In 1988 The Holmes Foundry Caposite Plant closed after 70 years of operation. It was a dirty, unsanitary place right from the beginning. In 1918 originally owned by Mr. J.S. Blunt and was called Holmes Blunt Limited; Holmes Foundry was to supply parts for the auto industry. Its main source for supply was to Ford Motor Company.
In 1956 the company closed its Caposite Insulation plant. There were three seperate operations at the Holmes facility at the corner of Exmouth and Christina Streets in Sarnia, Ontario. Holmes Foundry, Caposite Insulation and the Holmes Insulation plant.
In 1970, the foundry was sold to American Motors Corporation. The Caposite Insulation plant closed in 1974, and around that same time, Holmes Insulation moved to Scott Road in Sarnia when it was purchased by Babcock and Wilcock Ltd.. Amercican Motors acquired the former Insulation building and used it for storage at the Holmes foundry site.
The foundry changed ownership hands once more in 1984 when Daimler-Chrysler bought it. They closed the site down permenantly in 1988.
Behind this legacy of an industry is many sick men and families, and many deceased men and families.
It has never been denied, that there are over 51 carcinogens that these men were forced to endure exposure too on a daily basis.
These men had no choice really. This was their livelyhood, the way they kept food on the tables for their families. At the time many of these men were unaware of what the future would bring for their health or their families health. They just went to work, put in their hours and went home.
Of the men that are still alive, many are extremely sick with cancers, lung diseases, heart problems, just to mention a few. Many of the deceased have died from these same disease, plus more such as enlarged hearts.
Their families are also finding themselves getting sick, due to secondary exposure. These wives or kids welcomed their dads home everynight, not knowing that they were covered in the asbestos, or silica dust. And they too are now sick or deceased. Also included in this growing number of deceased or sick families is the neighbours that lived in the Holmes Foundry area! One family in particular that lived on Water Street, there were 9 members of this family and now there a only a couple left! The rest have died of illnesses and cancers due to the extreme exposure. So this is much more than the workers claims, this involves the community itself! Holmes Foundry was indeed a "Natural Disaster"!
In 1984 the Johns-Manville plant in Scarborough, Ontario was recorded as a "world class industrial disaster" based on its asbestos readings of 40 fibres per cubic centimetre (f/cc) in 1949. However, in 1973 Holmes Foundry levels were measured at 852 fibres per cubic centimetre! Readings once found Holmes levels at 134.4 million particles per cubic foot. Todays legal limit is 0.1 fibres per cubic centimetre. That would mean that Holmes Foundry was 6780 times the legal limit of todays standards!
I am looking for anyone that may have worked at the foundry at any time, or know of someone that worked there. I need names to add to our growing list. There is hopefully light at the end of the tunnel through pending legal litagation (IF we can find a law firm to take this on, many have said they will and then they drop it with no just reason!) to get these men and their families compensation. So the more names we get the better.
Many of these men are being denied WSIB benefits. It is being admitted that they were exposed, but little compensation is being made.
Even our own union representatives are not helping, if anything; they have provided the men and families with misleading information. These men are being referred to the O.H.C.O.W. clinic, which in my opinion is a huge waste of time, because they are not doing anything for these men or the families. Upon going there, they are getting a big run around and false assurances that their cases are being looked after!
Please email me if you have any information regarding the foundry, and or people that may have worked at the foundry!
Thank you very much from the bottom of my heart and from the families hearts. Take time to love your family now as you may not have the chance to say things in the future! And please keep these families in your prayers always, as they need it!
Email me at holmesfoundry@hotmail.com
For more information please click on one of the links, for some valuable reading material!!!
