St. Louis-based Christy Refractories Company is a manufacturer of heat-resistant products. Established over 100 years ago, the company originally used the high-quality clay found in the ground around south St. Louis to make firebricks and high-temperature bricks used to line furnaces where steel, glass, and other materials are made.
Christy Refractories Company History and Asbestos
Over decades, the company expanded its product line to include refractory castable and precast shapes, catalyst support media, and fireclays. They also added a service line for the repair and installation of refractory materials. Many of the company’s products contained asbestos, and Christy Refractories was named in hundreds of personal injury lawsuits filed by people diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, asbestosis, and other asbestos-related diseases. The company was forced to file for bankruptcy protection and established an asbestos bankruptcy trust fund to compensate victims.
The Christy family first arrived in St. Louis, Missouri in 1836 and quickly became known as dry goods store owners and businessmen. When high-quality fireclay that was resistant to high temperatures was discovered in south St. Louis, William Christy began mining the clay, started a fireclay plant, and created the Christy Fire Clay Company. The company’s products were popular with many independent glass plant producers, and they also began fabricating refractory components, paver bricks, and fireclay bricks. By 1879, the company had received a patent for its fireclay process designed for working with molten glass.[1]
In 1907 Christy Fire Clay Company merged with Laclede Fire Brick Mfg. Co. to form Laclede-Christy Clay Products Company. Their collective factories made them the two largest refractory manufacturers in Missouri and one of the country’s top producers of firebrick, sewer pipe, and similar products.[1]
In 1922, the Christy family was forced out of the company, and Calvin M. Christy, Jr. started his own rival business. The new organization, Christy Fire Brick Company, only distributed fire bricks, as it did not have a production facility. However, after establishing a relationship with the Carborundum Company of Niagara Falls, New York, and other fire brick companies, it began expanding the business from strictly reselling to include clay mining, silicon carbide brick production, ceramic fiber refractory insulation, and catalyst bed support.[1]
The company continued investing in clay mining and provided raw plastic clay and calcined clay to the zinc smelting industry. In 1950 they began making carbon black, a product used as reinforcement for the synthetic rubber in automobile tires and shoes. It was produced by blowing high-temperature oil against refractory lining and then scraping the product off of the refractory walls. The company also produced catalyst support media that was added to beds of catalyst material.[1]
When Calvin Christy, Jr. died, the company dramatically expanded, developing many more new products and applications for the refractory materials, catalyst bed support media, and clay mining and processing industries. By the 1970s, the company was the largest distributor of American Refractory’s clay graphite, silicon carbide crucibles, and other high-temperature textiles. By 1987 the company was renamed Christy Refractories in recognition that it was no longer strictly involved in fireclay and firebrick production.[1]
In 2004, the company was operating four distinct organizations: Christy Catalytics, LLC, Christy Industrial Services Co. LLC, Christy Minerals, LLC, and The Christy Refractories Company, LLC. The last of these declared bankruptcy in October 2008 due to debts arising from its asbestos liabilities. The company emerged from its asbestos-related bankruptcy in 2011 and has continued to grow since then. In 2007, 2009, and 2015 it was listed on INC magazine’s list of 5,000 fastest-growing privately held companies in America.[1]
How Did Christy Refractories Company Use Asbestos?
Refractory materials are specifically designed to maintain their form while exposed to extreme heat. Because asbestos adds strength and does not conduct heat, it was frequently used as a component of refractory products. Individuals who worked for Christy Refractories’ processing and manufacturing plants had the highest risk of asbestos exposure. But asbestos fibers were also released wherever the company’s refractory materials were used. Many workers who installed them, worked directly with them, or even worked in proximity to them, inhaled airborne asbestos fibers and suffered illness and death.
What Types of Workers Were Exposed to Asbestos Due to Christy Refractories?
The people who were most at risk of asbestos exposure from Christy Refractories products were the company’s employees involved in manufacturing and distributing the asbestos-containing products. But other workers who installed the refractory materials or who worked with them in high-heat environments were also exposed on the job to the friable asbestos that was released when the products were damaged over time. This includes employees who worked in the following types of worksites:
- Industrial plants and factories
- Paper mills
- Schools
- Oil refineries
- Power plants
- Glass factories
- Steel mills
In addition to the company’s employees and those occupationally exposed to the company’s refractory products, family members of those individuals may have experienced secondary exposure to asbestos carried into their homes on their loved one’s hair, clothing, or skin. Many wives of workers exposed to asbestos have been diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases after years of laundering their spouse’s asbestos-covered work clothing.
Christy Refractories Co. Asbestos Personal Injury Trust
In the 1980s, Christy Refractories Co. began facing personal injury lawsuits filed by those who had been sickened by asbestos in their products. Over 20 years, the company paid settlements averaging approximately $1 million each, and by the year 2000, the number of cases filed had increased dramatically. By November 2008, the company reported that it was still facing more than 1,000 separate claims filed by people exposed to its products in schools, steel mills, and other commercial and industrial spaces.[2]
With approximately $18 million remaining on its insurance policy and already having paid out approximately $27 million in settlements, the company’s management determined that its asbestos liabilities were beyond its ability to pay and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Funded with approximately $17 million and recently reporting that it was holding assets over $12 million, the company has paid over 900 claims totaling more than $10 million to people diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, asbestosis, and other illnesses.[3]
What to Do if You Were Exposed to Asbestos from a Christy Refractories Products
Christy Refractories’ asbestos-containing products were used for decades, exposing countless individuals and their family members to the risk of malignant mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, asbestosis, and other illnesses. If you worked with any of the company’s products, it’s important to let your physician know about your exposure history so that they can appropriately monitor your health and respond immediately should you begin to exhibit any concerning symptoms.
If you’ve been diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma or another asbestos-related disease following exposure to Christy Refractories’ asbestos-containing products, you may be eligible to file a claim for compensation from the company’s asbestos bankruptcy fund. An experienced asbestos lawyer can help you determine how best to move forward. They have the knowledge and resources to assist you in submitting a claim, as well as to review your employment history to identify any additional sources of asbestos exposure for which you may be able to seek compensation.
