PPG Industries (Pittsburgh Plate Glass) — Corporate Overview

Premises Description

PPG Industries, Inc. (founded 1883 as Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company; renamed PPG Industries 1968; headquartered Pittsburgh PA) was through the 20th century and remains today one of the principal U.S. and global manufacturers of glass (flat glass, fiberglass, glass containers), industrial and protective coatings, specialty chemicals, and chlor-alkali products. PPG operated through the asbestos era U.S. plants including:

Chlor-Alkali Plants (asbestos-diaphragm cell technology):

  • Lake Charles LA — major Gulf Coast chlor-alkali plant
  • Natrium WV (Marshall County) — major Ohio Valley chlor-alkali plant
  • Beauharnois QC and other operations

Glass Plants:

  • Crystal City MO — historic flat glass plant
  • Carlisle PA, Tipton PA, Cumberland MD, Ford City PA, Ottawa IL — additional glass plants
  • Mount Vernon OH — fiberglass plant
  • Lexington NC, Shelby NC, Wichita Falls TX — additional operations

Coatings/Industrial:

  • Springdale PA — coatings R&D and production
  • Oak Creek WI, Milwaukee WI — industrial coatings
  • Greensboro NC, Delaware OH — coatings

Notable: Asbestos Diaphragm Cells. Through the asbestos era PPG’s Lake Charles LA and Natrium WV chlor-alkali plants operated chlor-alkali production using asbestos-diaphragm cell technology (Hooker, Diamond Shamrock, OxyChem, PPG, Olin, and most U.S. chlor-alkali producers used this technology). Asbestos diaphragm cells separate the anode and cathode chambers using an asbestos diaphragm filtered onto a steel cathode screen, requiring replacement and rebuild on a periodic basis as a routine plant maintenance task. Workers who replaced and rebuilt asbestos diaphragm cells were exposed to substantial respirable asbestos fiber loads.

Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that PPG Industries — as premises owner and as user of asbestos-diaphragm chlor-alkali technology — exposed its chemical, glass, and coatings workforce and contractor pipefitters, insulators, boilermakers, and trade workers to extensive asbestos.

PPG Industries has been named as a Premises Defendant in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation.

Workers Exposed

  • USW / chemical workers at PPG chlor-alkali, glass, and coatings plants
  • Chlor-alkali plant maintenance workers servicing asbestos diaphragm cells at Lake Charles and Natrium
  • Glass-furnace operators at PPG glass plants
  • Refinery pipefitters and millwrights working PPG capital projects
  • Insulators (HFIAW Local members) on PPG construction and turnaround crews
  • Boilermakers (IBB Local members) building PPG plant equipment
  • Construction-trade workforces on PPG EPC projects

If You Worked at a PPG Industries / Pittsburgh Plate Glass Plant

If you worked at a PPG Industries chlor-alkali, glass, or coatings plant during the asbestos era — as an employee or as a dispatched contractor trade worker — and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, lung cancer, or another asbestos-related illness, you may have legal rights.

Free, confidential case evaluation: Speak with O’Brien Law Firm — (314) 936-2956

Plants by State

PPG Industries (Pittsburgh Plate Glass) operated plants across multiple U.S. states. Detailed premises information is available on the following state jobsite pages: