Durez Plastics was a New York-based chemical and plastics manufacturer known for making a plastic molding compound that it sold to other manufacturing facilities. The company’s physical plant was heavily contaminated with asbestos, and its manufacturing process incorporated raw asbestos. This put both employees and those who worked with the company’s asbestos-containing products at risk for malignant mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases.
The History of Durez Plastics
Durez Plastic & Chemicals Co. was founded by Harry M. Dent in 1921. Located in North Tonawanda, New York, it was originally named General Plastics, Inc. but incorporated in 1937 as Durez. In 1939, Durez and General Plastics consolidated and began operating a synthetic phenol plant.[1]
The company’s success as a supplier of plastic parts for consumer goods was almost immediate. They supplied plastics that were used in Sears radios, Telechron clocks, Packard electric shavers, and Bausch & Lomb eyeglass cases, among other household products. However, when the United States entered World War II, they shifted their focus to resins for military applications.[1]
By 1955, the company had become part of Hooker Chemical, and within a decade, it had become the largest independent manufacturer of phenolic resins and molding compounds in the world. The factory employed more than 1,000 employees who produced a diverse range of products, including Hefron® polyester resins and Hetrofoam,® a urethane foam valued for its rigidity. The North Tonawanda plant closed in 1986, though Durez also operated manufacturing plants in Ohio, Kentucky, Ontario, Canada, and Belgium.[1]
When Hooker Chemical Company was purchased by Occidental Chemical Corporation of Dallas, Texas, the new owner sold Durez to Sumitomo Bakeline North America, Inc. The company continues to operate today, producing over 400 resins for coated/bonded abrasives, carbonless copy paper, metal coatings, metal coatings, and aerospace and rubber resins.[1]
How Did Durez Use Asbestos?
Durez manufactured moldable plastic. The product, also known as thermosetting plastic, created new opportunities for manufacturers, as they were able to use it to quickly and inexpensively create molds to produce large quantities of plastic products in almost any shape. As the resin base of the thermosetting plastic became more popular, manufacturers like Durez realized that it needed greater strength and a component that would prevent the hot plastic from shrinking when it cooled. Asbestos provided the perfect answer to the challenge, as it was inexpensive and had the added benefit of being resistant to heat, chemicals, and electrical charge.[2]
Because Durez employees received no warnings about the dangers of the toxic material from the management of the plant, they handled the raw asbestos without concern, dumping it into giant mixers where it was combined with other materials. The factory was known for being so dusty that special equipment was used to remove the dust from the surfaces of the mixers. This dust coated the hair, skin, and clothing of employees and was also known to float out of the factory’s open windows, where it settled on lawns, vehicles, patio furniture, and other public areas.
Who Was at Risk for Asbestos Exposure from Durez Plastics?
Though the company’s employees faced the greatest risk of asbestos exposure from Durez Plastics, many others were sickened by the company’s negligent use of the carcinogenic material. Employees’ families were endangered, and many sickened from secondary exposure to the asbestos that they carried home on their hair, skin, and clothing after work. Additionally, the factory’s interior and structure were heavily contaminated with asbestos so that walls, pipes, and other materials would not be damaged from the heat generated by the factory’s steam and chemical processes. Some Durez employees were sickened by friction-containing parts that were used in the factory.
People who lived in the neighborhoods close to the factory were also at risk from the asbestos particles that floated out of the factory’s windows, which former employees and neighbors describe as having fallen onto surfaces like snow. Many people who lived close to the factory or who worked at nearby plants have pointed to these releases, a form of environmental exposure, as well as to asbestos released from Durez’s smokestacks, as the cause of their diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases.[3]
Though the asbestos-containing products that Durez manufactured were generally sturdy enough that they did not break down into the friable particles that make asbestos so dangerous, some of the company’s plastic parts were damaged during installation or removal. This put anybody working with it, including construction workers, homeowners, auto mechanics, and repair personnel, at risk of breathing in particles released after being cut, crushed, or damaged in some other way.
Lawsuits Against Durez Plastics
Though Durez Plastics was once a point of pride for the residents of North Tonawanda, the high number of deaths and illnesses attributed to asbestos exposure from the company’s manufacturing facility created a dramatic shift in attitude. The company and those who supplied it with asbestos have been named as defendants in numerous personal injury lawsuits filed by victims or survivors of victims diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, asbestosis, asbestos-related lung cancer, and other diseases. Some notable examples of victims receiving compensation for the damages they’ve suffered include:
- Joseph Muir was 57 years old when he was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma after having spent two consecutive summers as a summer worker at Durez Plastics and being exposed to raw asbestos in the plant. Additionally, Mr. Muir’s father was a full-time employee of the factory, exposing Joseph and the rest of their family to asbestos that he carried home on his hair, skin, and clothing and that embedded itself in their furniture, carpeting, clothing, and curtains. Mr. Muir filed suit against multiple defendants, including the Canadian mining company that had supplied Durez with the raw asbestos the company used to make its products. That company was ordered to pay him $5.6 million in damages.
- James Ginter was a chemist at Durez Plastics. He began working for the company in 1979 and was responsible for operating the FAST (Friction Assessment Screening Test) machine to test friction materials for use in brakes. FAST was manufactured and sold by Ford. He followed the instructions in Ford’s 40-page product manual, which instructed him to cut asbestos-containing materials to fit into the machine and then run them through a test cycle to evaluate their properties. He would take material and file or hacksaw it into smaller pieces to fit into the machine, then insert it for the machine to abrade the material for 90 minutes to test its properties. The hacksawing, filing, and abrasion created visible dust in his work area and ultimately caused his mesothelioma, which was diagnosed in 2009. On hearing these details, jurors awarded Mr. Ginter’s survivors a $2.5 million award.[4]
- James Pieper was diagnosed with an asbestos-related cancer after having worked with asbestos at Durez Plastics for nearly 30 years. He was awarded $742,000 in damages by a New York State Supreme Court Jury after they heard details of his work as a production and maintenance employee with the company from 1957 through 1988. The jury awarded Mr. Pieper and his wife $567,000 in compensatory damages and $175,000 in punitive damages assessed against Asbestos Corp. Ltd., which supplied the asbestos to the company until 1978 when Durez stopped using the material in its products.[5]
- A former Durez plant worker successfully negotiated a cash settlement of over $2.5 million after being diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma at the age of sixty-four. The man had worked for the company from 1969 to 1974 and was responsible for emptying bags of raw asbestos fibers into grinders, where it was mixed with other materials to make granulated plastic molding compounds.
Were You Exposed to Asbestos from Durez Plastics?
Durez Plastics continued using asbestos in its company products until 1978. Employees in the factory continued to be exposed to asbestos in their work environment for years afterward, and it is unknown how long its products were being used in the years that followed. Though hundreds of Durez workers, neighbors, and people who used its products have already been diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases, the possibility of more being affected in the future is very real because of the long latency period that characterizes asbestos-related diseases.
If you worked at Durez or lived with a Durez employee during the years that the company used asbestos, you may still be at risk for an asbestos-related disease. It’s important to notify your physician of this exposure so they can monitor your health for symptoms.
If you’ve been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease like malignant mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, or asbestosis, there are several options available to you. In addition to seeking justice from Durez, you may also be eligible to file a personal injury lawsuit seeking compensation from the companies that supplied the raw asbestos or asbestos-containing materials to Durez.
To learn more about your eligibility to file a lawsuit, reach out to an experienced asbestos attorney. They can provide you with the information and resources you need to move forward in the way that’s best for you and your family.
References
View All References
