W. R. Grace and Company 3539763 223320329 2008-07-03T15:32:08Z Chris the speller 525927 sp {{Infobox_Company | |company_name = W. R. Grace and Company |company_logo = [[Image:Logo-wr grace.jpg|150px]] |company_type = [[Public company|Public]] ({{NYSE|GRA}}) |slogan = |foundation = [[1854]] |location = [[Columbia, Maryland]] |key_people = Alfred Festa, CEO & Pres |num_employees = 6,500 |industry = Basic Materials |products = Specialty Chemicals |owner = |revenue = |homepage = [http://www.grace.com www.grace.com] |}} '''W. R. Grace and Company''' ({{NYSE|GRA}}) is a [[Columbia, Maryland]], [[United States]] based [[chemical]] [[Conglomerate (company)|conglomerate]]. The company has two main divisions, Davison Chemicals and Performance Chemicals. The Davison unit makes chemical [[catalysts]], refining catalysts, and [[silica]]-based products that let other companies make products from refined [[crude oil]]. Its Performance Chemicals unit makes [[cement]] and [[concrete]] additives, fireproofing chemicals, and packaging sealants. The customers include chemicals companies, construction firms, and oil refiners.<ref name=CompanyInfo>[http://investor.grace.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=112313&p=irol-irhome Company Info] @ Grace Investor Information</ref> Their self-description is "a premier specialty chemicals and materials company." Grace has more than 6,400 employees in nearly 40 countries, and annual sales of more than [[USD|$2.5]] billion.<ref name=CompanyInfo /> The company's stock, with [[ticker symbol]] "GRA," listed in [[1953]], trades on the [[New York Stock Exchange]].<ref>[http://investor.grace.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=112313&p=irol-stockquote Stock Info] @ Grace Investor Information</ref> ==History== W.R. Grace and Company was founded in [[1854]] in [[Peru]] by [[William Russell Grace]] (1832-1904), who left [[Ireland]] due to the [[Potato Famine]]. He went first to Peru to work as a ship's chandler to the merchantmen harvesting [[guano]] ([[fertilizer]] and [[gunpowder]] ingredient due to its high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen). The company moved to [[New York City]] in [[1865]]. Working in fertilizer and [[machinery]], the company was formally chartered in [[1872]], and incorporated in [[1899]].<ref name=Time-1962-03-23>[http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,829148,00.html ''"A Matter of Chemistry"''] - Time Inc. - Friday, Mar. 23, 1962</ref> Joseph P. Grace Sr. became company president in [[1907]]. During the [[Second World War]], in [[1945]], [[J. Peter Grace]] Jr., W.R. Grace's grandson, took control of the company. The company began to diversify. In [[1954]], the company bought Davison Chemical Company (founded by William T. Davison as Davison, Kettlewell & Company in [[1832]]), and the Dewey & Almy Chemical Company (founded in [[1919]] by Bradley Dewey and Charles Almy). At one time, Grace's main business interest was in shipping. To get its products from Peru to [[North America]] and [[Europe]], including guano and [[sugar]], and noticing the need for other goods to be traded, William Grace founded a shipping division.<ref name=Time-1962-03-23 /> The company bought a 53% stake in [[Miller Brewing]] in [[1966]], for [[USD|$36 million]]; Lorraine Mulberger sold the stake for religious reasons.<ref>[http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,836471,00.html ''"A Deal Between Grandchildren"''] - Time Inc. - Friday, Sep. 30, 1966</ref> It sold the Miller stake in [[1969]] to [[Philip Morris]] for $130 million, topping a deal with [[PepsiCo]] for $120 million.<ref>[http://www.altria.com/about_altria/1_2_5_4_philipmorrisusastory.asp ''"The Philip Morris USA Story"''] @ Altria.com</ref><ref>[http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~pw181000/esp/casestudy.htm ''"Miller Brewing Company: How New Leadership is Changing Corporate Culture"''] Case Study @ Ohio University</ref><ref>[http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Miller-Brewing-Company-Company-History.html Miller Brewing Company] @ FundingUniverse</ref> In [[1987]], with a can sealing plant in [[Shanghai]], Grace became the first wholly foreign-owned company to do business in The [[People's Republic of China]]. Grace's corporate headquarters are located in Columbia, Maryland. Although W. R. Grace commissioned the [[W. R. Grace Building|Grace Building]] in [[New York City]], built in 1971, the company no longer has any offices occupying it. ==Subsidiaries and products== [[Image:W._R._Grace_Wheel_OEM_1978_Blazer.jpg|thumb|W. R. Grace & Co. 13 spoke 15"x8.5" aluminum wheel, OEM, 1978 Chevrolet Blazer K5 Cheyenne]] Subsidiaries and some of their products include: * Grace Davison <ref>[http://www.grace.com/About/Businesses/default.aspx Business Units] @ Grace.com</ref> ** industrial [[catalyst]]s, such as [[Raney nickel]]. ** [[silica]] products * Grace Performance Chemicals <ref>[http://www.grace.com/gpc/ Grace Performance Chemicals] @ Grace.com</ref> ** Grace Construction Products <ref>[http://www.graceconstruction.com/ Grace Construction]</ref> *** [[concrete]] [[admixture]]s, fibers, and grinding aids *** concrete [[pigment]]s *** air and [[vapor barrier]]s *** [[fireproofing]] materials *** [[bituminous]], structural, waterproofing membranes (such as Roofing Underlayments <ref>[http://www.na.graceconstruction.com/product.cfm?mode=c&id=63&did=8 Products] @ GraceConstruction.com</ref> and waterproofing materials ** Darex <ref>[http://www.gracedarex.com/ Darex Website]</ref> *** coatings, closures and sealants for [[soft drink]] cans and [[canned food]]s **Residential Building Materials <ref>[http://www.graceathome.com Grace At Home.com]</ref> ***roofing membranes and flashings for windows, doors, decks and roof detail areas ==Contamination incidents== W. R. Grace and Company has been involved in a number of controversial incidents of proven and alleged corporate crimes, including exposing workers to [[asbestos]] contamination in [[Libby, Montana|Libby]] and [[Troy, Montana|Troy]], [[Montana]], water contamination (the basis of the book and film ''[[A Civil Action]]'') in [[Woburn, Massachusetts]], and an [[Acton, Massachusetts]] [[Superfund]] site. ===Trichloroethylene=== In the 1970s, it was discovered that W. R. Grace had improperly disposed of [[trichloroethylene]], an industrial solvent, which then entered the town's groundwater. The chemical appears to have caused fatal cases of [[leukemia]] and [[cancer]], as well as a wide variety of other health problems, among the citizens of the town. ===Asbestos=== Despite the fact that Grace is troubled with asbestos lawsuits, it still sells $1.4 billion of products<!--What kind of products? Asbestos products? If so, are they selling it to Third World countries which have lower asbestos standards?--> a year. 150,000 lawsuits have been settled or dismissed and 120,000 remain.<ref name="history">[http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/uncivilaction/grac19.shtml The history of W.R. Grace & Co.] ''Seattle Post-Intelligence'', Thursday, November 18, 1999 (last accessed on August 28, 2007)</ref> W. R. Grace and Company has faced more than 250,000 asbestos-related lawsuits. Grace no longer makes asbestos-related products. After asbestos injury claims nearly doubled in 2000, W. R. Grace & Company filed for [[bankruptcy protection]] in 2001 due to the unexpected increase in asbestos [[litigation]]. The [[United States Department of Justice]] determined that Grace had transferred 4 to 5 billion dollars to spin-off companies it had recently purchased, shortly before declaring bankruptcy. Justice Department attornies found that this amounted to a "fraudulent transfer" of money in order to protect Grace from civil suits related to asbestos. The bankruptcy court ordered the companies to return nearly $1 billion to Grace, which will remain as part of the assets to consider in the bankruptcy hearings. In 2005, the U.S. Department of Justice began criminal proceedings against W.R. Grace. The department announced that a grand jury in Montana indicted W.R. Grace and seven current and former Grace executives for knowingly endangering residents of [[Libby, Montana]], and concealing information about the health effects of its asbestos mining operations. According to the indictment, W. R. Grace and its executives, as far back as the 1970s, attempted to conceal information about the adverse health effects of the company’s [[vermiculite]] mining operations and distribution of vermiculite in the [[Libby, Montana]] community. The defendants are also accused of obstructing the government’s cleanup efforts and wire fraud. To date, according to the indictment, approximately 1,200 residents of Libby area have been identified as suffering from some kind of asbestos-related abnormality.<ref>United States Department of Justice [http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2005/February/05_enrd_048.htm W.R. Grace and Executives Charges with Fraud, Obstruction of Justice, and Endangering Libby, Montana Community], February 7, 2005 press release (last accessed August 28, 2007)</ref> The criminal proceedings are ongoing as of July 2007.<ref>Carrie Johnson [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/12/AR2007071201799.html Asbestos Evidentiary Ruling Goes Against Grace], ''Washington Post'', Friday, July 13, 2007; Page D05 (last accessed on August 28, 2007)</ref> ===Popular culture reaction=== The movie [[A Civil Action]], starring [[John Travolta]], was based on these law suits. The [[PBS]] television show ''[[P.O.V.]]'', which highlights independent films in August 2007 premiered the movie ''Libby, Montana'' that documents the thousands of people in [[Libby, Montana]], that have been exposed to and are suffering the effects of exposure to asbestos. The show also discusses the criminal indictments of many Grace executives for covering up the asbestos related illnesses and deaths. [[NPR]] ran a piece on their show ''[[All Things Considered]]'' discussing the criminal charges against W. R. Grace. A U.S. attorney general alleges that the company and managers of the mine in Libby, Montana, knew about the dangers of the asbestos they were dumping into the air for over 20 years.<ref>[http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4491181 NPR.org episode discussing the criminal liability of WR Grace and its executives]</ref> A University of Montana photojournalism master's thesis, [http://www.livingwithgrace.us/ Living with Grace], explored the ramifications of living with asbestosis, a disease associated with the vermiculite mine run by W.R. Grace. ===See also=== * ''[[Anderson v. Cryovac]]'', C.A. No. 82-1672-S (D. Mass)(''Anne Anderson et al. v. Cryovac Inc. W.R. Grace Inc., John J. Riley Company Inc., Beatrice Inc. et al.'' Superior Court Civil Action #82-2444, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Filed May 14, 1982.) :: ''Anderson v. Cryovac, Inc.'', 96 F.R.D. 431 (D. Mass. 1983) :: ''Anderson v. W.R. Grace & Co.'', 628 F. Supp. 1219 (D. Mass. 1986) :: ''Anderson v. Cryovac, Inc.'', 805 F.2d 1 (1st Cir. Mass. 1986) :: ''Anderson v. Cryovac, Inc.'', 862 F.2d 910 (1st Cir. Mass. 1988), on remand, Anderson v. Beatrice Foods Co., 127 F.R.D. 1 (D. Mass. 1989) :: ''[[Anderson v. Beatrice Foods Co.]]'', 129 F.R.D. 394 (D. Mass. 1989), aff'd, 900 F.2d 388 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 891 (1990) * [[Beatrice Foods]] * ''[[Riley v. Harr]],'' No. 01-1648 United States Court of Appeals - First Circuit (''John J. Riley, Jr. and Diana W. Riley (Plaintiffs, Appellants) v. Jonathan Harr; Random House, Inc., New York; Vintage Books; Random House Audio Publishing, Inc. (Defendants, Appellees'') ==References== {{reflist}} == External links == *[http://www.grace.com Corporate web site] *[http://www.civil-action.com/ Grace's Response to the Woburn Incident] *[http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/uncivilaction/ The Seattle PI's Coverage of Libby Montana] *[http://imdb.com/title/tt0433408/ IMDb listing for the film ''Libby, Montana''] [[Category:Chemical companies of the United States]] [[Category:Companies based in Columbia, Maryland]] [[Category:Companies established in 1854]] [[de:W. R. Grace and Company]] [[fr:W. R. Grace and Company]]