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Synkoloid Company (Artra Group)
The Synkoloid Company was a division of the Artra Group that produced a variety of patching products such as Spackling Paste, Tuff Patch Texture and Wood Patch. In 1981, The Muralo Company entered into a deal with Artra that ended with Muralo owning most of the Synkoloid divisions. They also inadvertently inherited a large number of personal injury lawsuits when the deal was finalized.
Many of the products produced by the Synkoloid Company contained a naturally occurring material called asbestos. Following its initial discovery, asbestos quickly became one of the primary ingredients in several industrial and commercial based products. It was later found to be highly toxic, and exposure to the material has been linked to respiratory diseases and cancer, most commonly Mesothelioma. These conditions can be deadly, and often take several years to fully develop. As instances of illnesses began to be diagnosed and later linked to the products made by Synkoloid, claims began to be filed against the company. Lawyers sued the Artra Group on behalf of the victims of these health issues, and soon there were more than 46,000 plaintiffs filing against the company. By 2002 Artra had declared bankruptcy.
As part of the reorganization policy that Artra entered into with the United States Bankruptcy Court, they established the Artra Asbestos Trust in 2007. The trustees were given specific procedures that they had to follow in order to properly review and determine the outcome of each one. Cases that were found to be valid were paid out according to the severity of the claim. A filing period for all claims was set to begin on November 1, 2007.
When Artra first declared bankruptcy, many lawyers directed their claims to The Muralo Co. In an attempt to get out from under these lawsuits, Muralo followed suit and petitioned the Bankruptcy Court for protection in 2003. This allowed the company to resolve any outstanding litigation and continue to operate on its own merits and as the new owner of the Synkoloid Company. All unfinished claims were eventually redirected to the Artra Asbestos Trust to be officially settled.