Premises Description

General Mills Inc. has been named as a premises defendant in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation for alleged asbestos exposure at its Minneapolis, Minnesota headquarters flour mills, cereal plants, and food-processing facilities — including plants in Buffalo NY, Kansas City MO, Cedar Rapids IA, Lodi CA, Vallejo CA, Great Falls MT, West Chicago IL, and Covington GA.

General Mills food plants are heavy industrial premises: multi-story flour-mill headhouses and silos, roller-mill floors, cereal-cooking and toasting ovens, ready-to-eat cereal extrusion and drying lines, packaging halls, and on-site steam and refrigeration plants. Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that pre-1980 General Mills premises involved asbestos through:

  • Asbestos pipe covering on flour-mill and cereal-plant steam and process piping
  • Asbestos-lined tunnel ovens, band ovens, toasters, and dryers on ready-to-eat cereal and biscuit lines
  • Asbestos rope door seals and gaskets at oven and dryer doors and access panels
  • Asbestos sheet gaskets at process flanges, steam headers, and manways
  • Asbestos block and cork insulation on ammonia refrigeration compressors, chillers, and cold rooms
  • Asbestos rope packing on mill pumps, valves, roll stands, and blenders
  • Asbestos refractory and boiler insulation at General Mills powerhouse steam generators
  • Asbestos sprayed fireproofing on structural steel in flour-mill headhouses, silos, and packaging halls

Workers Exposed

Plaintiffs allegedly worked at General Mills Minneapolis MN (including the Washburn-Crosby “A” Mill site), Buffalo NY, Kansas City MO, Cedar Rapids IA, Lodi CA, Vallejo CA, Great Falls MT, and other national General Mills plants in trades including:

  • Insulators (HFIAW) applying and removing asbestos pipe covering and block on mill steam and refrigeration lines
  • Pipefitters (UA) breaking asbestos-gasketed flanges on steam headers and process piping
  • Boilermakers servicing asbestos-refractory-lined powerhouse boilers
  • Millwrights rebuilding roll stands, sifters, purifiers, and cereal-line mixers with asbestos packing
  • Oven and dryer mechanics working on asbestos-lined tunnel ovens and replacing asbestos door seals
  • Refrigeration mechanics working on ammonia compressors and cork-insulated cold rooms
  • Grain mill workers and cereal-plant operators around fireproofed headhouses and packaging halls
  • Electricians and IBEW workers on mill switchgear and motor-control centers

If You Worked at General Mills

If you or a family member worked at a General Mills flour mill, cereal plant, or food-processing plant before 1980 and have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, lung cancer, asbestosis, or another asbestos-related disease, you may have a legal claim.

Free, confidential case evaluation: Speak with O’Brien Law Firm — (314) 936-2956