Unarco Industries / UNR Industries: Asbestos Pipe Covering and the UNR Asbestos-Disease Claims Trust

Unarco Industries was a Chicago-based manufacturer whose pipe-covering products contained asbestos and were widely installed across American industrial and commercial jobsites from the 1940s through 1970. The company’s flagship insulation product, Unibestos pipe covering, exposed generations of tradespeople to airborne asbestos fibers during installation, maintenance, and removal. Unarco Industries later reorganized as UNR Industries and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1982, a filing driven in substantial part by the volume of asbestos personal injury claims the company faced. That reorganization ultimately produced the UNR Asbestos-Disease Claims Trust, which remains active and continues to compensate eligible claimants today.

Company History

Unarco Industries was founded in 1940 and established its headquarters in Chicago, Illinois. The company entered the industrial insulation market during a period of intense manufacturing and construction activity in the United States, when asbestos was the dominant raw material used in thermal pipe insulation. Asbestos was prized for its heat resistance, durability, and relatively low cost, and it was incorporated into pipe-covering products that were sold to contractors, shipyards, power plants, refineries, and industrial facilities nationwide.

Unarco’s pipe-covering business operated through the postwar construction boom of the late 1940s and 1950s and continued through the 1960s. The company ceased incorporating asbestos into its products in 1970, a date that coincides with growing regulatory and scientific awareness of asbestos-related disease. However, products manufactured and installed before that date remained in place in thousands of facilities for years and, in some cases, decades afterward — continuing to pose exposure risks to workers involved in maintenance, renovation, and demolition long after Unarco had stopped producing asbestos-containing materials.

As asbestos personal injury litigation accelerated through the late 1970s and into the early 1980s, Unarco Industries reorganized under the name UNR Industries. In 1982, UNR Industries filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. This filing was among the earliest asbestos-driven corporate bankruptcies in the United States and helped establish the legal and procedural framework that would be used in subsequent asbestos bankruptcy cases. The reorganization plan that emerged from the Chapter 11 proceeding established the UNR Asbestos-Disease Claims Trust to address the company’s long-term asbestos liability.

Asbestos-Containing Products

Unibestos Pipe Covering

Unarco Industries manufactured Unibestos pipe covering, a thermal insulation product designed to wrap steam pipes, hot-water lines, and other high-temperature piping systems in industrial and commercial settings. Unibestos is documented as a precursor formulation to pipe-covering products later associated with Pittsburgh Corning, reflecting the interrelated nature of the mid-century asbestos insulation industry.

Unibestos pipe covering was composed of asbestos-containing materials that, when cut, fitted, sanded, or disturbed during installation or removal, released respirable asbestos fibers into the surrounding air. The product was manufactured and sold from the 1940s through 1970, when Unarco ceased asbestos use. It was distributed to and installed in a wide range of jobsite categories, including:

  • Power generation facilities — boiler rooms, turbine halls, and steam distribution systems
  • Oil refineries and chemical plants — process piping requiring high-temperature insulation
  • Shipyards and naval vessels — pipe runs throughout engine rooms and below-deck spaces
  • Commercial and institutional construction — large buildings with central heating systems
  • Industrial manufacturing facilities — anywhere high-temperature process piping was in use

The asbestos content in Unibestos and similar mid-century pipe-covering products typically ranged from approximately 15% to as high as 85% by weight depending on the specific formulation and product variant, consistent with documentation from this category of industrial insulation.

Occupational Exposure

Workers across multiple trades encountered Unibestos pipe covering during its manufacture, distribution, installation, and subsequent disturbance over the product’s service life. The fiber release hazard was not limited to the initial installation phase. Because asbestos-containing pipe covering remained in service for decades, workers who performed maintenance or renovation work in facilities where Unibestos had been installed faced ongoing exposure risks well into the 1980s and beyond.

Trades with documented exposure pathways include:

  • Pipefitters and steamfitters — who measured, cut, and fitted pipe insulation directly around piping systems, generating dust at close range
  • Insulators (asbestos workers) — whose trade work centered on the application and removal of thermal insulation products, including pipe covering
  • Plumbers — who worked alongside insulation materials during rough-in and service work
  • Boilermakers — who worked in boiler rooms where insulated steam piping was heavily concentrated
  • Millwrights and industrial mechanics — who disturbed existing pipe insulation during equipment repairs and facility maintenance
  • Laborers and helpers — who swept, cleaned, and worked in enclosed spaces where asbestos dust accumulated
  • Shipyard workers — including laggers, pipe coverers, and machinists who worked in the confined spaces of vessels where fiber concentrations could be especially high

Secondary or bystander exposure is also documented in this product category. Workers in adjacent trades — electricians, carpenters, painters — who worked in the same spaces where pipe covering was being installed or removed inhaled airborne fibers without directly handling the material. Family members of workers who carried asbestos-laden dust home on clothing and hair may also have experienced secondary exposure.

Diseases associated with occupational asbestos exposure from products like Unibestos pipe covering include mesothelioma, lung cancer, asbestosis, pleural plaques, and other asbestos-related pleural conditions. These diseases have characteristically long latency periods — often 20 to 50 years between initial exposure and clinical diagnosis — meaning that workers exposed to Unarco products in the 1950s, 1960s, or early 1970s may only now be receiving diagnoses.

UNR Asbestos-Disease Claims Trust

Unarco Industries’ Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, filed in 1982 under the UNR Industries name, ultimately produced the UNR Asbestos-Disease Claims Trust. This trust was established to provide compensation to individuals who developed asbestos-related diseases as a result of exposure to products manufactured by Unarco Industries / UNR Industries, including Unibestos pipe covering.

The UNR Asbestos-Disease Claims Trust is an active trust and continues to accept and process claims from eligible individuals.

Who May Be Eligible to File

To establish eligibility for a claim against the UNR Asbestos-Disease Claims Trust, a claimant generally must demonstrate:

  1. A qualifying diagnosis — A medically documented asbestos-related disease, including mesothelioma, lung cancer with asbestos exposure history, asbestosis, or a qualifying pleural condition
  2. Exposure to Unarco / UNR products — Documented or credibly established contact with Unibestos pipe covering or other Unarco Industries asbestos-containing products
  3. Exposure during the relevant period — Work history placing the claimant at a jobsite where Unarco products were present, generally between the 1940s and 1970 (or during subsequent disturbance of installed materials)

Claims may be filed by diagnosed individuals directly or by the estate representatives of deceased workers. Family members who experienced secondary household exposure may also have standing to pursue claims depending on their diagnosis and documented exposure circumstances.

How to File a Claim

Claims against the UNR Asbestos-Disease Claims Trust are processed through the trust’s established claims procedures. The process typically involves:

  • Gathering exposure documentation — employment records, union records, co-worker affidavits, Social Security earnings records, or other evidence placing the claimant at a worksite where Unarco products were present
  • Obtaining medical records — pathology reports, biopsy results, imaging studies, and physician statements confirming the asbestos-related diagnosis
  • Submitting a claim form — through the trust’s official claims submission process, which may be filed directly or through legal counsel
  • Awaiting review and determination — the trust reviews submitted documentation against its established medical and exposure criteria

Because trust claims procedures involve specific evidentiary requirements and filing deadlines, most claimants work with an attorney experienced in asbestos trust fund claims to ensure that documentation is complete and submitted correctly.

Summary: Your Options If You Were Exposed to Unarco Products

If you or a family member worked with or around Unibestos pipe covering or other Unarco Industries products — particularly in pipefitting, insulation, shipyard, refinery, power plant, or industrial maintenance work between the 1940s and 1970s — and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, lung cancer, asbestosis, or a related condition, you may be eligible to file a claim against the UNR Asbestos-Disease Claims Trust.

The trust was created specifically to compensate people in your situation. Filing a trust claim does not require filing a lawsuit, though a diagnosis of mesothelioma or lung cancer may also support claims against other responsible parties, since most workers were exposed to products from multiple manufacturers over the course of a career.

Consulting with an attorney who handles asbestos trust fund claims is the most reliable way to understand which trusts you may qualify for, what documentation you will need, and whether litigation against additional defendants is appropriate in your case. Trust claims have filing deadlines, and mesothelioma diagnoses in particular benefit from prompt action given the nature of the disease.