Owens-Illinois (O-I Glass) — Plants in Ohio

Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that they were exposed to asbestos while working at Owens-Illinois (O-I Glass) plants in Ohio. This page documents the Ohio portion of Owens-Illinois (O-I Glass)’s multi-state operations. For the full corporate summary and plants in other states, see the Owens-Illinois (O-I Glass) manufacturer page.

Premises Description

Owens-Illinois Inc. (today O-I Glass, Inc. — founded 1903 as Owens Bottle Company, merged with Illinois Glass 1929; headquartered Perrysburg OH) is through the 20th century and today the largest U.S. and global manufacturer of glass containers (bottles and jars). O-I operated through the asbestos era a major network of U.S. glass-container plants and is separately a defendant for its Kaylo asbestos insulation product line (pre-1958) — see Owens-Corning Kaylo page.

This premises page addresses Owens-Illinois’s role as premises owner of U.S. glass-container plants, distinct from its Kaylo manufacturer liability.

Major O-I asbestos-era glass-container plant sites included:

  • Toledo OH — corporate headquarters and historic glass operations
  • Streator IL — major Midwest glass plant
  • Crockery IL and Alton IL — additional Illinois operations
  • Charlotte NC and Winston-Salem NC — Carolinas glass plants
  • Brockport NY — Northeast glass plant
  • Vernon CA and Oakland CA — West Coast glass plants
  • Volney NY — fiber-glass plant (joint venture with Owens-Corning)
  • Atlanta GA and Tracy CA — additional glass plants
  • Houston TX and Waco TX — Texas glass operations

Glass-container manufacturing is one of the most asbestos-intensive heavy industries documented in U.S. asbestos litigation. Glass-melting furnaces operate continuously at temperatures around 1500°C and were specified through the asbestos era with extensive asbestos refractory, asbestos furnace lining, asbestos kiln-shell insulation, asbestos electrical insulation, and asbestos cloth used by hand-handlers (gob catchers, machine attendants) at forming machines.

Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that Owens-Illinois — as premises owner of its U.S. glass-container plants — exposed its glass-plant workforce and contractor pipefitters, insulators, boilermakers, and trade workers to extensive asbestos.

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

Workers Exposed

  • United Glass and Ceramic Workers / United Steelworkers Local members at O-I plants
  • Glass-furnace operators and machine attendants
  • Refinery pipefitters and millwrights working O-I capital projects
  • Insulators (HFIAW Local members) on O-I construction and turnaround crews
  • Boilermakers (IBB Local members) building O-I furnaces
  • Construction-trade workforces on O-I EPC projects

If You Worked at an Owens-Illinois Glass Plant

If you worked at an Owens-Illinois glass-container plant during the asbestos era — including at Toledo, Streator, Crockery, Charlotte, Brockport, Vernon, Oakland, Houston, or any other O-I site — as an O-I 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

Named Plants and Operating Era

Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that specific named Owens-Illinois plants in Ohio allegedly involved asbestos-containing materials during their principal operating eras. Documented plant footprint in Ohio:

  • Owens-Illinois Toledo Corporate Headquarters and Historic Glass Operations — Toledo OH (Lucas County); O-I corporate headquarters (later Perrysburg OH) and historic center of Owens Bottle Company / Libbey-Owens glass operations; O-I Technical Center, laboratory, and pilot glass operations through the asbestos era.
  • Owens-Illinois Ottawa Glass Container Plant — Ottawa OH (Putnam County, northwest Ohio); major O-I glass-container plant operated through the asbestos era.
  • Owens-Illinois Zanesville Glass Container Plant — Zanesville OH (Muskingum County, southeastern Ohio); O-I glass-container plant operated through the asbestos era.

Plant-Era ACM Narrative

At Owens-Illinois Ohio operations (Toledo / Ottawa / Zanesville), plaintiffs alleged the following plant-era asbestos exposure pathways during the U.S. asbestos era (approximately 1930s-1980):

  • Asbestos-refractory bottom paving blocks, throat pieces, and port neck refractory in the melter tanks
  • Asbestos-fabric mold heat insulation on IS (Individual Section) bottle-forming machines
  • Asbestos-block plunger insulation and asbestos-fabric parison-mold pads on the forming machines
  • Asbestos pipe covering on hot-batch conveying, natural-gas fuel trains, and lehr annealing oven feeds
  • Asbestos-block lagging on lehr (annealing oven) roof and side walls
  • Asbestos sprayed fireproofing on structural steel above hot-end machine lines
  • Asbestos-cloth gob catchers, sleeves, and hand pads used by hand-handlers at the forming machines
  • Asbestos laboratory bench pads, transite panels, and asbestos-containing furnace-lining pilot samples at the Toledo Technical Center

Trades and Local Union Coverage

Plaintiffs alleged that Ohio O-I plant work was performed by tradesmen from the following unions and Locals during the asbestos era: Glass Bottle Blowers Association (GBBA) production workers at Toledo, Ottawa, and Zanesville, BAC bricklayers Local for glass tank rebuilds (the Toledo-area Local and the Zanesville-area Local), HFIAW insulators Local 45 (Toledo) and the Zanesville-area insulators Local for pipe covering, UA pipefitters Local for utility piping, IBB boilermakers Local for pressure-vessel work, and IBEW electricians Local.

Documented ACM Product Vectors Named in Litigation

Products from AP defendant manufacturers that plaintiffs alleged were supplied to or specified at Ohio O-I plants during the asbestos era:

For Owens-Illinois Toledo / Ottawa / Zanesville (glass container):