PCA Paper Mill Filer City | Asbestos in Manistee Michigan

Filer City, Manistee County, Michigan

Packaging Corporation of America Paper Mill f/k/a American Box Board

Located in Filer City, MI on Manistee Lake the Filer City PCA Containerboard Mill is a source of asbestos exposure, Mesothelioma and other asbestos related cancers. The plant originally opened in 1917 as the Filer Fibre Pulp Mill and later became known as American Boxboard before being purchased by Packaging Corporation of America. The PCA Paper Mill Filer City plant annually produces over 2.6 million tons of kraft linerboard (the outer layers of a corrugated container) and corrugating semi-chemical medium (the fluted center layer) for PCA’s own converting facilities as well as for numerous domestic and international customers. The plant had numerous buildings and departments including boiler and powerhouse, 3 pulp mills, 3 paper machines, reactor building, material handling, wood processing, waste water, and shipping.

The PCA Paper Mill Filer City plant has three paper machines, the last being built in 1958. The plant made a variety of papers in earlier years but has produced kraft paper for container making for the last 50 years. Over the years the plant had at least 5 boilers for producing steam for the operation of equipment and the paper making process. That included an old bark boiler and the liquor boiler which the latter was also known as a recovery boiler. There were 3 power generating turbines and numerous turbines for powering mechanical equipment including running the line shafts of the paper machines. Due to the papermaking operation, asbestos was used extensively and located throughout the plant on the boilers, condensers, compressors, digesters, evaporators, fans, pumps, steam lines, valves and equipment including the paper machines and pulp mill equipment. Dryer felts used on the paper machines to help dry the paper contained asbestos from the 1950’s until the late 1970’s. Exposures to the asbestos products at the mill can cause Mesothelioma, Lung Cancer, Asbestosis, and other cancers 10 – 40 years later. Even if you smoked you may be entitled to compensation if you are suffering an asbestos related disease.

There are numerous departments and occupations where asbestos exposure occurred including:

Maintenance: Construction and Millwrights, Electricians, Insulators, Machinists, Oilers, Painters, Pipefitters, Welders, and other trades. They construct, maintain, and repair the equipment throughout the plant.

Powerhouse: Boiler and Turbine Operators, and Utility Men, They operate and monitor the boilers, turbines, reactor, evaporators, condensers, and compressors.

Material Handling: Hi-Lo Operators, Crane Operators, Equipment Operators, Laborers, Sludge Operators and Tractor Operators. They handle and move the logs, chips and sludge for the mill.

Wood Processing: Chipman, Chip Plant Operator, Liquors Mixer, Operators, and Utility Workers. They operate and monitor the chipper and send processed wood to pulp mill.

Pulp Mill: Effluent Treater, Pulp Operator and Secondary Treatment Operator. They cook the wood chips into pulp and treat it with chemicals and handle wastewater.

Paper Mill Machine: Back Tender, Beater Room Operator and Helper, Brakeman, Machine Tender and third, fourth and fifth hands. They take the pulp and turn it into paper through the various sections on the paper machine.

Shipping: Car loader, Power Trucker, Trackmobile Operator and Weigher. Prepare the paper for shipping to customers.

Maintenance Foreman and Supervisors: They schedule and supervise the maintenance and repair of the papermill buildings and equipment.

Truck and Tractor Operators: They operate truck and or tractors to move raw materials (forest logs), chips and equipment in the mill.

First Line Supervisors/Managers Production and Operating Workers: They directly supervise and coordinate production and operations employees (Precision Workers, Inspectors, Machine Setters and Operators, Assemblers, Fabricators, and Plant and System Operators.

Industrial Production Managers: They plan coordinate or direct the manufacturing process.

Engineers – They coordinate, plan and schedule construction and maintenance projects.

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 rotary steam joints.

If you or a loved one have questions regarding asbestos exposure at PCA 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 PCA, 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 PCA 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 PCA Paper Mill in Filer City, 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 PCA Paper Mill Filer City is in our jobsites 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.

PCA Paper Mill 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 PCA Paper Mill in Filer City, 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 Hardy Salt, Morton Salt, and Martin Marietta.

Asbestos in Manistee Michigan

Manistee sits on the Eastern Shore of Lake Michigan and to the east is Manistee Lake. The city of Manistee is the county seat of Manistee County. The name Manistee is from an Ojibwa word and was named after the river that runs through it. Manistee today is known for its tourism and fishing – the fabulous beaches of Lake Michigan, and the Big and Little Manistee rivers. Historically Manistee was a sawmill town the founding settlers built more than forty sawmills. The 1880’s boom was due to the lumber industry. The city was home to the shingle factory having thirty shingle mills on the Manistee River. The city was almost lost to a catastrophic fire in 1871 but the residents rebuilt. In 1881 they discovered salt in the city and another industry was born. Today Manistee has three factories still operating on Manistee Lake: Packaging Corporation of America, Morton Salt, and Martin Marietta. Asbestos exposures have been identified at each of these factories.

Manistee also has a history of manufacturing in fields known for using asbestos-containing materials, placing workers at a high-risk category for asbestos exposure. Malignant mesothelioma may result when workers and loved ones have been exposed to asbestos. If you have been exposed to asbestos in Manistee, you may benefit by seeking legal counsel from our Michigan-based asbestos lawyers. One of our lawyers John Pomerville was born and raised in Manistee and is very familiar with the Manistee jobsites and the asbestos products workers were exposed to at these sites.