Product Description
Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that Corhart Refractories Company — a Corning subsidiary headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, and a dominant supplier of fused-cast and bonded refractory shapes to the U.S. glass industry — allegedly supplied asbestos-bearing refractory blocks used as bottom paving in glass melter tanks and as throat pieces at the melter-refiner throat.
According to publicly filed asbestos litigation records, Corhart-supplied tank bottom paving blocks allegedly formed the primary containment for molten glass in the melter, and Corhart throat pieces allegedly lined the choke point between melter and refiner where flow velocity and erosion were highest. Bonding, joint mortar, and back-up insulation associated with these blocks allegedly contained asbestos and were allegedly disturbed by refractory bricklayers during tank builds, hot repairs, and cold rebuild campaigns typical of the 3-8 year glass tank service cycle.
Workers Exposed
- Refractory bricklayers building, patching, and rebuilding glass melter tanks
- Glass tank furnace operators and hot-end supervisors monitoring throat and bottom conditions
- Glass plant millwrights and mechanical maintenance during tank drain-and-rebuild campaigns
- Batch-house and cullet-house workers moving through the hot end during rebuilds
- Glass plant machine operators (IS bottle machines, tank fillers) working downstream