The asbestos bankruptcy trust funds currently hold more than $30 billion in funds set aside specifically to compensate workers and their families for asbestos-related disease. For refractory masons, the trusts reachable are led by the refractory manufacturers whose asbestos-bearing brick, castable, and gunning mix the trade cut, mixed, and installed, plus the insulation makers whose block lagging and pipe covering wrapped the same furnaces and boilers.
Trust funds relevant to refractory-mason exposure
| Trust Fund | How refractory masons were exposed |
|---|---|
| Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust | Johns-Manville refractory, block insulation, and transite around the furnaces and boilers the trade lined |
| Owens-Corning / Fibreboard Asbestos PI Trust | Kaylo pipe covering, calcium silicate block insulation |
| Pittsburgh Corning Asbestos PI Trust | Unibestos amosite pipe covering |
| Eagle-Picher Industries PI Settlement Trust | Block insulation, pipe covering |
| Armstrong World Industries Asbestos PI Trust | Calcium silicate insulation |
| Babcock & Wilcox Asbestos PI Trust | Industrial boilers whose refractory linings refractory masons installed and relined |
| Combustion Engineering 524(g) Asbestos PI Trust | Industrial boiler manufacturer |
| Celotex Asbestos Settlement Trust | Celotex pipe insulation |
| Keene Creditors Trust | Keene insulation products |
| W.R. Grace Asbestos PI Settlement Trust | Spray fireproofing (Monokote variants) |
| A.P. Green Industries Asbestos PI Trust | Asbestos-bearing refractory brick, castable, and gunning mix — cut, mixed, and installed by refractory masons |
| Dresser/Harbison-Walker Asbestos Trust | Refractory brick and castable — the trade’s core material in furnace and kiln linings |
How trust-fund claims work
Asbestos bankruptcy trust claims and civil lawsuits run on separate tracks — both can be pursued in parallel. Each trust has its own filing requirements, exposure-documentation criteria, occupation/jobsite verification process, and payout schedule. A career refractory mason may have legitimate claims against multiple separate trusts.
The trust claim process is significantly faster than civil litigation in most cases. Trust payouts are based on a published value matrix that takes into account the disease, the exposure documentation, and the claim type. An experienced asbestos attorney can analyze which trusts apply, file simultaneously, and aggregate the recoveries on the client’s behalf.
Where to start
Identify the products you handled, the jobsites you worked, the dates of your apprenticeship and journeyman years, and your Local number. From there, the O’Brien Law Firm intake team can analyze which trusts and civil actions apply.
Free case review — (314) 237-3332
Trust fund administration and payout schedules are determined by each trust’s 524(g) plan. Information here is summary only; specific trust eligibility requires individual analysis under each trust’s published claim criteria.