Toledo's Owens-Illinois sees an end to asbestos liability lawsuits

The company expects to resolve its asbestos lawsuits within six or seven years.
TOLEDO (AP) -- Glass bottle maker Owens-Illinois Inc. says an end to its asbestos liability is in sight despite an increase in related lawsuits against the company.
Owens-Illinois took a charge of $450 million in the fourth quarter of last year to bolster its reserve for future asbestos-related lawsuits.
Still, the company is optimistic that the asbestos lawsuits will be wiped clean in six or seven years, said chief financial officer Thomas Young.
"Our claims against us will eventually disappear," Young said last week.
He's confident that the lawsuits will diminish because Owens-Illinois stopped making insulation with asbestos in 1958 and because its role was less than other companies.
"Our exposure is limited," Young said.
Asbestos lawsuits have forced 70 companies nationwide into bankruptcy, including five in Ohio.
Toledo-based Owens Corning, a maker of building materials and fiberglass, filed for bankruptcy protection in October 2000 because of rising costs from asbestos lawsuits.
The number of lawsuits filed against Owens-Illinois increased in 2003 -- growing from 24,000 pending cases at the end of 2002 to about 29,000 pending cases at the end of last year.
Young said that attempts by state and federal lawmakers to set limits on asbestos litigation created a spike in filings in the past year. Ohio lawmakers are working on legislation that could wipe away more than half of the 40,000 asbestos cases now pending in state courts.