National Grinding Wheel manufactured grinding wheels. It was located just to the east of the Durez Plastics Facility at the corner of Erie Avenue and Walck Road in North Tonawanda, New York. The Durez Facility used thousands of tons of raw asbestos until the end of 1978 in the production of plastic molding compound. Much of this raw asbestos escaped from the mixing units at Durez, contaminating the surrounding neighborhood, including the property where National Grinding Wheel was located. Our firm has represented a number of individuals who worked at National Grinding Wheel and subsequently developed mesothelioma from their exposure to the asbestos which had escaped from the neighboring Durez Facility.
Durez was established in 1926 and quickly became a leader in the production of plastic molding compounds. Unfortunately for its employees and for the residents of the area surrounding the plant on Walck Road, Durez incorporated raw asbestos fiber to strengthen its plastic molding compounds. Giant mixers were used to combine thousands of tons of raw asbestos with other raw materials. This was an extremely dusty process, and it resulted in harmful dust becoming airborne and spreading around the plant and into the neighborhood.
Significant contamination also occurred in the Resin and Varnish buildings, where large reactors, kettles and stills were insulated with crumbly, chalky and dusty asbestos-containing pipe covering and block insulation.
Durez continued using asbestos until the end of 1978. The North Tonawanda facility closed in 1994. The period of time between first exposure to asbestos dust and the onset and diagnosis of mesothelioma, known as the latency period, is typically between 15 and 50 years.
The risk of developing mesothelioma from dust released by the operations at Durez will probably not abate for another 15 years.
Pictured above: The former National Grinding Wheel plant (as it appears today) on the corner of Walck Road and Erie Avenue
Durez area residents report having seen the fields outside of the plant contaminated with dust, including Ramsey Field where little league activities were conducted in the 1960s and 1970s. If you lived, worked or played near the Durez plant in North Tonawanda, New York, any time before 1979, you should consider sharing this information with your doctor.
If you or a loved one lived in the neighborhoods surrounding the former Durez plant, and have been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease such as mesothelioma or lung cancer, please contact Lipsitz, Ponterio & Comerford for a free case evaluation and to learn your legal rights.
