Pittsburgh Corning Corporation
When Pittsburgh Corning purchased the popular Unibestos product franchise in the 1960s, the company knowingly exposed thousands of workers to the most hazardous variety of asbestos fibers over the next decade. Not only did the company ignore the mounting body of evidence on the dangers of asbestos, it may even have conspired to keep this information from its employees and customers, putting many at risk for developing an asbestos-related disease such as mesothelioma.
History of Pittsburgh Corning
Pittsburgh Corning was founded in 1937 as a 50-50 joint venture between two prominent glassmakers, the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company (PPG Industries Inc.) and Corning Inc.
For nearly the first 30 years of its existence, the company's primary focus was the manufacture of glass blocks used in commercial, institutional, government and residential structures. By 1947, the company began to manufacture FOAMGLAS cellular glass insulation, a product used primarily by the construction industry.
In 1962, Pittsburgh Corning purchased a plant in Tyler, Texas, from a company called Unarco (the Union Asbestos and Rubber Company), which manufactured asbestos-containing insulation. Pittsburgh Corning soon took over the production of Unarco's most popular product, a high temperature insulator called Unibestos. Unibestos contained between 60 percent and 90 percent amosite asbestos, a particularly hazardous form of the fibrous insulating mineral.
Pittsburgh Corning's most popular line of products included the following:
- FOAMGLAS block building insulation
- FOAMGLAS board building insulation
- Unibestos insulation (in sectional block and sheet form)
- Unibestos pipe insulation
Because Unibestos insulation proved to be such a profitable product, Pittsburgh Corning opened a second Unibestos plant in New Jersey in 1964. The manufacture of Unibestos materials continued until 1972, when the Tyler plant was closed and dismantled after investigations by government health and safety officials revealed possible health concerns at the site.
Pittsburgh Corning Asbestos Litigation
Beginning in 1972, Pittsburgh Corning was inundated with more than 140,000 lawsuits filed by former employees and other individuals who came into contact with its asbestos-containing insulation products. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April 2000 and did not re-emerge until nine years later. As part of a bankruptcy reorganization plan, Pittsburgh Corning announced that it would pay out $825 million in cash over the next 15 years to cover asbestos-related claims. Additionally, the trust would be funded with $1.6 billion in cash payments from insurance carriers for Pittsburgh Corning until 2027.
Plaintiffs in lawsuits against Pittsburgh Corning argue that the company was aware of the dangers of occupational asbestos exposure at the time the company purchased the Unarco plant in Tyler, Texas, in 1962. As early as 1951, Unarco employees who contracted asbestos-related diseases through work-related exposure began to file lawsuits against the company, but Pittsburgh Corning largely ignored the warnings from medical advisors who urged the company to protect workers from airborne asbestos exposure.
In 1961, Dr. Richard Gaze, chief scientist for the British holding company which supplied the amosite asbestos used to manufacture Unibestos, met with Pittsburgh Corning executives to discuss the types of precautions the company would need to take in order to protect employees from asbestos in the workplace. The company ignored Dr. Gaze's advice, allowing thousands of workers to be exposed to airborne asbestos fibers on a daily basis in the company's Unibestos plants.
It is believed that from 1962 until 1972, Pittsburgh Corning actively participated in cover-up procedures to conceal information about asbestos health risks from both employees and customers. The company refused to place warning labels on asbestos-containing products, even after other companies had begun to do so for fear of liability cases and lawsuits.
Cases Against Pittsburgh Corning
In 1974, former employees of Pittsburgh Corning's Tyler plant attempted to bring a class action suit against the company on behalf of 570 employees who had been subsequently diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease (Yandle v. PPG). Although the class action certification was denied, a settlement was eventually reached that awarded the plaintiffs $20 million in total.
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease and you believe it may have resulted from exposure to a Pittsburgh Corning product or facility, you may wish to find out more information about asbestos exposure, treatment options for asbestos-related diseases and other important topics. Please fill out the form on this page or call (800) 615-2270 to speak with a Patient Advocate from the Mesothelioma Center for more information.
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© 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.
