was used at this site during the 1948–1958 manufacturing window — the trusts list it on the heating plant, hangar, dormitory, and warehouse projects of 1956–1958 — and Owens Corning's Kaylo line covered the base's steam distribution afterward. Combustion Engineering boilers in the central heating plant carried pipe and block insulation and gaskets and packing, lined with A.P. Green and NARCO refractory. Eagle-Picher insulating cement went on boiler and steam-piping work, Western Asbestos crews installed insulation, Burns & Roe did engineering and construction work, and Flintkote supplied roofing, flooring, and building products across the base's buildings. Chrysotile (white asbestos) ran through most of these product categories.
Milton R. Young Station (Minnkota Power Cooperative) — Center
The Milton R. Young Station near Center, in Oliver County, is Minnkota Power Cooperative's lignite-fired power plant. Its first unit went into service in 1970 and its second in 1977; the second unit belongs to the Square Butte Electric Cooperative, and Minnkota runs both. The station is named for Milton R. Young, North Dakota's U.S. senator from 1945 to 1981. The trusts list it under Minnkota (sometimes spelled "Minnkote"), Square Butte Electric, and the Milton R. Young Station; it is one facility.
Workers exposed. Lignite-fired generating operations required boilermakers, insulators, pipefitters, refractory workers, millwrights, mechanics, and electricians, along with the construction crews who built both units.
Trust documentation: recognized by at least 10 asbestos trusts — Babcock & Wilcox, Burns & Roe, DII Industries (Halliburton), Eagle-Picher, GAF, NARCO, Owens Corning, Pittsburgh Corning, Western Asbestos, and Johns-Manville. The trusts' lists document their products here from 1965 through 1982.
Products, trust signatures, and asbestos types. Babcock & Wilcox boilers carried pipe and block insulation, refractory, and gaskets and packing on access doors and steam connections, and NARCO refractory lined the furnaces. Owens Corning's Kaylo line and Pittsburgh Corning's Unibestos, their high-temperature grades made with amosite (brown asbestos), covered the steam and turbine piping, with Eagle-Picher insulating cement and Western Asbestos insulation crews. Burns & Roe did engineering and construction work on the station, the Halliburton signature reflects pumps and compressors from Ingersoll, Dresser, Pacific, and Worthington, and GAF documentation points to roofing and building products. Chrysotile (white asbestos) ran through most of these product categories.
Montana-Dakota Utilities R.M. Heskett Station — Mandan
The R.M. Heskett Station, Montana-Dakota Utilities' lignite-fired power plant outside Mandan, was the principal generating station for the Bismarck-Mandan area. The trusts list it under Montana-Dakota Utilities, the Mandan Steam Electric Station (its name in the 1950s listings), and the Heskett Station; it is one facility.
Workers exposed. Coal-fired utility operations required boilermakers, insulators, pipefitters, refractory workers, millwrights, mechanics, and electricians.
Trust documentation: recognized by at least 8 asbestos trusts — A.P. Green, Babcock & Wilcox, Eagle-Picher, Fibreboard, Owens Corning, Owens-Illinois, Western Asbestos, and Johns-Manville. The trusts' lists document their products here from 1954 through 1982.
Products, trust signatures, and asbestos types. Babcock & Wilcox boilers carried insulation, A.P. Green refractory brick and cement, and gaskets and packing on access doors and steam connections. Because the Owens-Illinois trust signature is present, Owens-Illinois Kaylo high-temperature pipe insulation, an amosite (brown asbestos) product, was used at this site during the 1948–1958 manufacturing window, when the station was new, followed by Owens Corning's Kaylo line; Fibreboard pipe and block insulation and Eagle-Picher insulating cement covered more of the steam piping, and Western Asbestos crews installed insulation. Chrysotile (white asbestos) ran through most of these product categories.
Basin Electric Leland Olds Station — Stanton
Basin Electric Power Cooperative's Leland Olds Station at Stanton went into service in 1966, one of the first large lignite-fired plants in the state, with a second unit added in the 1970s. Basin Electric, headquartered in Bismarck, generates and transmits power for rural electric cooperatives across several states. The station is named for Leland Olds, a chairman of the Federal Power Commission and a champion of public power. The trusts list it under Basin Electric and Leland Olds; it is one facility.
Workers exposed. Lignite-fired generating operations required boilermakers, insulators, pipefitters, refractory workers servicing the coal-fired boilers, millwrights, mechanics, and electricians.
Trust documentation: recognized by at least 7 asbestos trusts — Babcock & Wilcox, Burns & Roe, DII Industries (Halliburton), Eagle-Picher, Owens Corning, Western Asbestos, and Johns-Manville. The trusts' lists document their products here from 1963 through 1984.
Products, trust signatures, and asbestos types. Babcock & Wilcox boilers carried pipe and block insulation, refractory, and gaskets and packing on the high-pressure steam systems. Owens Corning's Kaylo line, its high-temperature grades made with amosite (brown asbestos), covered the steam and turbine piping, with Eagle-Picher insulating cement and Western Asbestos insulation crews. Burns & Roe did engineering and construction work on the station, and the Halliburton signature reflects pumps and compressors from Ingersoll, Dresser, Pacific, and Worthington. Chrysotile (white asbestos) ran through most of these product categories.
Grand Forks Air Force Base — Emerado
Grand Forks Air Force Base, west of Grand Forks near Emerado, opened in the late 1950s. Over the years it was home to B-52 bombers, KC-135 tankers, and the 321st Missile Wing's Minuteman missiles. The trusts list the base itself and buildings on it — the aircraft maintenance docks, the education center, and the operations and power building — some under Grand Forks and some under Emerado; it is one facility.
Workers exposed. Base civil engineering personnel, heating plant operators, aircraft maintenance workers, missile maintenance crews, insulators, pipefitters, boilermakers, and the construction trades who built the base. Federal civilian employees and active-duty Air Force personnel were both exposed.
Trust documentation: recognized by at least 7 asbestos trusts — A.P. Green, Combustion Engineering, Eagle-Picher, Owens Corning, Owens-Illinois, Western Asbestos, and Johns-Manville. The trusts' lists document their products here from 1956 through 1982.
Products, trust signatures, and asbestos types. Because the Owens-Illinois trust signature is present, Owens-Illinois Kaylo high-temperature pipe insulation, an amosite (brown asbestos) product, was used at this site during the 1948–1958 manufacturing window, on the base's original power building, with Owens Corning's Kaylo line following. Combustion Engineering boilers carried pipe and block insulation and gaskets and packing, A.P. Green refractory lined them, Eagle-Picher insulating cement went on boiler and steam-piping work, and Western Asbestos crews installed insulation. Chrysotile (white asbestos) ran through most of these product categories.
American Crystal Sugar Company — Drayton
American Crystal Sugar's factory at Drayton, on the Red River north of Grand Forks, slices and refines sugar beets from the valley's farms. American Crystal has been owned by its beet growers as a cooperative since 1973. The trusts also list Northern Sugar Corporation at Drayton, separately; it appears in the table above.
Workers exposed. Sugar-beet processing required boilermakers, insulators, pipefitters, millwrights, mechanics, and process operators across the steam-heavy diffusion, evaporation, and crystallization operations, much of it during the fall and winter processing campaign.
Trust documentation: recognized by at least 4 asbestos trusts — Babcock & Wilcox, Owens Corning, Western Asbestos, and Johns-Manville. The trusts' lists document their products here from 1964 through 1982.
Products, trust signatures, and asbestos types. Babcock & Wilcox boilers supplied the steam the factory runs on, with pipe and block insulation, refractory, and gaskets and packing on access doors and steam connections. Owens Corning's Kaylo line, its high-temperature grades made with amosite (brown asbestos), covered the process piping and evaporators, much of it installed by Western Asbestos crews. Chrysotile (white asbestos) ran through most of these product categories.
North Dakota entries by city
The trusts' lists hold North Dakota entries in 50 communities. Open the list below for the number of entries in each. Call us for any specific worksite — whether or not the city appears here.
Entries on the trusts' lists, city by city
| City | Entries on the trusts' lists |
|---|---|
| Fargo | 46 |
| Mandan | 44 |
| Minot | 39 |
| Grand Forks | 27 |
| Bismarck | 18 |
| Stanton | 18 |
| Center | 15 |
| Jamestown | 12 |
| Beulah | 11 |
| Drayton | 6 |
| Emerado | 6 |
| Langdon | 6 |
| Williston | 6 |
| Devils Lake | 5 |
| Kincaid | 5 |
| Tioga | 5 |
| Nekoma | 4 |
| Velva | 4 |
| Crosby | 3 |
| Dickinson | 3 |
| Grafton | 3 |
| Grandin | 3 |
| Hazen | 3 |
| Lisbon | 3 |
| Valley City | 3 |
| West Fargo | 3 |
Entries are also listed in Alga, Bowman, Cavalier, Columbus, Concrete, Crafton, Elgin, Forman, Fort Yates, Gascoyne, Grove, Hampden, Harvey, Harwood, Hettinger, New Rockford, New Town, Noonan, Rolette, Scranton, Underwood, Wahpeton, Walhalla and Wishek.
Search the asbestos trusts' North Dakota lists
Type any name the plant went by — the company, a later owner, or the city — to see every entry on the trusts' lists that matches, as the trusts wrote it, with each trust and the years it lists.
334 entries, as the trusts list them.
Court decisions: 5 asbestos cases from North Dakota courts
Worksites named in court opinions
Court decisions in our library name these North Dakota workplaces as places where people were exposed to asbestos.
Minot Air Force Base
- In re Asbestos Litigation (2022): Heating specialist, 1971-1974
- In re Asbestos Litigation (2021): Heating specialist, 1971-1974
- Puppe By Puppe v. AC and S., Inc. (1990): Asbestos insulation helper and handler, 1959
Mandan Refinery (Standard Oil of Indiana, later Amoco)
- Senger v. AH Bennett Company (2012): Refinery worker, 1955-1985
- Various Plaintiffs v. Various Defendants (2012): Worked at refinery, 1955-1985
Every worksite named in North Dakota court decisions, with all their decisions
Don't see your worksite?
Your worksite may be documented even if it doesn't appear on this page. If your loved one worked at a North Dakota facility not listed, call us. Johns-Manville requires no site list at all, and we can often document exposure through the products, contractors, and equipment at a site even when no trust lists it by name.
Smaller worksites, contract jobs, short-tenure employment, Bakken oil field work, and exposures across multiple sites are all part of the case-building process.
Call 833-4-ASBESTOS for a free case review.
How a North Dakota case may work
Robert is a 74-year-old retired federal civilian base civil engineering worker from Minot. From 1970 to 2005 he worked at Minot Air Force Base — primarily in the central heating plant and the base maintenance operations across the dormitories, mess hall, aircraft maintenance hangars, and missile alert facility infrastructure. His work routinely involved cutting and fitting pipe insulation on the steam piping serving the multi-building base complex; replacing gaskets and packing on steam valves and pumps; chipping and patching refractory brick and cement in the central heating plant boilers; handling Eagle-Picher insulating cement during boiler maintenance cycles; and working alongside outside-contractor insulators and pipefitters during major overhauls. In late 2025 Robert developed progressive abdominal pain, persistent bloating, and worsening fatigue. Imaging at Trinity Health in Minot revealed peritoneal thickening with ascites. A diagnostic laparoscopy with biopsy in March 2026 confirmed peritoneal mesothelioma of the sarcomatoid mesothelioma variety.
What Robert's family would expect to see in a case like this. The asbestos trusts' lists recognize Minot AFB under at least nine trusts besides Johns-Manville — A.P. Green, Burns & Roe, Combustion Engineering, Eagle-Picher, Flintkote, NARCO, Owens Corning, Owens-Illinois, and Western Asbestos. On top of those site-specific trust filings, Robert's pre-1982 exposure qualifies him for the universal Johns-Manville Settlement Trust — the largest single asbestos trust in the United States. Because Robert was a federal civilian employee, his family also has a FECA federal workers' compensation claim; FECA must be repaid from recoveries from others, such as a lawsuit or settlement, so we coordinate it with the trust claims and any lawsuit case by case. Robert's wife and adult children can also get free family asbestos health screening, whether or not they ever hire us — workers brought asbestos dust home on clothes, hair, and vehicles across the 1970s and 1980s, and household members can develop disease decades later from take-home exposure. Recoveries from cases like Robert's routinely fund what insurance does not cover — travel to academic cancer centers, lodging during extended treatment, out-of-pocket medication costs, and home help. The nearest NCI-designated cancer center for a North Dakota worker is the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota in Minneapolis (roughly 250 miles from Fargo and 460 miles from Minot), where advanced treatments like HIPEC, lung-sparing surgery, and the latest immunotherapy combinations are available. When the written agreement and applicable law permit it, our firm can also advance the cost of travel and lodging when getting to the right treatment center matters. How legal recovery funds mesothelioma treatment access →.
For the full doctrinal treatment of North Dakota's discovery rule, comparative fault framework, premises liability standard, and damages framework, see the North Dakota mesothelioma law guide.
This example is general. Every case depends on the diagnosis, exposure history, dates, defendants, applicable law, and available evidence.
What happens when you call
A staff attorney answers — not a screener. The first call usually runs 20 to 30 minutes. We listen to the work history, identify which North Dakota worksites and trust channels apply to your loved one's exposure, and explain the timeline and case structure for your family's specific situation.
We never pressure anyone to retain us during the first call. If you decide to move forward, we come to you — phone, video, or home visit, whichever works best. No travel to our offices is required at any point in the case.
You do not need to come to the call with product names, exposure dates, or work records. We reconstruct the exposure history using our worksite database, the trust documentation for each manufacturer, employment and union records, and coworker interviews. The conversation starts with what you remember; we handle the documentation work from there.
A spouse, adult child, or other family member can call for the worker. Many of our first calls are from a daughter or wife researching on behalf of a parent or husband. That is standard, and the family member can make the call without the worker on the line.
Call 833-4-ASBESTOS for a free case review.
Why families choose our firm
- $400M+ recovered for asbestos families nationally; 200,000+ verified exposure sites in our national database; all 334 North Dakota entries on the asbestos trusts' lists
- Worksite-specific knowledge — we operate from documented trust coverage and product identification, not from generic intake scripts
- Trust claims, civil cases, FECA federal workers' compensation, VA service-connected disability, and SSDI coordinated case by case with the trial team
- Remote case handling — phone, video, or home visit; no office travel required at any point
- Free asbestos health screening for family members who may have been exposed at home, whether or not they ever hire us The screening is a chest X-ray read by a B-reader, with a CT scan if needed; it looks for asbestos-related changes in the lungs and isn't a diagnosis or a reliable way to find mesothelioma early.
- No fee unless we recover compensation for your family
Frequently asked questions
Is my North Dakota worksite documented?
Probably yes. The asbestos trusts' approved-site lists hold 334 North Dakota entries in 50 communities — power plants, the Mandan refinery, air bases, sugar-beet factories, hospitals, schools, and a range of smaller industrial and commercial operations across the state. You can search every entry on this page. Even if a specific facility isn't listed, we can often document exposure there through the products and contractors involved. Call us with the employer name, the city, and the approximate years of work, and we can confirm coverage during the first conversation.
What does "trust coverage" mean for my case?
Asbestos manufacturers that went bankrupt set up settlement trusts to pay current and future victims. Each trust has its own filing requirements and payment schedule. When we say a site has trust coverage, we mean that asbestos products from one or more bankrupt manufacturers are documented at that worksite — which makes trust filings available for workers who spent time there. Trust claims are paper claims, not lawsuits; they do not require a court appearance and they do not affect a worker's ability to file a civil case against the still-solvent manufacturers and premises owners.
Does my loved one qualify for the Johns-Manville trust?
Probably yes, if your loved one had asbestos exposure before 1983 and developed an asbestos-related disease. Johns-Manville does not require proof that its products were at a specific worksite, and for mesothelioma even one day of exposure can qualify. How Johns-Manville eligibility works.
Do I need to know which asbestos products my loved one handled?
No. Most families don't know the specific product names — and they don't need to. We reconstruct the product handling history from the trusts' site lists, the trust documentation tied to each manufacturer, employment and union records, and coworker interviews. Start with what you remember about the employer, the job title, and the approximate years of work. We handle the documentation from there.
What if my loved one worked at multiple North Dakota sites?
That's typical and it usually strengthens the case. Multi-site careers — for example, a boilermaker who worked across the lignite power plants (Leland Olds, Milton R. Young, Coyote, Coal Creek) or a contract insulator who worked the Mandan refinery alongside Minot AFB jobs — trigger trust filings across the combined site footprint. We build a complete career-spanning exposure profile during the case.
What if my loved one's worksite has closed or been demolished?
Closure or demolition does not affect a trust claim or a civil case. Trust claims operate from documented product use during the years your loved one worked there. Civil claims operate from the same documented exposure plus the legal theories applicable under North Dakota law. The Mandan refinery has changed hands several times — Standard Oil of Indiana, Amoco, BP Amoco, Tesoro, Marathon — and trust claims don't depend on who owns the site today. Lawsuits depend on which companies made the products or controlled the work, and a worker generally can't sue an employer insured with North Dakota's state fund.
Can we file a claim if my loved one already passed away?
Yes. Wrongful death and survival claims are routinely filed on behalf of deceased workers. The family's wrongful-death claim generally must be filed within two years of the date of death; the estate's claim for the worker's own losses keeps the worker's own deadline, which may run out sooner. If your loved one passed away from mesothelioma, lung cancer, or asbestosis, call us — the case is not closed.
What if my loved one served at Minot AFB, Grand Forks AFB, or Cavalier Space Force Station?
Federal civilian employees at all three installations may qualify for FECA federal workers' compensation. Military veterans — Air Force, Army, Navy, Marines, Space Force — may qualify for VA service-connected disability. Available with proof of in-service asbestos exposure and a doctor's opinion linking it to service. FECA, VA, asbestos trust filings, and civil cases can all apply, but some must be coordinated because of offsets, repayment rules, and the VA–FECA election, so we decide the order case by case with the trial team.
Talk with a North Dakota asbestos lawyer
Whether your family is dealing with a new diagnosis, a very sick loved one, or a death from mesothelioma, we are ready to help. Your loved one's worksite may already be on the trusts' lists — or we can help document it if it isn't.
You do not need to know the product names. You do not need to have all the records. You do not need to travel to our office. A spouse or adult child can call for the family.
Related resources
This page is provided for general informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Every asbestos case turns on its own facts, exposure history, diagnosis, deadlines, available evidence, and applicable law. Reviewing this page does not create an attorney-client relationship. For advice about your specific situation, call 833-4-ASBESTOS for a free case review.