BRIEF: Pittsburgh Corning emerges from Chapter 11 bankruptcy

April 27--Sixteen years after it filed for bankruptcy under the weight of hundreds of thousands of asbestos-related claims lodged against it, Pittsburgh Corning has emerged from Chapter 11 protection.

The Plum-based company this morning said it will be owned by a trust valued at $3.5 billion that has been created to pay out claims to people who said Pittsburgh Corning's asbestos caused deadly cancers and other illnesses.

PPG and Corning Inc., which formed Pittsburgh Corning as a joint venture in 1937, will fund the trust along with their insurance companies and contributions from Pittsburgh Corning.

The claims against the company involve asbestos pipe insulation called Unibestos manufactured from 1962 to 1972 at Pittsburgh Corning plants in Tyler, Texas, and Port Allegany, McKean County.

The company was named as a defendant in more than 400,000 lawsuits and settled about 200,000 before it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2000.

Pittsburgh Corning now makes glass block products used in industrial and residential structures.

Joyce Gannon: jgannon@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1580.

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