Keasbey & Mattison Co. / Nicolet Industries, Inc. plant at Ambler, Pennsylvania

Keasbey & Mattison Company's plant at Ambler, Pennsylvania, was later run by Nicolet Industries, Inc.^2,5 The earliest source here describes its asbestos-cement pipe works while they were being built: in August 1937 the company told Asbestos, the industry's trade journal, that "A new plant, representing an investment of $760,000.00 is now under construction at Ambler, for the sole manufacture of this product," asbestos-cement pressure pipe, to "begin production early in 1938."¹ It planned "a weekly capacity of 150 tons, or approximately 10 miles of asbestos-cement pipe," and said the new Ambler plant and a second one at Saint Louis would together employ "approximately 350 men."¹ In January 1939 the company's president, Ernest Muehleck, wrote in the same journal that during 1938 the company "completed its new works" at Ambler and Saint Louis "for the manufacture of asbestos-cement pressure pipes, cable conduit and tubing."³

What the plant made

A 1936 article in Asbestos described sprayed Limpet as "manufactured by Keasbey & Mattison Company, Ambler, Pa."; the same article reported it used on the underdecks and bulkheads of the Gulf Refining Company tankers Gulf Belle and Gulf Dawn, and said that "Because of its asbestos content, fire-resisting qualities are high."⁷

The Navy's list of qualified products names Ambler as the plant for two insulations: Hy-Temp, listed under Keasbey & Mattison in 1951, and Kaytherm, in 1958.⁸ Later editions of the list carry both products under Nicolet Industries.⁸ An insurance company's 1981 list, compiled from other companies' answers in lawsuits, gives Kaytherm "15" in its asbestos column, which reads as 15% asbestos; that figure describes the product in general, not Ambler's output in particular.⁹

Under Nicolet the plant made asbestos-cement sheet. Asbestos reported in March 1965 that a press at "Nicolet's plant in Ambler, Pennsylvania," made the blanks for Monobestos, Resistal, KolorMate and Ebonized Asbestos.⁶ In December 1965 the journal reported that Nicolet "put a giant 6,900-ton monolithic board-producing press into use at its Ambler plant which plays an integral part in the manufacture of asbestos-cement products."² In 1970 Asbestos called KolorMate "a monolithic asbestos-cement sheet developed and manufactured by Nicolet Industries, Inc., Ambler, Pennsylvania."¹⁰

The people and the changes

In May 1961 Asbestos reported that Richard E. Lander, assistant manager of "Plant 8, KEASBEY & MATTISON COMPANY'S asbestos-cement pipe manufacturing facility, Ambler, Pennsylvania," had been appointed plant manager.⁴

A history printed in Asbestos in February 1971 says Keasbey & Mattison "closed its textile operations at Ambler and concentrated all textile manufacture in the Meredith plant, where operations were started in 1951."⁵ In the same history, R. M. Bateman, chairman of Turner & Newall, wrote that "Keasbey & Mattison had already ceased manufacture of asbestos-cement building products," and that Turner & Newall reorganized its American interests by selling "the pipe plants to Certain-teed Products" and "the remaining manufacturing operations to Nicolet"; the history does not say which of those sales took in Ambler.⁵

Location

Pictures of products made here

Labels, packages, photographs and catalog pages from our library of products documents say were made at this plant. Each picture has its own page and library number.

• Data sheet: Sprayed "Limpet" Asbestos (K&M)Limpet (Keasbey & Mattison)Data sheet or specification · ACL Doc 15247
• Product photograph: "KAYTHERM" PIPE INSULATIONKaytherm (Nicolet)Product photograph · ACL Doc 15107
• Product photograph: HY-TEMP BLOCKS (Keasby & Mattison Company)Hy-temp (Nicolet)Product photograph · ACL Doc 15155
• Label: KolorMate vinyl coated asbestos cement sheet (Nicolet Industries, Inc.)Kolormate (Nicolet)Label or package · ACL Doc 20430
• Label: Sprayed "Limpet" Asbestos sample (Keasbey & Mattison Company)Limpet (Keasbey & Mattison)Label or package · ACL Doc 20579
• Label: Monobestos (Nicolet, Inc.)Monobestos (Nicolet)Label or package · ACL Doc 20457

Asbestos products made here

The products documents say were made at this plant, with the years a document gives for the product here. Each product's page has what the documents say about it, including its asbestos content.

• Hy-temp (Nicolet)⁸
• Kaytherm (Nicolet)⁸
• Kolormate (Nicolet) · from 1965⁶
• Limpet (Keasbey & Mattison)⁷
• Monobestos (Nicolet) · from 1965⁶

What each document says

Every statement about this plant in the documents, in each document's own words.

Other names

Documents call this plant “Ambler, Pa.”, “Ambler, Pennsylvania”, “Nicolet's plant in Ambler, Pennsylvania”.

See also

• Keasbey & Mattison Co.: the company's history, documents, people, products and plants
• Nicolet Industries, Inc.: the company's history, documents, people, products and plants
• Asbestos exposure sites in Pennsylvania

References

1. Asbestos Magazine, 1937, August 1937 (August 1, 1937), p. 20.
2. Asbestos Magazine, 1965, December 1965 (December 1, 1965), p. 5.
3. Asbestos Magazine, 1939, January 1939 (January 1, 1939), p. 8.
4. Asbestos Magazine, 1961, May 1961 (May 1, 1961), p. 54.
5. Asbestos Magazine, 1971, February 1971 (February 1, 1971), p. 12.
6. Asbestos Magazine, 1965, March 1965 (March 1, 1965), p. 12.
7. Asbestos Magazine, 1936, September 1936 (September 1, 1936), pp. 14–15.
8. Military Qualified Products List (1951–1995) (December 3, 1951), pp. 2, 38, 96, 98.
9. The Travelers Insurance Company's Product Information Booklet for Its Asbestos Seminar (1980–1981) (April 30, 1981), p. 6.
10. Asbestos Magazine, 1970, February 1970 (February 1, 1970), p. 28.