Great Northern Paper Company — Millinocket & East Millinocket, Maine

Great Northern Paper Company built the Millinocket mill in 1900 on the West Branch of the Penobscot River in Penobscot County Maine — a site chosen for its hydroelectric potential and abundant softwood supply — and added the East Millinocket mill in 1907. At their asbestos-era peak the two mills allegedly employed over 4,000 workers combined and were among the largest newsprint producers in the world, later diversifying into groundwood, directory, and specialty paper grades. The mills passed through Great Northern Nekoosa (1970), Bowater (1990s), and Inexcon/Katahdin Paper ownership before Great Northern Paper’s 2003 bankruptcy; East Millinocket ran intermittently under Cate Street Capital / GNP East Millinocket LLC until final shutdown in 2014. Both sites are now largely demolished.

Premises ACM Narrative

Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that the Great Northern Paper Millinocket and East Millinocket premises allegedly involved:

  • Asbestos-block and asbestos-magnesia pipe covering on the on-site steam-electric powerhouse boilers, steam mains, and turbine-generator sets that powered the mills
  • Asbestos lagging on Yankee dryer cans and multi-cylinder paper-machine dryer sections — the signature paper-mill ACM pathway, disturbed during felt changes and dryer-can maintenance
  • Asbestos-sheet gaskets and rope packing at steam-header flanges, refiner plates, and paper-machine dryer connections
  • Asbestos insulation on batch and continuous pulp digesters, evaporators, and black-liquor recovery boilers
  • Asbestos-cement transite panels on mill utility structures and dryer hoods
  • Asbestos refractory on the recovery boiler and power boiler smelt-dissolving and superheater sections
  • Asbestos-containing brake and clutch friction on winders, calenders, and roll-handling equipment
  • Asbestos-fabric welding blankets and protective gear used during scheduled annual maintenance outages

Workers Exposed

Plaintiffs allegedly included:

  • USW / UPIU / AWPPW paper mill production workers, machine tenders, and dryer-section crews at Millinocket and East Millinocket
  • Power plant operators and stationary engineers running the on-site steam-electric powerhouses
  • HFIAW insulators applying and removing pipe covering, block, and dryer lagging
  • UA pipefitters on steam, condensate, and process-piping systems
  • IBB boilermakers on recovery boilers, power boilers, and digesters
  • IBEW electricians on paper-machine drive systems and mill switchgear
  • Millwrights on paper machine, winder, and refiner rebuilds
  • Outside contractor trades on annual maintenance outages and mill capital projects

If You Worked at Great Northern Paper Millinocket or East Millinocket

If you or a family member worked at Great Northern Paper Company’s Millinocket or East Millinocket Maine mills 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) 237-3332

Other Maine facilities in our archive where workers allegedly encountered asbestos, per public litigation and historical records:

Mesothelioma Resources for Maine Workers

Paper-mill asbestos exposure like this is a leading cause of mesothelioma, often diagnosed decades later. If you or a family member worked here: