Moundsville, West Virginia is the home of the historical Fostoria Glass Company, now closed, that manufactured glass goods for nearly an entire century. According to city manager Allen Hendershot, asbestos remediation efforts are in the property’s near future.
The glass company closed permanently in 1986 after a sharp decline in the demand for glass dinnerware, stemware, home decorations and more. After struggling through the Great Depression and World War II, the Fostoria created more than 8 million glass pieces annually in its heyday, published a well known magazine about glassware and crystal trends, and produced dinnerware on special order from the White House for several different Presidents of the United States. The company was well known for its development of classical American glassware patterns such as Century, Rose, American, and more.
“It hurt our economy when we lost the Fostoria,” Allen Hendershot said, “it had 700 to 800 employees at any one time. So that was a major dent in our employment. The developers on site have taken down an additional five buildings and it’s very visible the change in the site now.”
The Fostoria used various asbestos products to help protect its employees from the intense heat required to mold and etch glass. In addition to its occurrence in personal protection cloaks and gloves, asbestos was widely used throughout the building’s construction materials to insulate furnaces and fireproof walls, floors and ceilings.
Asbestos is no longer widely used in the United States because of the serious health hazards associated with it. Mesothelioma, an aggressive and fatal cancer found in many people after prolonged exposure to asbestos fibers, is just one of the many health concerns that surround the dangerous substance. In many states, specially licensed or certified contractors are required to be hired in order to remove the substance from old homes and buildings to help ensure that safe practices are followed. More than twenty years after the closing of the Fostoria, it’s finally being scheduled for asbestos remediation to ensure the health and welfare of the people of the town.
“We’re hoping to have the preliminary remedial action plan ready by mid-January. We’ll have to submit that to the [Department of Environmental Protection] for approval,” Hendershot said, “but we’re hoping that we’ll be able to keep this process moving quickly now.”
