Pittsburgh Corning Asbestos Settlement Trust

The Pittsburgh Corning Asbestos Settlement Trust is a court-supervised trust created in 2013 to pay current and future asbestos personal injury claims against Pittsburgh Corning Corporation, the maker of Unibestos and other amosite-containing insulation products. It was established under Section 524(g) of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code at the end of a bankruptcy that lasted from 2000 to 2013. Claimants file with the trust instead of suing the company in court, and approved claims are paid according to a published Trust Distribution Procedures (TDP) document.

Origin

Pittsburgh Corning was a joint venture of PPG Industries and Corning Incorporated, formed in 1937. It manufactured Unibestos pipe and block insulation from 1962 to 1972, a product made largely of amosite asbestos that caused widespread occupational disease among insulators, shipyard workers, and refinery and power plant workers. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April 2000; after more than a decade of litigation over the plan, the trust was confirmed and became effective on April 27, 2016, following the 2013 plan confirmation.

Significance in Asbestos Context

For patients exposed to Unibestos or other Pittsburgh Corning insulation, this trust, not a lawsuit against the company, is where compensation comes from. Pittsburgh Corning is one of the larger asbestos trusts, and many mesothelioma and lung cancer patients with insulation, shipyard, refinery, or industrial-plant exposure histories from the 1960s and 1970s have qualifying claims. Your legal team will gather work-history evidence (employer records, union records, Social Security earnings statements, co-worker affidavits) to show you were exposed to a Pittsburgh Corning product, and will file under the disease level that matches your diagnosis. The trust pays a percentage of the scheduled value, called the payment percentage, which is set by the trustees and can change over time as the trust manages its assets against expected future claims.

Example Sentence

Because her late husband worked as a pipefitter at a Gulf Coast refinery in the late 1960s, his attorney filed a mesothelioma claim with the Pittsburgh Corning Asbestos Settlement Trust along with claims against several other asbestos trusts.

Related Terms

524(g) Trust, Trust Distribution Procedures, Payment Percentage, Unibestos, Amosite, Asbestos Bankruptcy Trust

Notes

• Preserve every document that shows where and when you worked, especially between 1962 and 1972 when Unibestos was sold: pay stubs, W-2s, union cards, pension records, and Social Security earnings statements.
• Ask family members and former co-workers to write down what they remember about job sites, products on site, and insulation work. These statements often become key evidence for trust claims.
• Pittsburgh Corning is usually one of many trusts a patient can file with; ask your attorney for a full list of trusts being pursued so you understand the full picture of potential recovery.
• The current payment percentage and TDP are published by the trust and can be reviewed; ask your attorney what percentage of the scheduled value your claim is expected to receive.
• Claims have filing deadlines and evidence requirements that differ by disease level (mesothelioma, lung cancer, asbestosis, other). Confirm which level matches your diagnosis and pathology reports.