Acme Metals - Mesothelioma & Asbestos Exposure
Acme Metals, Inc. was a manufacturer of what is known as "carbon" steel that was headquartered in Riverdale, Illinois. The corporation was organized under two separate business segments; Acme Steel Company, which actually produced steel from iron ore, and Acme Packaging, which fabricated steel products.
The company's specialty was carbon steel, which is an alloy of iron and carbon, with trace amounts of manganese, silicon and copper. The result is a high-strength, low-ductility metal suitable for applications such as drill bits, milling cutters, gear cutters, saw blades, chisels and punches and dies. In short, any industrial activity requiring a keen, hard edge and cutting ability.
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The original firm, Acme Steel Company, located its plant along the Calumet River in 1918. At any given time, there were approximately 1,100
employees working at the plant over its eighty-three year history.
Bankruptcy and Acquisition
In September of 1998, Acme Metals Inc. filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection. Industry analysts blamed this on the consequences of the North American Free Trade Agreement, although Brazilian steel accounted for only 5% of U.S. steel imports during the first two quarters of 1998. The company began a phased shutdown of the plant three years later.
During August of 2002, Cleveland, Ohio-based International Steel Group reached an agreement with Acme Steel to purchase the company and its Riverdale facilities for $65 million. That fall, a U.S. Bankruptcy Court approved the purchase. In November, Acme Packaging emerged from bankruptcy as an independent company, and the steel production division re-opened as ISG Riverdale.
More Changes of Ownership and Plant Closings
In August of 2003, Acme Packaging was acquired by Illinois Tool Works, Inc. The former Acme Metals plant closed down once again shortly thereafter; Acme Packaging followed nine months later. In April of 2005, the ISG Riverdale plant was acquired by Mittal Steel USA. This company represents the U.S. division of a transnational corporation headquartered in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, and London, U.K.
Asbestos Exposure
Machine setters, operators, tenders, millwrights, pourers and casters, furnace operators and welders as well as floor and safety inspectors at Acme Metals Inc. were at greatest risk for exposure to asbestos fibers, and therefore a host of asbestos related diseases, such as asbestosis (A scaring of the tissue in the lungs), pleural plaques, and a number of asbestos cancers, such as lung cancer or mesothelioma (a cancer of the linings of the organs, including the lungs, heart, or stomach amung others).
Steel workers at Acme Metals, Inc. and similar mills across the country risked asbestos exposure on a daily basis. The source of asbestos fibers included protective clothing made from asbestos, such as leggings, aprons, coats, gloves, masks, and other items issued for the purpose of preventing burn injuries. Other sources of asbestos fibers were ovens, ladles, boilers, steam pipes and forges.
Notes
1. Google Finance. "Acme Metals Incorporated (Summary)" (2007).
2. Oberg, E. et al. Machinery's Handbook
3. Thillman, Mary. "History of Riverdale, IL 1993-2003"
4. Fenton, Michael D. "Iron and Steel" (1998).
5. Thillman, op. cit.
6. Sparshott, Jeffery. "Protected by Tariffs, Steel makers Consolidate; Bankrupt Bethlehem and National to be Acquired" (2003).
7. Thillman, op. cit.
8. Ibid.
9. Mesothelioma SOS. "Acme Steels" (2007).
10. Ibid.