Harbison-Walker Refractories Co.
Originally known as the Star Fire Brick Company, Harbison-Walker was founded in 1865 and took its current name in 1875. Its primary products were fireproof bricks and heavy-duty silica refractories needed for use in the steel and glass industries and in the manufacture of kilns, steel furnaces and copper converters. Throughout much of the 20th century, the company continued to grow, acquiring new businesses and expanding overseas, to Peru, as well as to Canada and Mexico.
In 1967, Harbison-Walker merged with Dresser Industries, Inc. and operated for nearly a quarter century as an unincorporated business division of Dresser. In 1992, Dresser spun off Harbison-Walker and changed the name to Indresco, Inc. The company ultimately changed its name back to the more recognizable Harbison-Walker Refractories Company name.
Meanwhile Dresser, Harbison-Walker's corporate parent, merged with Halliburton in 1998, agreeing to indemnify against Dresser-related asbestos claims, most of which derived from Harbison-Walker refractories products. Harbison-Walker was purchased by RHIAG in 1999, an Austrian company that produces refractories products, but Halliburton and Dresser were left exposed to asbestos claims arising from Harbison-Walker Products.
Harbison-Walker Refractories and Asbestos
Harbison-Walker used asbestos and silica in a number of its products and manufacturing processes, including asbestos rope, castables, fireproof brick and refractory cement. Excessive exposure to such asbestos products can result in asbestos-related diseases such as asbestosis, lung cancer or mesothelioma. These products were sold under the brand names of:
- Micracrete
- Chromepak G
- H-W Lightweight Castable #10
- Metalkase Firebrick
Individuals in a number of occupations and industries may have been exposed to asbestos-containing refractory products made by Harbison-Walker. People working in steel mills, chemical plants, shipyards, as well as those individuals employed as miners, potters, glazers or boilermakers were susceptible to exposure from asbestos-containing Harbison-Walker products. Obviously, those employed directly by Harbison-Walker in its manufacturing facilities where asbestos was used also run the risk of having been exposed to airborne asbestos particulates that could result in mesothelioma cancer later in life.
Harbison-Walker and Asbestos Litigation
Even as the company's business was growing, the turn of the 21st century greeted Harbison-Walker with more than 200,000 pending asbestos claims, of which nearly 132,000 were related to an indemnification agreement made as part of the company's 1992 spin-off from Dresser.
Although Harbison-Walker filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2002, its case is unusual when compared to other asbestos bankruptcies. Prior to entering bankruptcy, Harbison-Walker, along with its parent Dresser Industries, Inc, merged with Halliburton in 1998. During the bankruptcy, the company struck a deal with its insurers, London Underwriters (and their re-insurers Equitas), to settle the asbestos claims for "100 cents" on the dollar.
The amount of the actual asbestos trust as a result of the settlement was nearly $4.2 billion, with approximately 70 percent of all proceeds going to those victims diagnosed with cancer. Of the total funds, $575 million is to come from the London Underwriters; another $1.2 to $1.4 billion was derived from stock the company placed in the trust and another $1.5 billion in insurance reserves and settlements from other insurers.
Harbison-Walker entered bankruptcy so it could remain a going concern as it went through reorganization. This serves to benefit not only the company and its stakeholders but asbestos claimants, as well. With a clogged court system and companies paying litigation claims on a first-come-first-served basis until funds run out, a trust like that established by Halliburton-Dresser on behalf of Harbison-Walker will provide a more efficient and fair method of handling asbestos claims against the company. Unlike some other funds that pay as little as five cents on the dollar for claims, the proactive settlement made for Harbison-Walker claimants will likely benefit them in the end.
Halliburton, itself, came under fire from its share holders in 2001 when it announced that it had $30 million in reserves to cover liability from asbestos-related claims, and then later that same year announced that it would have to increase the amount of the reserves by more than $50 million. Halliburton's stock dropped after each announcement, and frustrated shareholders attempted to certify a class to sue the company under a fraud on the market theory, but were denied.
People who worked in a Harbison-Walker manufacturing facility, or plants subsequently acquired by Harbison-Walker, that produced asbestos-containing products should inform their physicians and seek regular checkups.
-
05/18/2012 -
The Queen of Disco Donna Summer died on Thursday in her Naples, Florida, home after a quiet battle with lung cancer.
She was 63.
The five-time G ..
-
05/17/2012 -
Thoracic surgeon Robert Cameron, M.D., used his second annual Symposium for Lung-Sparing Therapies for Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma last week in Los ..
-
05/17/2012 -
Researchers in Singapore have uncovered new technology for studying cancer stem cells that could spark quicker development of a more effective therapy ..
© 2012 The Mesothelioma Center |
Last Modified Thursday, February 9th, 2012 | Disclaimer | Privacy Policy |
The information provided by The Mesothelioma Center is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
Sponsored by a law firm concentrating in asbestos litigation, The Peterson Firm, LLP with offices at 1350 Connecticut Ave, NW, Fifth Floor, Washington DC 20036.
