A. P. Green Industries

A.P. Green Industries and Asbestos

A.P. Green Industries manufactured products intended to withstand high heat, and some of them contained asbestos. Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral added to many products to make them resistant to heat and chemical corrosion.

Products such as adhesives and cements contained varying levels of asbestos. Plant workers and product installers were routinely exposed to asbestos in these products. It is estimated that A.P. Green products contained an average of 3% to 5% asbestos, though some contained as much as 18%.

A.P. Green plant employees regularly worked in an environment polluted with airborne asbestos fibers. This exposure put workers at risk of developing asbestos-related diseases such as mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis.

Out of 1,200 products manufactured by A. P. Green, 22 contained asbestos. A.P. Green removed asbestos from all but one product, Green PC, by 1973. In 1976 A.P. Green discontinued production of Green PC.

A.P. Green Products Containing Asbestos

• A.P. Green Insulating Cement was manufactured from 1948-1971 and contained between 3.5% and 9% asbestos.
• Castable Block Mix was made from 1955-1972 and contained 7.8% asbestos.
• Green PC was made in the 1960s and 1970s and contained 1% asbestos.
• Insulation Adhesive was made from 1947-1972 and contained 15.5% asbestos.
• Insulation Coating was manufactured from 1948-1971 and contained between 6.5% and 18% asbestos. This coating was weatherproof and used on insulation to resist moisture.
• Kast-O-Lite Gunning Refractory was made from 1956-1972 and contained 1% asbestos.
• Mizzou GR was an asbestos-containing gunning refractory product made from 1966-1972.
• SK-7 Cement was made from 1953 to 1972 and contained 2.3% asbestos. It was used in shipbuilding, roofing, boilers, oven and furnaces.

A.P. Green manufactured other asbestos-containing products, including Castable Mix, Greencast, Steelplant Castable, Dropsy Fry, Insblock, Loose Wool Insulation, LoAbrade GR, Therm-O-Flake Coating and Therm-O-Flake Block Insulation. These products were produced between the 1940s and the early 1970s.

Development of APG Asbestos Trust

From 1995 to 2007, workers filed 357,000 asbestos lawsuits against A.P. Green. In February 2002, the company and two of its affiliates, Global Industrial Technologies Inc. and Harbison-Walker, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Although RHI Refractories, the parent company, cited the economic recession as a reason for the Chapter 11 filing, asbestos-related litigation was the primary cause.

Companies that file Chapter 11 bankruptcy because of asbestos litigation are often required to create a trust with funds to compensate future asbestos victims. Because A.P. Green was acquired by U.S. Gypsum Company in 1967, its trust is set up under the United States Gypsum Asbestos Personal Injury Trust.

The APG Asbestos Trust opened its claims review process on Dec. 2, 2013. The filing deadline for claimants diagnosed before 2002 was Sept. 6, 2017.

Claimants diagnosed after Feb. 14, 2002, must file a claim with the trust within three years of their diagnosis. The initial payment percentage for the APG Asbestos Trust is set at 4.5%.

Most asbestos trust funds only pay a percentage of each claim to ensure enough money is available for all present and future claims.

In June 2021, the trust made permanent policy adjustments to accommodate the COVID-19 pandemic. Moving forward, claimants may sign documents electronically, and a notary is no longer required to sign certain documents.

On July 26, 2017, the qualified job site list was updated. It includes thousands of job sites where A.P. Green products were used. Claimants must have worked at one of the qualified job sites to file a claim with the trust.

Asbestos Litigation Involving A.P. Green

A.P. Green has been named as a defendant in many asbestos lawsuits because their asbestos products exposed workers to harmful asbestos fibers, resulting in asbestos-related diseases.

Plaintiffs diagnosed with conditions such as mesothelioma and lung cancer have filed lawsuits against A.P. Green Industries, claiming their products caused these illnesses.

The many lawsuits eventually led A.P. Green to file for bankruptcy in 2002.

Asbestos Exposure in Plant Workers

Scientific research has documented the conditions and health effects of working with asbestos products in factory settings, where most A.P. Green products were made and used.

A 2015 Italian study tracked mesothelioma cases from 2000 to 2011 near an asbestos cement factory and found 147 cases compared to only 17 expected.

A.P. Green produced SK-7 Cement, an asbestos-containing cement with 2.3% asbestos. Workers who made this product or used it on the job faced a significant risk of asbestos exposure that could lead to illness later.

A 2016 Polish study found the highest asbestos fiber concentrations in textile plants, followed by insulation product plants, with asbestos cement plants having the lowest levels. A.P. Green manufactured both asbestos cement and insulation products.

Workers in occupations such as bricklaying, pipefitting and insulation installation were at risk of asbestos exposure from A.P. Green products.

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