API, Inc. was a Minnesota-based industrial insulation contractor that sold, distributed, and installed asbestos-containing installation and other products from the time the company was founded in 1926 until 1973. The company largely conducted business in Minnesota and North Dakota, though its reach extended to South Dakota, western Wisconsin, and northern Michigan.[1]
When hundreds of individuals diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, asbestosis, asbestos-related lung cancer, and other asbestos-related diseases began filing personal injury lawsuits against them, the company filed for relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. The trust is active and well-funded and continues paying claims to asbestos exposure victims today.
API, Inc. Corporation History and Asbestos
Known today as API Construction Co., the company behind API, Inc. was founded in Minnesota in 1926. The mechanical company Reuben L. Anderson-Cherne established a small insulation contracting and distribution division. In 1948, the company’s insulation-related activities were spun off into a separate firm known as Asbestos Products.[2] In 1964, Lee Anderson joined his father’s business and began acquiring other companies, starting with the purchase of the Industrial Sprinkler Corporation, a fire protection company located in St. Paul. In 1972, Asbestos Products acquired Anco Products, a company that manufactured flexible heating and cooling air duct and insulation products. The company also made the Textrafine brand of insulation that was used in cryogenic tanks for the storage of liquefied natural gas. By the late 1970s, the division of the company known as Asbestos Products became API, Inc.[3]
From the time the company was founded through August 1, 1973, the company sold, distributed, and installed products containing asbestos, and through the time that API, Inc. filed its voluntary Petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in 2005, it sold, distributed and installed insulation construction material. The company’s asbestos settlement trust was approved by the bankruptcy courts in 2006 to compensate past, present, and future claimants with asbestos-related diseases or injuries resulting from exposure to asbestos from the company’s products or operations. The trust was initially funded with $94 million with a promise that it would be funded by future financial contributions by its parent company as needed.[1]
Asbestos Products Manufactured and Sold by API, Inc.
API Inc. and its subsidiary companies manufactured, sold, distributed, and installed asbestos-containing products such as insulation and asbestos-containing products. Their products included heating and cooling duct parts and insulation for pipes, boilers, wires, and other industrial uses. The company also distributed asbestos for Owens Corning.
People at Risk of Asbestos Exposure from API, Inc.
Asbestos insulation like that made, sold, and distributed by API, Inc. has been blamed for countless cases of malignant mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases. Asbestos’ physical characteristics make it flexible, strong, and resistant to heat and flame, and that made it an extremely effective component of insulation and other products. Unfortunately, it also breaks down into microscopic fibers when subjected to the type of manipulation required to install it in industrial and commercial applications, including insulating piping and ductwork.
When asbestos fibers are released into the air, they are easily inhaled or ingested, where they can become lodged in the cells lining the cavities that hold the lungs or abdominal organs. These fibers then cause cell death and mutation, eventually leading to the scarring of asbestosis or the tumors of asbestos-related lung cancer or malignant mesothelioma.
The asbestos-containing insulation products made, sold, and distributed by API, Inc. were largely used in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Michigan.[1] The workers who were most likely to use the company’s products and be at risk of illness from exposure to asbestos include:
- Construction workers
- Contractors
- Pipefitters
- Boiler workers
- Industrial workers
- HVAC workers
- Plumbers
However, in its trust documents, API, Inc. acknowledged that some other professionals and tradesmen may also have been exposed to its products and eligible for compensation. These include:
- Asbestos abatement professionals
- Petrochemical workers
- API distribution workers
- Chemical manufacturing employees
- Railroad construction employees
- Iron and steel workers
- Automotive workers
The last category of individuals that the API, Inc. Settlement Trust identifies as at risk for illness from its products are those who were exposed to asbestos fibers carried home on the hair and clothing of those working with its products. This secondary exposure has been linked to many cases of asbestos-related diseases, particularly in spouses who laundered asbestos workers’ dust-covered clothing. There have also been confirmed cases of the children of asbestos workers who have been sickened as a result of embracing their fathers when they came home from work, or who were exposed to asbestos fibers that settled on surfaces within their homes.
Asbestos Lawsuits Filed Against API, Inc.
Asbestos-related diseases take decades to make themselves known. This is particularly true of malignant mesothelioma, which can take fifty to sixty years to begin manifesting symptoms. API, Inc. discontinued its use of asbestos shortly after the public was made aware of its dangers, and by 1982, the company began being named in personal injury lawsuits filed by individuals who had been exposed to its products. By the 1990s, manufacturers of asbestos products began filing for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection, and that included the company’s principal supplier, Owens Corning. As hundreds more victims began filing claims against API, Inc. the company chose to reorganize in the same way as other asbestos companies and created the API, Inc. Asbestos Settlement Trust, which became effective in February 2007.
The API, Inc. Asbestos Settlement Trust
The asbestos bankruptcy trust created by API, Inc. addressed compensation for past, present, and future cases of asbestos-related diseases or injuries resulting from exposure to asbestos from its products or operations, or the products or operations of its related companies. The trust specifically identifies malignant mesothelioma; lung cancers; other cancers; asbestosis; and pleural disease as eligible for compensation, with the claims for each illness assigned an Allowed Liquidated Value based on tort system values and equitable settlement values for Minnesota.
The compensation levels are shown below:
- Mesothelioma – $316,250
- Lung Cancer — $137,050
- Other Cancers – $73,800
- Asbestosis — $57,200
- Pleural Disease – $30,150
Claimants are required to provide evidence of exposure to asbestos-containing material sold, installed, or removed by API and must satisfy criteria specific to their illness. Proof can be established by work histories, company records, deposition testimony, invoices, affidavits, or other credible evidence showing that a claimant worked with particular asbestos-related products or performed specific asbestos-related services within the trust’s designated time period. Notably, if API’s asbestos or asbestos activity represents an exceptionally large portion of a claimant’s asbestos exposure, they may be able to receive compensation in an amount that exceeds the Allowed Liquidated Value for that disease. Claimants are also able to submit their Direct Asbestos Claims to binding arbitration or to file a personal injury lawsuit to determine the liquidated value of their claim against the trust.[1]
Were You Exposed to API, Inc.’s Asbestos Products?
If you were exposed to API, Inc.’s asbestos, you may be at risk for an asbestos-related disease and should notify your physician of your exposure history so that they can monitor your health and take quick action if you begin to develop symptoms. If you’ve been diagnosed with malignant pleural or peritoneal mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, or any other asbestos-related disease and you were exposed to an API, Inc. asbestos product, you may be eligible for compensation from the API Asbestos Settlement Trust. Depending on the specifics of your situation, you may also have been exposed to asbestos provided by other companies and be able to pursue additional claims for compensation.
To learn more about your rights and how best to proceed with a claim, contact an experienced asbestos lawyer. They have the experience, knowledge, and resources you need and are there to help you navigate the challenges of the process.
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