A.P. Green Industries / A.P. Green Refractories

Headquarters: Mexico, Missouri | Founded: 1910 | Ceased Asbestos Use: 1971

Company History

A.P. Green Industries was founded in 1910 in Mexico, Missouri, and grew to become one of the most recognized names in industrial refractory manufacturing in the United States. For decades, the company supplied heat-resistant materials to the backbone of American heavy industry — steel mills, aluminum smelters, foundries, glass plants, petrochemical refineries, and power generation facilities. Its product lines spanned insulating cements, gunning refractories, castable linings, and specialty coatings engineered to withstand extreme temperatures in kilns, furnaces, boilers, and industrial vessels.

Throughout much of the twentieth century, asbestos was a standard component in refractory formulations. The mineral’s fiber structure made it an effective reinforcing agent in high-heat applications, and A.P. Green incorporated chrysotile and other asbestos varieties into several of its most widely distributed product lines from the 1940s through the early 1970s. The company ceased incorporating asbestos into its products by approximately 1971.

As asbestos-related disease litigation expanded through the 1980s and 1990s, A.P. Green faced an escalating volume of personal injury and wrongful death claims filed by workers who had handled or worked near its asbestos-containing products. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2002. That bankruptcy reorganization resulted in the establishment of an asbestos personal injury trust fund, which remains active today.

Asbestos-Containing Products

A.P. Green manufactured and distributed several documented asbestos-containing products that reached industrial worksites across the United States. The following products have been identified in bankruptcy trust documentation, product literature, and occupational exposure records.

A.P. Green Insulating Cement (1948–1971)

A.P. Green Insulating Cement was manufactured with asbestos fiber content from at least 1948 through 1971. This product was used extensively in industrial settings to insulate boiler exteriors, pipe fittings, flanges, valve coverings, and high-temperature equipment. Workers applied the cement by hand, mixing dry powder with water on-site and troweling it onto hot surfaces. During mixing and application, and particularly during removal and repair of existing insulation, the product released visible asbestos dust. Insulation mechanics, pipefitters, boilermakers, and maintenance workers who used or worked adjacent to A.P. Green Insulating Cement were exposed to airborne asbestos fibers over extended periods.

Kast-O-Lite Gunning Refractory (1956–1972)

Kast-O-Lite was A.P. Green’s branded line of gunning refractory — a castable material applied pneumatically using a “gunite” or spray-gunning apparatus. The product was used to build and resurface the interior linings of industrial furnaces, ladles, and kilns. Kast-O-Lite Gunning Refractory contained asbestos fiber as a component of its formulation from 1956 through approximately 1972. Workers who operated gunning equipment, mixed refractory material, or performed repair work on furnace linings containing Kast-O-Lite were exposed to asbestos-laden dust during both application and demolition phases.

Greencast Refractory Castables

Greencast was a line of poured and cast refractory products used to form monolithic furnace linings and other industrial structures requiring thermal resistance. Greencast formulations included asbestos-containing grades marketed to steel and aluminum producers. Workers involved in casting, forming, and finishing Greencast refractory, as well as those who later broke out or removed hardened lining material, encountered friable asbestos-containing debris.

Mizzou Refractory Lining

Mizzou was among A.P. Green’s most recognized branded refractories, widely used as a high-alumina lining product in industrial furnaces and kilns. Certain Mizzou formulations produced during the asbestos era contained asbestos fiber. The product’s name became a recognized identifier in occupational exposure histories taken from steelworkers, refractory workers, and furnace masons who worked in facilities where Mizzou lining was installed or replaced.

Occupational Exposure

A.P. Green’s asbestos-containing products were distributed to heavy industrial facilities throughout the United States. The following industries and occupations represent the primary exposure pathways documented in trust claims and occupational histories.

Industries with documented A.P. Green product use:

  • Steel mills and integrated steelmaking facilities
  • Aluminum smelters and reduction plants
  • Petroleum refineries and petrochemical complexes
  • Electric power generating stations
  • Glass manufacturing plants
  • Cement kilns
  • Foundries and ferroalloy plants
  • Shipbuilding and ship repair facilities

Occupations with documented exposure:

  • Refractory workers and furnace masons
  • Boilermakers
  • Pipefitters and steamfitters
  • Insulators
  • Millwrights
  • Maintenance mechanics
  • Iron and steelworkers
  • Ironworkers involved in furnace relining
  • Industrial construction laborers

Exposure risks were highest during three distinct work phases: initial installation or spray application of fresh refractory material, ongoing maintenance or repair of furnace linings, and demolition or tear-out of aged and friable refractory containing asbestos. Bystander workers — those in the same work area who did not directly handle A.P. Green products — also faced inhalation risk when product dust became airborne during these operations.

Asbestos-related diseases associated with occupational exposure to refractory products include mesothelioma, lung cancer, asbestosis, and pleural disease. These conditions typically develop decades after initial exposure, meaning workers exposed to A.P. Green products during the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s may only now be receiving diagnoses.

Bankruptcy and Trust Establishment

A.P. Green Industries filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2002 in response to mass asbestos personal injury litigation. The company’s bankruptcy reorganization resulted in the creation of the A.P. Green Industries Asbestos Settlement Trust, a dedicated compensation vehicle funded to pay claims from workers and their families who suffered asbestos-related illness attributable to A.P. Green products.

The trust is administered under a Trust Distribution Procedure (TDP), which governs which disease categories are eligible, what documentation is required, and how payment levels are calculated. As with all asbestos personal injury trusts established through federal bankruptcy reorganization, the A.P. Green trust operates independently of the courts once the reorganization plan is confirmed.

Who May File a Claim

Individuals diagnosed with mesothelioma, lung cancer, asbestosis, or other asbestos-related conditions who can document occupational or secondary exposure to A.P. Green products may be eligible to file a claim against the A.P. Green Industries Asbestos Settlement Trust. Eligible claimants include:

  • Workers who directly handled A.P. Green insulating cement, Kast-O-Lite, Greencast, Mizzou, or other A.P. Green asbestos-containing products
  • Workers employed at facilities where A.P. Green products were regularly used, even if they did not personally apply the material
  • Family members of workers who were exposed through take-home contamination (secondary exposure via work clothing, tools, or vehicles)
  • Surviving family members filing on behalf of a deceased worker

Documentation Typically Required

Trust claims require medical documentation confirming an asbestos-related diagnosis and exposure evidence linking the claimant to A.P. Green products specifically. Useful exposure evidence includes employment records from industrial facilities where A.P. Green products were used, witness affidavits from coworkers, union membership records, and Social Security earnings histories showing work at steel mills, aluminum plants, refineries, or other heavy industrial sites during the relevant decades.

Product identification is an important part of building a strong claim. Workers and family members who recall specific product names — Kast-O-Lite, Greencast, Mizzou, or A.P. Green Insulating Cement — or who remember the A.P. Green company name on product bags or containers should document those recollections as part of the claims process.

Filing a Claim

Claims against the A.P. Green Industries Asbestos Settlement Trust are typically filed through an attorney who specializes in asbestos personal injury litigation. Trust claims and civil litigation are not mutually exclusive; workers may pursue trust recoveries from multiple defendants simultaneously, including both bankrupt-company trusts and active litigation against solvent defendants.

Summary

A.P. Green Industries manufactured documented asbestos-containing refractory products — including A.P. Green Insulating Cement, Kast-O-Lite Gunning Refractory, Greencast castables, and Mizzou refractory lining — from the late 1940s through 1971. These products were used in steel mills, aluminum plants, refineries, and other heavy industrial facilities across the United States. Workers in refractory, boilermaking, pipefitting, and related trades faced prolonged asbestos exposure through installation, maintenance, and removal of these materials.

Following its 2002 Chapter 11 filing, A.P. Green established the A.P. Green Industries Asbestos Settlement Trust, which remains available to compensate eligible claimants. Workers or family members with an asbestos-related diagnosis and a documented connection to A.P. Green products should consult an asbestos attorney to evaluate trust claim eligibility and review all available legal options.