Get in Touch
Have questions? Call or chat with our Patient Advocates for answers.
Written by Michelle Whitmer | Edited By Walter Pacheco | Last Update: July 10, 2024
Founded in 1897, the Ehret Magnesia Manufacturing Company achieved commercial success with Thermalite and Durocel, signature brands of asbestos pipe insulation.
The company purchased several limestone mining operations located in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, just outside of Philadelphia, and operated an asbestos manufacturing plant there from the 1890s to the 1970s.
Combining imported raw asbestos with materials excavated from its limestone quarry, Ehret produced and distributed an expansive line of thermal insulation products and construction supplies.
Ehret employees and the end users of Ehret products were exposed to asbestos and later developed mesothelioma and other life-threatening respiratory illnesses.
Ehret began running monthly product advertisements in an asbestos industry trade magazine in 1930. That year, the magazine ran an article about asbestosis. By the late 1950s, Ehret Magnesia chemist John D. McAllister acknowledged the company’s substantial concern over three Ehret employees who died of lung cancer and benign lung conditions.
Even with knowledge of the mineral’s health effects, Ehret continued to manufacture asbestos products. In 1959, the company merged with insulation manufacturer Baldwin-Hill to form Baldwin-Ehret-Hill. The new company operated until 1968, the year it was acquired by Keene Corporation. While Keene did not manufacture any asbestos products, it continued to sell them.
In an attempt to expand into the fireproofing business, Keene acquired several more companies over the next few years. But by the early 1970s, operations at the manufacturing plant ceased. In 1976, the U.S. government purchased the Keene manufacturing plant in Pennsylvania and 46 acres of property to be used by the National Park Service.
As the successor in interest to Ehret Magnesia and Baldwin-Ehret-Hill, Keene inherited liability for the harm caused by their products.
In 1981, Keene’s president created Bairnco Corporation, a holding company for the numerous businesses he had acquired. Keene disposed of 2,425 asbestos cases by the end of that year, but Bairnco still faced nearly 9,000 outstanding lawsuits. In 1990, Bairnco parted with the Keene Corporation at a cost of $6 million, but the claims did not cease.
Feeling the pressure of more than 100,000 related claims, Keene filed for bankruptcy on Dec. 3, 1993.
After emerging from bankruptcy on June 13, 1996, the company created the Keene Creditors Trust, a trust fund established with $45 million to handle future asbestos claims.
The trust remains active and its current payment percentage is 0.8%.
Gain access to trust funds, grants and other forms of compensation for you or your loved ones.
Get Help NowKeene Corporation began defending personal injury lawsuits as early as 1971. Even though the company purged asbestos-containing materials from its product line the following year, workers exposed decades prior came forward demanding compensation for their related illnesses.
Asbestos-containing products manufactured or distributed by Ehret Magnesia, Baldwin-Ehret-Hill and Keene Corporation include:
Ehret Magnesia added amphibole asbestos fibers to its popular Thermolite brand pipe insulation. Although it made for excellent insulation, insulators and pipefitters who installed, repaired and removed Thermolite faced ongoing exposure hazards.
The insulation was removed prior to pipe repairs, and replacing old pipes required cutting that released toxic fibers into the air.
The following occupations faced risk of exposure to Ehret Magnesia’s asbestos products:
Products manufactured by Ehret Magnesia, Baldwin-Ehret-Hill and Keene Corporation put thousands of workers at risk. These companies produced many asbestos-tainted products that affected several industries, most frequently harming workers in construction and shipbuilding.
Most at risk, however, were Ehret Magnesia and Keene Corporation employees who worked at the plant in the Valley Forge National Historical Park from the early 1890s to the 1970s. These workers regularly handled raw asbestos and may have been exposed to waste that was illegally disposed of for decades.
A 2022 report by the European Commission noted that in 2019 alone, over 70,000 workers died from past exposure to asbestos.
Exposure to Thermolite and other Ehret Magnesia insulation products occurred in shipyards, typically during the construction and repair of U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard vessels. Often working in tight quarters with inadequate ventilation, pipefitters, insulators and boiler workers commonly released clouds of toxic dust that threatened the health of all workers in the vicinity.
A January 2019 study published in the International Journal of Radiation Biology shows these military professions were among the jobs with the highest potential for asbestos exposure. This group accounts for a large excess of mesothelioma deaths among veterans.
Construction workers also suffered exposure from Ehret products such as asbestos insulation cement and asbestos millboard. Electricians, carpenters and other laborers worked around these products and faced risks of asbestos exposure.
In January 1997, workers discovered asbestos-contaminated soil while running fiber optic cable near the former site of Ehret Magnesia’s asbestos plant near Philadelphia. It later came to light that Ehret had illegally dumped waste into abandoned quarries and the Schuylkill River for decades. Further, the company did so with permission from the Pennsylvania state government.
Within several months, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency determined an emergency removal action was necessary. With an initial investment of $200,000, the agency fenced off the contaminated area, covered the dangerous materials with soil, wet exposed asbestos to reduce airborne fibers and conducted ongoing sampling of the soil and air.
While the agency deemed the emergency removal action complete by July 1997, future projects are expected.
Recommended ReadingYour web browser is no longer supported by Microsoft. Update your browser for more security, speed and compatibility.
If you are looking for mesothelioma support, please contact our Patient Advocates at (855) 404-4592
The Mesothelioma Center at Asbestos.com has provided patients and their loved ones the most updated and reliable information on mesothelioma and asbestos exposure since 2006.
Our team of Patient Advocates includes a medical doctor, a registered nurse, health services administrators, veterans, VA-accredited Claims Agents, an oncology patient navigator and hospice care expert. Their combined expertise means we help any mesothelioma patient or loved one through every step of their cancer journey.
More than 30 contributors, including mesothelioma doctors, survivors, health care professionals and other experts, have peer-reviewed our website and written unique research-driven articles to ensure you get the highest-quality medical and health information.
My family has only the highest compliment for the assistance and support that we received from The Mesothelioma Center. This is a staff of compassionate and knowledgeable individuals who respect what your family is experiencing and who go the extra mile to make an unfortunate diagnosis less stressful. Information and assistance were provided by The Mesothelioma Center at no cost to our family.LashawnMesothelioma patient’s daughter
Whitmer, M. (2024, July 10). Ehret Magnesia. Asbestos.com. Retrieved October 29, 2024, from https://www.asbestos.com/companies/ehret-magnesia/
Whitmer, Michelle. "Ehret Magnesia." Asbestos.com, 10 Jul 2024, https://www.asbestos.com/companies/ehret-magnesia/.
Whitmer, Michelle. "Ehret Magnesia." Asbestos.com. Last modified July 10, 2024. https://www.asbestos.com/companies/ehret-magnesia/.
Mesothelioma Center - Vital Services for Cancer Patients & Families doesn’t believe in selling customer information. However, as required by the new California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), you may record your preference to view or remove your personal information by completing the form below.