The Hardy Salt Plant is a known source of asbestos exposure. While primarily known originally for its part in Michigan’s lumber industry, Manistee, Michigan is home to another thriving industry that of salt. Salt deposits leftover from the large primordial seas that at one time covered Michigan can be found throughout various parts of the state. Once such large deposit can be found in the area of Manistee. This deposit has allowed for a thriving chemical/salt industry to grow in the area. One such Manistee Salt Mill staple, Hardy Salt (a/k/a Manistee Salt Works), was started outside of the State of Michigan. In 1914 Mr. Thomas Hardy Sr., a salesman with the Morton Salt Company in St. Louis, MO, left Morton and founded his own salt packing and distribution company. The business would rapidly grow and the Hardy Salt Company was incorporated in 1916 in Missouri.
On a vacation in 1930 to the beautiful shores of Lake Michigan Thomas Hardy learned of an abandoned tanning facility that happened to have an attached salt mill. On a whim he purchased the facility and built the Manistee Salt Works (a subsidiary of the Hardy Salt Co.) on the site. This purchase would go on to pay out ten-fold and more and become the site of all salt manufacturing for the company in a few short years. By the mid 1930’s, its annual distribution of salt across the US reached approximately 100,000 tons. The company would also go on to be the sole manufacturer of brine in its first 10 years of operation.
Hardy Salt, a/k/a Manistee Salt Works, would also become a major innovator in the salt industry. Their innovations included: the first set of quintuple-effect evaporators used in salt production, the introduction of flaked salt to the food industry, and the repackaging of table salt in paper bags instead of cotton.
The Hardy family would continue to own and operate Hardy Salt, a/k/a Manistee Salt Works, facility until 1980 when it was purchased by the Diamond Crystal Salt company out of the Port Huron, Michigan area. Several staffing and operational cuts were made in the 1980’s. In 1987, Hardy Salt and Diamond Crystal were purchased by Akzo Noble. The salt mill would remain in operation until about 1995. It was then that salt production ceased, and the physical plant was sold several times to various chemical companies. The plant was recently demolished in 2007.
The Hardy Salt Plant consisted of numerous buildings and departments including a Powerhouse to produce steam and electricity for the production of salt. Another department was known as the Pan house for the production of salt. There was also a warehouse, automotive repair shop, and maintenance storeroom. The vast majority of the buildings were built with asbestos roofing and siding.
The Powerhouse had 3 boilers and 1 steam driven turbine generator for producing the steam and electricity. The boilers were built in 1946, 1963, and 1965. Each boiler was fired by coal and had stokers for feeding the boilers. Eventually one of the boilers was converted to gas fired fuel system. In addition there was a deareator, feedwater, chemical and ash handling systems for the operation of the boiler. There was also smaller steam driven turbines that powered pumps and fans for the boiler system. The boilers and turbines were inspected yearly and would have to be rebuilt every few years. There were also compressors in the powerhouse. Asbestos blankets, gaskets, packing, insulation, castables, cements, refractories and other asbestos materials were utilized in the Powerhouse.
The Pan house had 10 vacuum pan evaporators, large insulated vessels filled with brine that was boiled and large dryers to produce refined table salt. The original evaporators were manufactured by Manistee Iron Works. From the Pan house the salt goes to the Refinery department to be packaged. The Pan house had piping systems for the steam used to heat the evaporators, water and salt piping systems which included numerous pumps and valves. There were numerous steam driven fans, pumps and also turbines on the filters to draw water out of the brine. The Pan house also utilized asbestos materials including blankets, gaskets, packing, insulation, cements and other asbestos materials were located thru out the department.
Asbestos materials were also present in the maintenance and machine shop departments including asbestos brakes, clutches, insulation, blankets, gaskets, packing and other materials that were used by the maintenance men.
Some of the exposed occupations at Hardy Salt Plant were:
- Boiler Operator
- Boiler Utility Workers
- Electricians
- Laborers
- Maintenance Workers
- Mechanics & Millwrights
- Operators
- Pipefitters
- Painters
- Powerhouse Repairmen
- Powerhouse Operators
- Production Workers
- Welders
- Store Room Clerks and Tenders
Asbestos exposures occurred from the use of the following products, brake and clutch linings, cloth, expansion joints, gaskets, insulation, millboard, packing, roofing, refractories, safety clothing, siding, steam hoses and other asbestos materials.
If you or a loved one have questions regarding asbestos exposure at Hardy Salt or anywhere in Michigan, we have Michigan based and licensed lawyers with over 50 combined years of experience that would be able to assist you. John Pomerville an Asbestos & Mesothelioma Attorney with Goldberg Persky & White was born and raised in Manistee, MI and attended Manistee Public Schools. He still has family and friends in the community and is very knowledgeable in regards to asbestos exposure at Hardy Salt, Mesothelioma and the other asbestos diseases caused by asbestos exposure. Attorney Pomerville has represented many individuals with mesothelioma, lung cancer or asbestosis in Manistee County Circuit Court in the past 20 years. If you have any questions concerning your exposure to asbestos and mesothelioma at Hardy Salt in Manistee, MI call John and our Michigan-based mesothelioma lawyers may be able to give guidance if you were exposed to asbestos in Manistee, MI.
If you have been diagnosed with Mesothelioma you should immediately speak with an experienced Michigan based Lawyer to preserve your legal rights as this is a time sensitive matter and knowing the facts will help you make the best medical and legal decisions possible and help you recover financial compensation for medical expenses, lost wages and pain and suffering .
We have represented people injured by exposure to asbestos whose work histories include Hardy Salt in Manistee, Michigan. Our extensive database of jobsites and asbestos product identification built over 30 years of specializing in asbestos lawsuits allows us to effectively and efficiently represent those injured by asbestos in the workplace.
Why does it matter that Hardy Salt is in our jobsite database?
In order to successfully pursue an asbestos claim, your lawyer needs to be familiar with the jobsites you worked at, including
- the companies that employed you,
- the products they purchased and used, and
- the companies who produced those products;
- depositions, testimony of other Manistee Asbestos disease victims
- documentation from the Plant and the Defendants
After more than 30 years pioneering asbestos litigation, we have a vast knowledge base covering things such as company diagrams, invoices from asbestos product manufacturers, revealing company memos demonstrating their knowledge of the risks, asbestos product packaging through the years, depositions from leading experts, and medical and scientific literature dating from the late 1800s to the current day.
Hardy Salt is one of tens of thousands of jobsites in our database.
Being familiar with many different industries, manufacturers, and products means we can efficiently and effectively identify all the asbestos containing products that contributed to your injury. It’s a breadth of knowledge gained from years of experience representing people injured by asbestos and their families.
Asbestos Exposure Injuries
Asbestos exposure can cause a variety of non-cancerous and cancerous injuries such as:
- mesothelioma
- lung cancer
- colon and colo-rectal cancers
- throat cancer
- laryngeal cancer
- esophageal
- asbestosis/pulmonary fibrosis
Did you work at Hardy Salt in Manistee, Michigan? Have you been injured by asbestos? Contact us today for a FREE, no obligation consultation: 1-800-799-2234
Other sites in Manistee with significant asbestos exposures are Morton Salt, Packaging Corporation of America (PCA), and Martin Marietta.
