Super Power House Cement (Keene Corporation)

Product Description

Super Power House Cement was an industrial-grade refractory and bonding cement manufactured by Keene Corporation. Designed for high-heat and heavy-duty industrial applications, the product was marketed under the “Super Power House” brand name and sold into a range of industrial settings where thermal resistance, structural bonding, and chemical durability were required. Keene Corporation, headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, operated across multiple industrial product lines during the mid-twentieth century, supplying materials to construction, manufacturing, and process industries throughout the United States.

Super Power House Cement was positioned as a versatile compound suitable for use in applications including floor installations, pipe insulation systems, refractory linings, spray-applied fireproofing, and valve and steam trap assemblies. Its formulation was intended to withstand the mechanical stresses and thermal demands associated with industrial plant operations, making it a common material in power generation facilities, chemical plants, refineries, and heavy manufacturing environments. The product’s multi-category use meant that it appeared across a broad cross-section of industrial worksites during the decades when asbestos-containing materials were standard in American industry.

Keene Corporation was ultimately drawn into extensive asbestos litigation as awareness of asbestos-related disease grew and former industrial workers and their families sought accountability for occupational exposures. The company’s product lines, including refractory and bonding cements such as Super Power House Cement, became the subject of legal proceedings alleging that workers sustained serious harm as a result of exposure to asbestos fibers released during normal use of these products.

Asbestos Content

Litigation records document that Super Power House Cement was alleged to have contained asbestos as a functional component of its formulation. In refractory cements and high-temperature bonding compounds of the era in which this product was manufactured and sold, asbestos fiber — most commonly chrysotile, and in some industrial product lines amphibole varieties such as amosite — was routinely incorporated to improve tensile strength, thermal stability, and resistance to cracking under cycling heat loads.

Plaintiffs alleged that Keene Corporation knew or had reason to know that asbestos-containing products including Super Power House Cement posed health hazards to the workers who manufactured, installed, applied, and maintained them, and that adequate warnings were not provided. The specific fiber type and percentage composition of asbestos within the Super Power House Cement formulation have been addressed within the context of product identification and exposure testimony in litigation proceedings. No safe level of asbestos exposure has been established by regulatory or public health authorities; both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under AHERA and OSHA in its workplace exposure standards have classified asbestos as a known human carcinogen with no recognized threshold below which risk is eliminated.

How Workers Were Exposed

Industrial workers across multiple trades and job classifications encountered Super Power House Cement in the course of their occupational duties. Because the product was used across several application categories — including floor tile installation, pipe insulation, refractory construction and repair, spray fireproofing, and valve and steam trap maintenance — the population of potentially exposed workers was broad.

Litigation records document that workers alleged exposure during activities such as:

  • Mixing and application of the cement product, during which dry or semi-dry asbestos-containing material could become airborne as dust
  • Cutting, grinding, and shaping of cured or partially cured cement surfaces in refractory or pipe insulation contexts, generating respirable fiber-containing dust
  • Spray application of fireproofing or bonding materials, which plaintiffs alleged created significant airborne fiber concentrations in enclosed or partially enclosed industrial spaces
  • Demolition, removal, and replacement of previously installed cement materials, during which aged and brittle asbestos-containing compounds could release friable dust
  • Maintenance work on valves, steam traps, and adjacent pipe systems insulated or sealed with the product, often performed in confined spaces with limited ventilation
  • Proximity exposure, where workers in surrounding areas of a plant or facility inhaled fibers disturbed by co-workers applying or removing the product

Industrial workers generally — including boilermakers, pipefitters, insulators, ironworkers, maintenance mechanics, and laborers employed in power plants, petrochemical facilities, steel mills, and manufacturing plants — are among the occupational groups documented in litigation as having alleged exposure to Super Power House Cement and comparable Keene Corporation products. Because industrial cement products of this type were commonly used by multiple trades working in close proximity, bystander exposure was also a recognized pathway alleged in legal proceedings.

OSHA standards governing occupational asbestos exposure, codified at 29 C.F.R. § 1910.1001 (general industry) and 29 C.F.R. § 1926.1101 (construction), establish permissible exposure limits and require employer controls, but these standards were developed and strengthened over time, and many workers encountered asbestos-containing products like Super Power House Cement before comprehensive workplace protections were in place.

Super Power House Cement is a Tier 2 — Litigated product. Keene Corporation does not have an active asbestos bankruptcy trust fund administering claims in the manner of some other former asbestos product manufacturers. Legal remedies for individuals alleging harm from exposure to Super Power House Cement are pursued through civil litigation rather than through a structured trust fund claims process.

Civil Litigation

Litigation records document that claims against Keene Corporation and its successor entities have been brought in state and federal courts by former industrial workers and, in wrongful death matters, by surviving family members. Plaintiffs alleged that Keene Corporation’s asbestos-containing products, including Super Power House Cement, caused or contributed to the development of serious asbestos-related diseases including:

  • Mesothelioma — a malignant cancer of the pleural or peritoneal lining associated exclusively with asbestos exposure
  • Asbestos-related lung cancer — particularly in individuals with a documented history of occupational asbestos exposure
  • Asbestosis — a progressive fibrotic lung disease resulting from accumulated asbestos fiber burden
  • Other asbestos-related pleural conditions, including pleural plaques and pleural thickening

Steps for Affected Individuals

Individuals who believe they were exposed to Super Power House Cement or other Keene Corporation asbestos-containing products and who have received a diagnosis of an asbestos-related disease should:

  1. Document occupational history — workplace locations, job titles, time periods, and specific products encountered
  2. Obtain medical records confirming diagnosis from a qualified pulmonologist, oncologist, or other treating physician
  3. Consult an asbestos litigation attorney experienced in multi-defendant industrial exposure cases; statutes of limitations vary by state and generally begin running from the date of diagnosis or discovery of disease
  4. Identify all potential defendants — asbestos litigation often involves multiple manufacturers and suppliers whose products were present at the same worksites

Because Keene Corporation’s corporate history involves mergers, acquisitions, and restructuring, an experienced attorney can assist in identifying the current legal successor or responsible entity for litigation purposes and in determining whether any related trust fund assets may be accessible through other avenues connected to Keene’s corporate history.

This article is provided for informational and reference purposes. It documents publicly available litigation history and product identification information. It does not constitute legal advice. Individuals with potential asbestos exposure claims should consult a qualified attorney.