Asbestos Exposure at Revere Copper and Brass — Detroit Rolling Mill Detroit MI steel mill blast furnace asbestos products Johns-Manville Owens-Illinois Combustion Engineering refractory brick castable refractory copper rolling mills annealing furnaces drawing equipment: Former Worker Claims

⚠️ MICHIGAN FILING DEADLINE WARNING: YOUR TIME TO ACT IS LIMITED

Michigan law imposes a strict three-year statute of limitations under MCL § 600.5805(2). If you or a family member has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, lung cancer, or asbestosis linked to work at the Revere Copper and Brass Detroit Rolling Mill — or any other Michigan industrial facility — the three-year clock starts running from the date of diagnosis, not the date of exposure. Once that deadline passes, your right to compensation through Michigan courts may be permanently extinguished.

Do not wait. Asbestos bankruptcy trust funds — which hold billions of dollars set aside specifically for workers like you — have no strict legal filing deadlines, but trust assets are actively depleting as claims are paid. Every month you delay is a month closer to reduced recoveries. Michigan law also permits you to pursue asbestos trust fund claims and civil lawsuits simultaneously, meaning you may be entitled to compensation from multiple sources at the same time.

Call a mesothelioma lawyer in Michigan today. Not next week. Today.

Workers at Revere’s Detroit Rolling Mill May Have Been Exposed to Asbestos

For decades, the Revere Copper and Brass Detroit Rolling Mill employed hundreds of skilled tradespeople to operate copper rolling mills, annealing furnaces, blast furnaces, and drawing equipment. The insulation, refractory bricks, gaskets, and pipe coverings surrounding those workers every day may have contained asbestos-containing materials — a proven human carcinogen linked to mesothelioma, lung cancer, and asbestosis.

If you or a family member worked at this facility and has been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease, time limits under Michigan law apply to your claim. Under the three-year statute of limitations, the deadline runs from your diagnosis date. An experienced asbestos cancer lawyer in Detroit can help you act immediately. You may be entitled to substantial compensation through Michigan mesothelioma settlements, asbestos trust fund Michigan claims, or both — and Michigan law permits you to pursue both simultaneously.

What Was the Revere Copper and Brass Detroit Rolling Mill?

History and Operations

The Revere Copper and Brass Detroit Rolling Mill was one of Michigan’s largest nonferrous metals processing facilities throughout much of the 20th century. Located in the Detroit metropolitan area — a region whose industrial workforce included workers at the Ford River Rouge Complex in Dearborn, Chrysler Jefferson Assembly on the east side of Detroit, GM Hamtramck Assembly, Buick City in Flint, and Packard Electric in Warren — the Revere Rolling Mill was part of a dense network of heavy manufacturing operations where asbestos-containing materials were reportedly ubiquitous throughout the mid-20th century.

The facility:

Processed raw copper and scrap metal through smelting and refining operations
Passed heated copper and alloys through rolling mills to produce sheet, strip, rod, and tube products
Operated annealing furnaces, blast furnaces, and continuous mechanical drawing equipment
Employed generations of skilled union tradespeople and laborers, including members of Heat and Frost Insulators Local 1, Pipefitters Local 636 (Detroit), Asbestos Workers Local 25, UAW Local 600 (Dearborn), UAW Local 235, and Plumbers and Pipefitters UA Local 562
Underwent multiple expansions and modernization projects throughout its operational history

The extreme heat and corrosive chemical environment created a continuous need for thermal insulation, refractory materials, and high-temperature gaskets — product categories that relied heavily on asbestos-containing materials throughout most of the 20th century.

Why Asbestos-Containing Materials Were Used at Rolling Mills

Industrial copper rolling operations created conditions that drove widespread use of asbestos-containing materials:

Extreme Heat Applications:

Furnaces and heat-treating equipment operated at temperatures from several hundred to over 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit
Refractory brick allegedly containing chrysotile and/or amosite asbestos reportedly lined furnace walls, floors, and arches
Castable refractory materials — poured cement-like compounds — reportedly contained asbestos fibers to improve strength and thermal resistance
Magnesia block, calcium silicate block insulation, and insulating cement pipe coverings from manufacturers including Combustion Engineering, A.P. Green Industries, and Harbison-Walker Refractories may have contained asbestos-containing materials

Annealing Furnaces:

Central to the copper forming process; controlled heating and cooling improved metal workability
Furnace construction relied heavily on asbestos-containing refractory brick and castable refractory
Workers who maintained, repaired, or rebuilt furnace linings for equipment supplied by Combustion Engineering may have been exposed routinely

Drawing Equipment and Lubricating Systems:

Wire and tube drawing operations may have used asbestos cloth blankets and asbestos-wrapped dies
Asbestos-containing packing materials were allegedly used around drawing equipment to manage heat and protect components

Steam Systems, Boilers, and Mechanical Equipment:

Boilers, steam lines, valves, flanges, pumps, and associated systems may have been insulated with asbestos-containing materials including:
- Asbestos-containing pipe covering and lagging products from Johns-Manville (including Thermobestos) and Armstrong World Industries
- Kaylo brand calcium silicate block insulation from Owens-Illinois/Owens-Corning, which allegedly contained asbestos-containing materials (documented in product liability records from similar industrial facilities)
- Asbestos-containing rope and tape at flanges and expansion joints from Garlock Sealing Technologies
- Asbestos-containing gaskets on flanges, valve bonnets, and mechanical connections

Who Was Exposed? Asbestos Exposure Michigan by Trade and Occupation

Insulators (Heat and Frost Insulators)

Insulators — union members of Heat and Frost Insulators Local 1 and Asbestos Workers Local 25, the Michigan locals that represented insulation tradespeople throughout Detroit and the surrounding region — faced among the highest asbestos exposures at any industrial facility. Their daily work may have involved:

Installing, repairing, and removing thermal insulation on pipes, boilers, furnaces, and equipment
Cutting, fitting, and sawing asbestos-containing pipe covering and Kaylo block insulation
Applying asbestos-containing insulating cement allegedly containing Johns-Manville formulations
Working with asbestos-containing materials at close range

Insulators affiliated with these Michigan locals reportedly worked not only at the Revere Detroit Rolling Mill but across the region’s major industrial sites — including the Ford River Rouge Complex in Dearborn and Chrysler Jefferson Assembly — bringing consistent product exposures from facility to facility. Cutting and disturbing these materials may have generated clouds of airborne asbestos dust that insulators breathed directly.

If you worked as an insulator at the Revere Rolling Mill and have been diagnosed with mesothelioma or another asbestos-related disease, Michigan’s three-year filing deadline is already running. Contact an asbestos attorney in Michigan today.

Pipefitters and Steamfitters

Pipefitters and steamfitters working on steam, process, and utility piping systems — including members of Pipefitters Local 636 (Detroit) and Plumbers and Pipefitters UA Local 562 — may have encountered:

Routine proximity to pipes insulated with Thermobestos and other Johns-Manville pipe covering products
Cutting into insulated lines, installing new valves, and replacing flanges
Maintenance in pipe tunnels and mechanical rooms where asbestos-containing insulation dust may have accumulated
Handling Garlock Sealing Technologies asbestos-containing gaskets and packing materials

Members of Pipefitters Local 636 reportedly worked across multiple southeastern Michigan industrial facilities, meaning that a worker’s cumulative asbestos exposure history may span the Revere Rolling Mill and other regional plants. Wayne County asbestos lawsuit claims account for multi-site occupational exposure histories. Michigan’s three-year statute of limitations runs from your diagnosis date — do not delay.

Boilermakers

Boilermakers at the facility may have:

Constructed, maintained, and repaired boilers and pressure vessels
Repaired or replaced boiler insulation allegedly containing asbestos-containing materials
Worked inside boiler fireboxes allegedly lined with asbestos-containing refractory materials from Combustion Engineering
Replaced asbestos-containing rope and gaskets on boiler manways and flanges

Maintenance Mechanics and Millwrights

General maintenance workers may have:

Serviced and repaired rolling mills, drawing equipment, annealing furnaces, and other process machinery
Encountered asbestos-containing materials in thermal insulation, gaskets, and packing
Repaired equipment near or within furnace areas where refractory brick and castable refractory dust may have accumulated
Accumulated long-term asbestos exposures over decades of employment

UAW-represented maintenance workers — including members of UAW Local 600 (Dearborn) and UAW Local 235 — who transferred between facilities or performed contract maintenance work across southeastern Michigan industrial sites may have accumulated asbestos exposures at multiple locations. Michigan asbestos settlement values account for multi-facility exposure histories. A mesothelioma or lung cancer diagnosis means Michigan’s three-year filing deadline is already running.

Electricians

Electricians at industrial facilities of this era may have encountered asbestos-containing materials in multiple forms:

Asbestos-insulated electrical wire and cable
Asbestos cloth reportedly used for fireproofing around electrical panels in furnace areas
Ambient asbestos dust created by other trades disturbing nearby insulation
Bystander exposures while working in areas where insulators and maintenance workers were actively removing or repairing asbestos-containing materials

Laborers and Helpers

General laborers and trades helpers may have:

Cleaned up debris and hauled materials
Worked alongside skilled tradespeople during maintenance and construction
Been exposed to asbestos-containing dust without any meaningful warning of the health hazard

Supervision and Engineering

Foremen, supervisors, and plant engineers may have regularly walked through active work areas where asbestos-containing materials were being disturbed — accumulating bystander exposures over the length of their careers that are just as legally compensable as direct trade exposures.

⚠️ Michigan Asbestos Statute of Limitations: Three Years From Diagnosis

No matter your trade or job title at the Revere Copper and Brass Detroit Rolling Mill, Michigan’s statute of limitations under MCL § 600.5805(2) gives you three years from your diagnosis date to file a civil lawsuit. Courts enforce this deadline strictly — mesothelioma claims have been dismissed because families waited too long. If you have already been diagnosed, the time to act is now. If you are still awaiting a diagnosis, call an asbestos cancer lawyer in Detroit the day you receive one.

Asbestos bankruptcy trust fund claims — available through trusts established by Johns-Manville, Owens Corning, Armstrong World Industries, Combustion Engineering, and dozens of other former manufacturers — carry no strict legal filing deadlines under Michigan law. However, trust fund assets are finite and actively depleting. Claimants who file earlier recover more. Those who delay risk reduced payouts as trust reserves shrink.

Michigan law expressly permits you to pursue asbestos trust fund claims and civil lawsuits at the same time. You do not have to choose one path. A mesothelioma lawyer in Michigan can pursue every available avenue of compensation simultaneously — but only if you call before the deadline passes.

Asbestos-Containing Products Allegedly Present at the Facility

Based on the type of operations conducted, the era of operation, and product distribution records that have emerged in asbestos litigation, workers at the Revere Copper and Brass Detroit Rolling Mill may have been exposed to asbestos-containing materials from the following manufacturers:

Johns-Manville Corporation

Johns-Manville was for decades the largest asbestos product manufacturer in the United States. Workers at the Detroit Rolling Mill may have been exposed to:

Thermobestos brand pipe covering and lagging allegedly containing chrysotile asbestos
Super 66 and other asbestos-containing insulating cements
Asbestos-containing block insulation, blankets, and finishing cement products

Johns-Manville filed for bankruptcy in 1982 under the weight of asbestos litigation and established the Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust, which continues to

Revere Copper and Brass