Refractory & High-Temperature Materials Asbestos Trust Funds

Refractory Asbestos Trust Fund Facts

Why Refractory Products Created Asbestos Exposure

Refractory materials are engineered to tolerate very high temperatures. Historically, asbestos was incorporated into or used alongside some heat-resistant industrial products because of its thermal properties. Exposure could occur when workers mixed, cut, installed, removed, repaired or disturbed asbestos-containing refractory and insulation materials.

Potentially exposed workers included refractory masons, bricklayers, boilermakers, furnace and kiln workers, insulators, steelworkers, foundry workers, maintenance mechanics, pipefitters and other industrial trades. Exposure history must be evaluated product by product and company by company; working around high-temperature equipment alone does not prove exposure to a particular bankrupt company’s asbestos-containing product.

Major Refractory-Related Asbestos Trusts

Several bankruptcy trusts can be relevant to a refractory-products exposure history. The correct trust depends on the manufacturer or legally responsible entity, the specific product, worksite and time period.

This is not a statement that every refractory worker qualifies for every listed trust. Each claim requires evidence satisfying the particular trust’s medical and exposure criteria.

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NARCO Asbestos Claims

North American Refractories Company filed Chapter 11 on January 4, 2002. Its Plan of Reorganization became effective April 30, 2013 and established the North American Refractories Company Asbestos Personal Injury Settlement Trust.

The official Trust FAQ states that the Trust resolves claims and demands caused in whole or in part by exposure to asbestos-containing products manufactured, sold or distributed by NARCO or its predecessors for which NARCO and/or Honeywell and their covered predecessors, successors or assigns have legal liability.

NARCO uses claim categories and procedures that differ from many conventional asbestos trusts, including Pre-Established Claims and Annual Contribution Claims. Claimants should use the current NARCO TDP and official filing materials rather than applying another trust’s disease schedule or payment percentage to a NARCO claim.

DII Industries and Harbison-Walker Claims

The DII Industries, LLC Asbestos PI Trust separately handles qualifying claims involving covered Halliburton and Harbison-Walker entities. Harbison-Walker is especially relevant to refractory exposure histories.

The current official DII site states a 60% Payment Percentage. It publishes separate claim values for Harbison-Walker Entity Claims and Halliburton or Non-Harbison-Walker Entity Claims, so those schedules must not be conflated.

For example, the current official Expedited Review page lists a Harbison-Walker Mesothelioma Scheduled Value of $144,897.50, while the Halliburton/Non-Harbison-Walker Mesothelioma Scheduled Value is $60,718.95. At a 60% Payment Percentage, those underlying values remain subject to the applicable Trust rules and claim qualification requirements.

Mathematical illustration only — not a guaranteed payment. $144,897.50 × 60% = $86,938.50. This example applies only to the cited Harbison-Walker scheduled-value framework and does not establish that a claimant qualifies for that value.

Other Refractory-Related Trusts

Refractory exposure histories can also implicate other bankrupt companies depending on the product and jobsite. A.P. Green Industries manufactured refractory products and became part of bankruptcy proceedings that produced asbestos trust remedies. Pittsburgh Corning also has an active asbestos personal-injury settlement trust for qualifying exposure to products for which Pittsburgh Corning has legal responsibility.

Pittsburgh Corning filed Chapter 11 on April 16, 2000. Its official Trust states that it began accepting claims on March 21, 2017. Federal court records describe the Plan’s creation of the Pittsburgh Corning Asbestos PI Trust and the channeling of qualifying asbestos claims to that Trust.

A claimant should not file against a company merely because its products were used in the same furnace, mill, plant or industry. Product identification and legally sufficient exposure evidence remain central to trust eligibility.

Medical and Exposure Evidence

Asbestos trusts generally require medical evidence supporting the claimed asbestos-related disease and credible evidence connecting the injured person to asbestos-containing products for which the particular debtor or covered entity has legal responsibility.

Useful exposure evidence can include employment records, Social Security work history, union records, jobsite records, product invoices, deposition testimony, affidavits, co-worker testimony and approved site or product lists where a trust recognizes them.

The DII Trust, for example, publishes affidavit guidelines explaining that affidavits used to establish Halliburton or Harbison-Walker exposure must be credible and, at undocumented sites, should specifically identify the asbestos-containing product and explain how the witness knows it was a covered debtor product.

Filing and Payment Considerations

Each asbestos trust has its own Trust Distribution Procedures, claim forms, disease criteria, exposure standards, deadlines, review methods and payment rules. A claimant potentially exposed to products from several bankrupt manufacturers may have more than one trust to investigate, but eligibility must be established separately for each.

Payment percentages also cannot be transferred from one trust to another. A 60% DII rate, for example, says nothing about the amount payable by NARCO, Pittsburgh Corning or another trust.

Scheduled Values are not guaranteed payments. Some trusts multiply an allowed or liquidated value by a Payment Percentage, while others use different funding or claim-payment mechanisms. Individual Review can also produce different valuations from Expedited Review.

Historical trust funding should not be described as current assets. Likewise, the number of asbestos lawsuits filed against a debtor before bankruptcy is not the same as the number of trust claims paid after the trust was created.

Confirmed Primary Sources

No law-firm or lead-generation website was used as factual authority for the trust-specific facts in this guide. Primary and government sources reviewed include:

• Official NARCO Asbestos Trust — current FAQ, claim procedures and Trust documents.
• Official DII Industries, LLC Asbestos PI Trust — current ER/IR values, Payment Percentage and exposure guidance.
• Official Pittsburgh Corning Corporation Asbestos PI Settlement Trust — Trust purpose, filing status and current claim materials.
• U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings describing NARCO’s Plan, Trust structure and Honeywell funding obligations.
• Federal court records describing the NARCO and Pittsburgh Corning §524(g) trust structures.

Current financial totals and claim-payment statistics are not generalized across this category because they differ materially by trust and reporting period. Those figures should be verified from each trust’s current primary records on the individual trust page.

Get Help Reviewing Refractory Asbestos Trust Claims

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Working around refractory or high-temperature materials does not automatically establish asbestos exposure, trust eligibility or compensation. A claim depends on diagnosis, credible evidence of exposure to a covered asbestos-containing product, the responsible entity, applicable Trust procedures and individual circumstances. Compensation is not guaranteed.