Monroe Plastics was founded in March 1970, as a wholly owned subsidiary of Chicago Molded Products Corp. The plant was located in the Albia Industrial Park on Highway 5 South in Albia, Iowa. When the plant opened, its building was roughly 13,600 square feet and contained five compression mold presses connected to a central hydraulic and steam system. The Albia plant manufactured plastic parts for the automotive, aerospace and household appliance industries. During the 1970s, the Monroe Plastics plant in Albia was considered to be one of the most modern plastic molding facilities in the United States. Throughout its years of operation, Monroe Plastics expanded its manufacturing facility by constructing an adjoining 39,000 square foot building and adding additional mold presses.  At its peak in 1979, the company employed 120 people and expanded its operations to include transfer and injection molding capabilities. Monroe Plastics closed its doors in July 1981.

Up until the mid-1980s, asbestos could be found as a component of many plastic molding compounds. Monroe Plastics used phenolic plastic molding compounds that contained raw asbestos fibers in the manufacture of many finished plastic parts. The companies that manufactured these asbestos plastic molding compounds knew about the health hazards of asbestos, but they did not warn the company or its employees.  Exposure to asbestos causes mesothelioma, lung cancer and other asbestos-related diseases. Molders, finishers and other laborers at Monroe Plastics were exposed to asbestos during the manufacturing process of automotive and aerospace parts, electrical equipment and other plastic parts used in a variety of household products.

Asbestos posed an especially high-risk health danger to mold shop workers who transformed asbestos-containing plastic molding compounds into finished plastic parts. Even workers who did not have direct contact with asbestos-containing plastic molding compounds, but worked in an area where it was manufactured or molded, are at risk for developing mesothelioma or lung cancer.

The attorneys at Lipsitz, Ponterio & Comerford, LLC have gathered a vast amount of information concerning the type and variety of asbestos-containing products used at Monroe Plastics. Our firm is located ten miles from a major manufacturer of asbestos-containing molding compounds, which sold its product directly to the company in Albia, Iowa. Our attorneys are also familiar with the other companies that manufactured and distributed asbestos-containing plastic molding compounds to Monroe Plastics.

If you or a loved one were once employed at Monroe Plastics in Albia, Iowa, and have been diagnosed with mesothelioma or lung cancer, we urge you to contact us regarding your legal rights.