Pipefitters Local Union 211

UA Pipefitters Local Union 211
Southeast Texas Gulf Coast
Chartered	January 1, 1949
Founding Members	2,714 UA members
Parent Union	United Association (UA)
Headquarters	Deer Park, Texas
Zones	Deer Park (HQ), Nederland (Zone 195), Harlingen (Zone 823)
Counties Covered	60+ Texas counties across Southeast Texas
Apprenticeship	5-year Pipefitting, Welding & HVAC programs
Industries Served	Refineries, petrochemical plants, industrial, commercial, institutional
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Executive Summary

Pipefitters Local Union 211 is a chartered local of the United Association (UA) representing pipefitters, welders, and HVAC service technicians across Southeast Texas. According to the union's official history, Local 211 was chartered on January 1, 1949 with 2,714 UA members, a large majority of whom transferred from UA Local 195 in Beaumont, Texas. Headquartered today in Deer Park, Texas, Local 211's jurisdiction covers more than 60 counties across the Texas Gulf Coast — the densest concentration of oil refineries and petrochemical plants in the United States.

The same Gulf Coast industrial corridor that made Local 211's craftsmen indispensable also exposed generations of pipefitters to asbestos. From the late 1940s through the early 1980s, asbestos-containing pipe insulation, gaskets, valve packing, and refractory materials were standard in the refineries, chemical plants, and power stations of Houston, Pasadena, Texas City, Baytown, Deer Park, Freeport, and the Golden Triangle (Beaumont–Port Arthur–Orange). Local 211 members performed exactly the cutting, fitting, and removal work that releases the highest concentrations of respirable asbestos fibers — and they did it before manufacturers warned anyone of the danger.

Today, retired Local 211 pipefitters and their families are diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, and asbestosis at elevated rates that reflect this history. Compensation may be available through asbestos bankruptcy trusts, personal injury claims against solvent product manufacturers, and (for veterans) VA benefits — without suing the union, the contractor, or the refinery operator. This page documents Local 211's history, jurisdiction, and training programs, and provides practical information for members and families navigating an asbestos diagnosis.

At-a-Glance

Pipefitters Local Union 211 at a glance:

• Chartered January 1, 1949 with 2,714 founding UA members, most transferring from UA Local 195 in Beaumont
• Six historic UA locals have merged into Local 211 since 1975 — Locals 567 (Bryan), 200 (Galveston), 790, 390 (Freeport), 823 (Harlingen), and 195 (Beaumont)
• 60+ Southeast Texas counties fall within Local 211's combined jurisdiction across its three zones (Deer Park HQ, Zone 195 Nederland, Zone 823 Harlingen)
• 5-year registered apprenticeship covering pipefitting, welding, instrumentation, and HVAC service, with classroom and on-the-job training
• State-of-the-art welding annex opened in 2017 at the Deer Park facility, dedicated to former Business Manager Kenneth Edwards
• Texas Gulf Coast refinery corridor — including Houston, Pasadena, Texas City, Baytown, Deer Park, Freeport, and Beaumont–Port Arthur — used asbestos pipe insulation as standard practice from the 1940s through the early 1980s
• 16x elevated mesothelioma risk has been documented for plumbers and pipefitters in occupational epidemiology studies
• 43.9-year average latency between first asbestos exposure and mesothelioma diagnosis means workers exposed in the 1960s–1970s are being diagnosed now
• $30+ billion remains in asbestos bankruptcy trusts that pay claims to pipefitters and surviving family members without litigation

Key Facts

Measure	Finding (Source)
Charter Date	January 1, 1949 — Local 211 chartered with 2,714 UA members transferring primarily from Local 195 in Beaumont, Texas
Original Hall	Old Galveston Road, Houston — served as the union hall from 1949 to 2015 before relocation to the current Deer Park facility
Current Headquarters	1301 W. 13th Street, Deer Park, TX 77536 — combined hall and apprentice school opened in 2015
Apprenticeship Length	5 years — registered apprenticeship covering pipefitting, welding, instrumentation, and HVAC service
Training Locations	3 schools — JATC Apprentice School (Deer Park), Deer Park HVAC Training Center, Nederland Apprentice School
Welding Annex	Opened 2017 — state-of-the-art welding facility at Deer Park, dedicated to former Business Manager Kenneth Edwards
Mesothelioma Risk Ratio (Plumbers/Pipefitters)	16x general population — British occupational study identifying plumbers and pipefitters as among the highest-risk trades
Pleural Abnormality Rate	26% of screened plumbers/pipefitters — Building Trades National Medical Screening Program findings
Confined-Space Fiber Concentrations	40–150 f/cc — OSHA sampling documented confined-space exposures up to 1,500x the current 0.1 f/cc PEL during pipe insulation work
Average Diagnosis Latency	43.9 years from first exposure to mesothelioma diagnosis — pipefitters exposed in the 1960s–1970s are presenting in the 2020s
Trust Fund Claims	5–30+ trust filings typical for a single pipefitter, processed in 3–6 months without court appearances

What is UA Pipefitters Local Union 211?

Pipefitters Local Union 211 is one of more than 300 local unions affiliated with the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry of the United States and Canada. According to Local 211's own description, the UA is "a multi-craft union whose members are engaged in the fabrication, installation, and servicing of piping systems," and it operates what Local 211 calls "the premier training programs available in the industry today, including five-year apprenticeship programs, extensive journeymen training, organized instructor training and certification programs."

Local 211's craftsmen have helped build "many major entertainment facilities, schools, colleges, hospitals, industrial facilities, manufacturing facilities, hotels, jails, prisons, and corporations in the greater Southeast Texas jurisdiction." In practice, the bulk of Local 211 work has historically been in the heavy-industrial sector that defines the Texas Gulf Coast economy: petroleum refineries, petrochemical plants, natural gas processing, power generation, and industrial maintenance.

The local represents three principal trades:

• Pipefitters — fabricate, install, and maintain process piping in industrial settings, including high-pressure steam, hydrocarbon, and chemical lines
• Welders — perform code-quality welds on pressure piping and structural components, with UA weld certifications recognized industry-wide
• HVAC Service Technicians — install and service heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration systems

Each of these trades historically used or worked in close proximity to asbestos-containing materials, particularly during Local 211's first three decades.

When was Local 211 chartered and how has it grown?

According to Local 211's published history, the local was chartered on January 1, 1949 with 2,714 UA members, a large majority of whom had transferred from UA Local 195 in Beaumont, Texas. The first recorded officers in January 1949 were:

• President — L.J. Colbert
• Financial Secretary — N.E. Coward
• Business Manager — C.L. Quinn
• Business Agents — T.W. Willingham, W.E. Reed, Ray A. Young, R.D. Vernon

The original union hall sat on Old Galveston Road in Houston and served the local from 1949 until 2015. Local 211's apprentice school was located down the street from the hall.

Over six decades, Local 211 absorbed several other UA locals across South and Southeast Texas:

• August 1, 1975 — Local 567 of Bryan, Texas merged into Local 211
• July 1, 1979 — Local 200 of Galveston, Texas merged into Local 211
• July 1, 1995 — Local 790 merged into Local 211 (along with three other locals)
• May 1, 2012 — Local 390 of Freeport merged into Local 211
• October 2012 — Local 823 of Harlingen, Texas merged into Local 211
• May 1, 2015 — Local 195 of Beaumont, Texas — the parent local from which 211 had been chartered in 1949 — merged into Local 211

The 2012 and 2015 mergers expanded Local 211 into the Golden Triangle (Beaumont–Port Arthur–Orange) and the Lower Rio Grande Valley, dramatically enlarging the local's jurisdiction.

In 2002, Business Agent and Financial Secretary Kenneth Edwards was elected Business Manager, serving until his retirement in 2016. Bryan Edwards was appointed Business Manager when Kenneth retired and continues to serve in that role. In 2015 the local consolidated its hall and apprentice school into a single new facility in Deer Park, and in 2017 a state-of-the-art welding annex was added and dedicated to Kenneth Edwards.

What is Local 211's territorial jurisdiction?

Local 211 maintains three zones, each covering a distinct area of Southeast Texas. According to the union's published jurisdictional map and bylaws:

Local 211 Primary Jurisdiction (Greater Houston / Brazos Valley): Austin, Brazoria, Brazos, Burleson, Calhoun, Colorado, Fayette, Fort Bend, Galveston, Grimes, Harris, Houston, Jackson, Lavaca, Lee, Leon, Madison, Matagorda, Milam, Montgomery, Robertson, San Jacinto, Trinity, Victoria, Walker, Waller, Washington, and Wharton counties, plus the parts of Liberty and Chambers counties west of the Trinity River.

Zone 195 (Golden Triangle / East Texas): Walker, Chambers, Liberty, Orange, Jefferson, Hardin, Jasper, Tyler, San Augustine, Sabine, Nacogdoches, Angelina, Polk, Trinity, and Houston counties.

Zone 823 (South Texas / Rio Grande Valley): Bee, Brooks, Cameron, Duval, Goliad, Hidalgo, Jim Hogg, Jim Wells, Kenedy, Kleberg, La Salle, Live Oak, McMullen, Nueces, Refugio, San Patricio, Starr, Willacy, and Zapata counties.

This combined territory covers the densest concentration of petroleum and petrochemical infrastructure in the United States — including the Houston Ship Channel, the Texas City refinery row, the Beaumont–Port Arthur–Orange Golden Triangle, the Freeport petrochemical complex, and the Corpus Christi refinery cluster. For most of the 20th century, this corridor consumed enormous quantities of asbestos-containing pipe insulation and gasket material, and Local 211 members were the trade most directly responsible for installing, repairing, and removing it.

Why are Local 211 members at elevated risk for asbestos-related disease?

Plumbers and pipefitters as an occupational group rank among the highest-risk trades for mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases. According to research summarized by Mesothelioma Lawyer Center, a British occupational study identified plumbers as the single highest-risk occupation for mesothelioma, with nearly 16 times greater susceptibility than the general population, and the Building Trades National Medical Screening Program found pleural abnormalities in 26% of screened plumbers and pipefitters.

The reasons are specific to the trade:

• Asbestos pipe insulation. From the 1940s through the early 1980s, the standard insulation on industrial steam lines, hydrocarbon piping, and process equipment was asbestos-containing — most often Thermobestos, Kaylo, and similar products manufactured by Johns-Manville, Owens-Corning, and others. Pipefitters cut, fit, and removed this insulation to access the pipe underneath, generating clouds of respirable fibers in the immediate breathing zone.
• Asbestos gaskets and packing. Flange gaskets, valve packing, and pump packing routinely contained asbestos. Replacing a gasket meant scraping and wire-brushing the old material off the flange face, which aerosolized fibers directly in front of the worker.
• Confined-space work. Refinery turnarounds, vessel entries, and boiler maintenance routinely placed pipefitters inside confined spaces with little ventilation. OSHA sampling data documented personal air samples in such work reaching 40–150 fibers per cubic centimeter — 400 to 1,500 times the current 0.1 f/cc permissible exposure limit.
• Adjacent trade exposure. Even pipefitters who never personally cut asbestos insulation breathed fibers released by insulators working alongside them in the same units. This is sometimes called "bystander" exposure and is well-documented in the industrial-hygiene literature.
• Take-home exposure. Pipefitters carried fibers home on work clothes, hair, and skin. Spouses who shook out coveralls and washed work clothes — and children who hugged dad when he got home — sustained secondary asbestos exposure sufficient to cause mesothelioma decades later.

Mesothelioma has an average latency of 43.9 years between first exposure and diagnosis. A pipefitter who started his apprenticeship at Local 211 in 1968 and worked through the 1980s is being diagnosed now, in his 70s. The diagnosis curve for Texas Gulf Coast pipefitters is expected to remain elevated through at least the 2030s.

Which Texas Gulf Coast facilities exposed Local 211 members to asbestos?

Local 211 craftsmen worked nearly every major refinery, petrochemical plant, and industrial facility along the Texas Gulf Coast during the peak asbestos era (roughly 1945–1985). Documented heavy-asbestos facilities within Local 211's jurisdiction include:

Houston Ship Channel / Pasadena / Deer Park corridor:

• Shell Oil Refinery, Pasadena (later Shell Deer Park)
• Lyondell (formerly ARCO/Sinclair) Refinery, Houston
• ExxonMobil Baytown Refinery and Chemical Plant
• Rohm and Haas Deer Park
• Crown Central Petroleum, Pasadena
• Goodyear Synthetic Rubber, Houston
• Phillips 66 / Chevron Pasadena facilities

Texas City refinery row:

• Marathon (formerly Amoco / Standard Oil) Texas City Refinery
• Valero (formerly Sterling / Amerada Hess) Texas City
• Union Carbide Texas City
• BP (formerly Amoco) Texas City — site of the 2005 disaster
• ISP / GAF chemical operations

Golden Triangle (Beaumont–Port Arthur–Orange) — Zone 195:

• Mobil (now ExxonMobil) Beaumont Refinery
• Texaco (now Motiva) Port Arthur Refinery
• Premcor / Valero Port Arthur
• DuPont Beaumont and Orange complexes
• Sun Oil / Sunoco Port Arthur
• Goodyear Beaumont

Freeport petrochemical complex:

• Dow Chemical Freeport (one of the world's largest petrochemical complexes)
• Phillips Petroleum Freeport

Corpus Christi cluster — Zone 823:

• CITGO (formerly Champlin) Corpus Christi
• Valero Corpus Christi
• Flint Hills Resources (formerly Koch) Corpus Christi

This list is not exhaustive. A Local 211 pipefitter who worked through a typical 30-year career almost certainly worked at multiple facilities on this list, often during scheduled turnarounds when crews from across Southeast Texas converged on a single site for weeks of intensive maintenance.

What apprenticeship and training programs does Local 211 operate?

Local 211 operates a five-year registered apprenticeship through its Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee (JATC), with classes at three locations:

• JATC Apprentice School — 1301 W. 13th Street, Deer Park, TX 77536; phone (713) 649-0201
• Deer Park HVAC Training Center — 4705 Center Street, Deer Park, TX 77536; phone (832) 429-0979
• Nederland Apprentice School (Zone 195) — 3194 Hwy. 69 N, Nederland, TX 77627; phone (409) 727-1686

According to the union, "Pipefitting, Welding and HVAC Service Apprentices get paid while they train on the job and attend night classes two nights a week or on the weekend for five years. After the completion of 5 years as an Apprentice, the apprentice will break out as a Journeyman and obtain top scale pay and a long successful career as a Pipefitter, Welder or HVAC Service Technician."

The Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee of Pipe Fitters Local Union 211 is currently applying for initial accreditation with the Commission of the Council of Occupational Education. Local 211's training facility is described by the union as "state-of-the-art and second to none," with "top-notch" instructors and individualized attention. The 2017 welding annex at Deer Park added dedicated welding booths and modern weld-test equipment used to certify journeymen to UA national weld procedures.

Modern Local 211 apprentices train under post-1980s safety standards that include OSHA's 0.1 f/cc asbestos PEL, mandatory respiratory protection during any disturbance of suspect material, and licensed-abatement requirements for known asbestos work. The pipefitters joining the trade today face a fraction of the historical asbestos risk — but the legacy of pre-1980s exposure continues to reach retired members.

What compensation options exist for Local 211 members with mesothelioma?

A Local 211 retiree (or surviving family member) diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, or asbestosis generally has access to multiple compensation channels — none of which involve suing the union, the contractor, or the refinery operator. According to Danziger & De Llano, plumbers and pipefitters typically file with 5–30+ asbestos bankruptcy trusts simultaneously, with claims processing in 3–6 months without court appearances.

Asbestos bankruptcy trust funds. More than 60 manufacturers of asbestos-containing pipe insulation, gaskets, packing, and refractory have entered bankruptcy and established trusts to pay current and future claims. Over $30 billion remains in these trusts. A pipefitter who worked at multiple Gulf Coast refineries can typically document exposure to products from many of these trusts (Johns-Manville, Owens Corning Fibreboard, Babcock & Wilcox, Combustion Engineering, GAF, Eagle-Picher, Pittsburgh Corning, Armstrong, and many more).

Personal injury claims against solvent manufacturers. Companies that made asbestos-containing products and remain solvent (or have liability insurance from the relevant period) can be sued in Texas civil court. Texas has a two-year statute of limitations for personal injury that runs from diagnosis (not exposure), and a two-year limitations period for wrongful death running from the date of death.

VA disability and DIC benefits. Many Local 211 members served in the U.S. Navy or Merchant Marine, where shipboard pipefitting also generated heavy asbestos exposure. Veterans with a service-connected mesothelioma diagnosis qualify for 100% VA disability (currently $4,062.85/month for a single veteran, more with dependents) and Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) for surviving spouses.

Workers' compensation. Texas does not require employers to carry workers' compensation, and most refinery contractors historically did not. Where coverage exists, workers' comp is generally far less valuable than the trust and tort recoveries — but it should still be evaluated.

A typical Local 211 retiree with confirmed mesothelioma recovers a combined total of $1 million to $3 million through the trust system alone, plus additional recovery from any solvent-defendant lawsuit and (for veterans) ongoing VA benefits. The legal work — assembling work history, identifying products, filing trust claims, prosecuting civil suits — is typically handled on a contingency basis, with no upfront cost to the member or the family.

A note on Local 211 and Danziger & De Llano. Senior Client Advocate Larry Gates at Danziger & De Llano grew up in this jurisdiction. His father, Dan Gates, worked the Shell refinery in Pasadena, Texas and died of mesothelioma in 1999. Larry has spent his career helping Gulf Coast pipefitters, refinery workers, insulators, and their families navigate the trust and litigation systems that exist precisely because of work histories like his father's. Local 211 members or family members who want to talk through options can reach the firm at (866) 222-9990 or dandell.com.

Frequently Asked Questions

Was Local 211 responsible for asbestos exposure to its members?

No. The union did not manufacture, sell, or specify asbestos-containing products. Liability for asbestos exposure rests with the manufacturers who made and sold asbestos pipe insulation, gaskets, and packing knowing of the health risks — many of whom have since entered bankruptcy and established trust funds to pay claims. Local 211 members pursuing compensation are not suing their union.

I worked at multiple refineries during my career — does that complicate a claim?

Actually, a long Local 211 career across multiple Gulf Coast facilities typically strengthens a claim. Each facility used products from different manufacturers, and exposure to a wider range of products usually qualifies the worker for a wider range of bankruptcy trust claims. A complete work history — names of facilities, approximate dates, contractors you worked for — is the single most valuable document in evaluating a case.

What if I was an apprentice in the 1970s but never worked directly with insulation?

Apprentice and bystander exposure are well-recognized exposure pathways. Asbestos fibers released by an insulator stripping pipe in the same unit are inhaled by every pipefitter, welder, electrician, and laborer in the area. You do not have to have personally handled asbestos to have a viable claim.

My father was a Local 211 pipefitter who died years ago. Can the family still recover?

In some circumstances, yes. Wrongful-death claims have a two-year statute of limitations in Texas running from the date of death. Bankruptcy trust claims, however, often remain available for years longer than the civil tort statute. A medical record showing a mesothelioma or asbestos-related lung cancer diagnosis as cause of death is the starting point.

I'm a current Local 211 apprentice. Should I be worried about asbestos?

Modern UA apprentices train under post-1980s safety standards (OSHA PEL of 0.1 f/cc, mandatory respirators around suspect material, licensed-abatement requirements for known ACM work). New asbestos-containing pipe insulation has been effectively unavailable in U.S. industrial construction since the early 1980s, and EPA's 2024 chrysotile rule phases out the remaining permitted uses. Your day-to-day risk is a fraction of what your grandfather faced. Legacy exposure during demolition or renovation of older units does occur and is one reason to follow your safety training carefully.

Quick Statistics

• 2,714 founding UA members on January 1, 1949
• 60+ Texas counties in Local 211's combined jurisdiction across three zones
• 5 years for the Local 211 registered apprenticeship
• 3 schools in the Local 211 training network (Deer Park JATC, Deer Park HVAC, Nederland)
• 16x elevated mesothelioma risk for plumbers and pipefitters versus the general population
• 26% of screened plumbers/pipefitters showed pleural abnormalities in the Building Trades National Medical Screening Program
• 40–150 f/cc confined-space exposures documented in OSHA sampling — up to 1,500x today's PEL
• 43.9 years average latency from first exposure to mesothelioma diagnosis
• $30+ billion remaining in asbestos bankruptcy trusts
• 5–30+ trust claims typical for a single pipefitter's case

Get Help

• Danziger & De Llano — Texas-based mesothelioma firm representing Gulf Coast pipefitters and refinery workers since 1996. Call (866) 222-9990 for a free, no-obligation case review.
• Larry Gates, Senior Client Advocate — Larry's father Dan worked Shell Pasadena and died of mesothelioma in 1999. Larry helps Gulf Coast pipefitters and their families navigate trust claims, lawsuits, and VA benefits.
• Mesothelioma Lawyers Near Me — Texas — Houston, Beaumont, Corpus Christi, and Texas Gulf Coast resources for refinery and petrochemical workers.
• Mesothelioma.net — Plumbers & Pipefitters — overview of asbestos exposure in the pipefitting trade.

Related Pages

• Plumbers and Pipefitters — full occupational risk profile for the trade
• Oil Refinery Workers — exposure profile for refinery employees and contractors
• Chemical Plant Workers — exposure profile for petrochemical plant workers
• Pipefitters — pipefitter occupational quick reference
• Texas Mesothelioma Lawsuits — Texas civil litigation, statute of limitations, venue
• Asbestos Trust Funds — overview of bankruptcy trust system
• Johns-Manville — primary manufacturer of asbestos pipe insulation used at Gulf Coast refineries
• Asbestos Pipe Insulation — product profile and identification
• Secondary Asbestos Exposure — take-home and family exposure pathways
• United Association — parent international union of Local 211

⚠ Statute of Limitations Warning: Filing deadlines vary by state from 1-6 years from diagnosis. Texas allows 2 years from diagnosis or discovery. Contact an attorney immediately to preserve your rights.