W.R. Grace Asbestos: Trust Funds, Claims & Insurer Suits

W.R. Grace’s bankruptcy created three asbestos trust funds that still pay claims today: the WRG Asbestos Personal Injury Trust for people sickened by Grace’s asbestos products, the Zonolite Attic Insulation (ZAI) Trust for homeowners removing Grace’s vermiculite insulation, and a separate Property Damage Trust for other asbestos property claims. The personal injury trust is currently paying 30.1% of a claim’s scheduled or settlement value, and the ZAI Trust reimburses 55% of eligible removal costs up to roughly $5,397 for 2026.¹²

The WRG Asbestos Personal Injury Trust

The personal injury trust was funded with $3 billion when it was established on February 3, 2014, and has paid approximately $2.5 billion in settlements since. It handles claims from individuals who developed an asbestos-related disease after exposure to Grace’s asbestos-containing products.³⁴

Current Payment Percentage

As of June 2026, the trust’s payment percentage is 30.1%. That figure is a discount applied to every approved claim: a claimant receives 30.1% of either the scheduled value (for expedited claims) or the gross settlement value (for individually reviewed claims). The rate dropped from 31.7% in 2025, so an identical claim pays less this year than last.¹

Expedited Review Versus Individual Review

Claimants choose one of two tracks. Expedited Review processes a claim faster at a standardized payout tied to the diagnosed disease. Individual Review involves a case-by-case assessment and can produce a higher or lower amount than the expedited schedule.⁵

How to File

Claims can be filed online through the trust’s claims portal or by mail. An attorney is not required. To be approved, a claimant needs medical documentation of a qualifying asbestos-related condition and evidence of exposure at a site on the trust’s approved site list.⁵

A Note on Records Retention

In January 2025 the trust announced a new records retention policy under which it would destroy documents for claims resolved or withdrawn more than a year earlier, citing the need to protect sensitive personal information. Legal observers criticized the move, arguing it would undermine transparency and limit discovery in future bankruptcy proceedings. For a claimant, the practical takeaway is to keep personal copies of everything filed.⁶

The Zonolite Attic Insulation Trust

The ZAI Trust is a separate fund that reimburses homeowners for the professional removal of Zonolite-brand vermiculite insulation. It is mandated to operate for at least 20 years from the February 2014 effective date.⁷

Who Qualifies

Roughly 75% of vermiculite insulation found in American homes is the Zonolite brand; the remaining 25% is not eligible, so verifying the brand is the first step. Homeowners must provide before-and-after photographs and proof of payment for the abatement work.²⁷

How Much the Trust Pays

The ZAI Trust reimburses 55% of eligible abatement and re-insulation costs, subject to a cap that adjusts annually for inflation. For 2026, the maximum allowed value is $9,813.61, which puts the maximum reimbursement at approximately $5,397.²

What Is Not Covered

Do-it-yourself labor costs are not eligible. Neither are property value losses, home upgrades performed while the insulation is being removed, or costs tied to other asbestos materials such as pipe insulation or floor tiles. Those materials fall outside this trust even if they are discovered during the same project.⁷

Timing

Claims are processed on a first-in, first-out basis. Once a claim is finally approved, payment is typically issued within 14 days.⁷

The Property Damage Trust

A third trust handles asbestos property damage claims other than those tied to Zonolite attic insulation. Publicly available information about this trust’s funding level and current payment rates is limited; claimants with building contamination from Grace products other than ZAI should contact the trust directly for current filing procedures.³

Which Grace Products and Sites Trigger a Claim

Grace’s asbestos exposure traces primarily to its vermiculite mine in Libby, Montana, which it operated from 1963 to 1990. The mine produced an estimated 80% of the world’s vermiculite during that period, and roughly 26% of the vermiculite it extracted contained asbestos.⁸⁴

Grace used that vermiculite in several widely distributed products:

Zonolite loose-fill attic insulation, sold until 1984.
Mono-Kote spray-on fireproofing, applied to the structural steel of office buildings, schools, and hotels from the 1950s until the EPA banned spray-applied asbestos in 1973. The original World Trade Center towers contained extensive Mono-Kote, and the product has been linked to a cluster of mesothelioma cases among 9/11 first responders.
Various plaster and acoustical compounds.

Internal documents later showed Grace marketed a version of Mono-Kote as “completely asbestos-free” while knowing it contained tremolite, a form of asbestos.⁴⁹

Libby itself was the hardest-hit community. A 2002 Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry study found asbestosis mortality 40 to 80 times higher than expected and lung cancer deaths 20% to 30% above normal rates. A longer study covering 1979 through 2011 identified 694 Libby residents with at least one asbestos-related cause of death, 87 of whom were confirmed former Grace employees. Elevated death rates persisted even after excluding mine workers, confirming the harm reached people who never worked at the mine.¹⁰¹¹

Why the Trusts Exist

Grace filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in Delaware on April 2, 2001, together with 61 affiliated companies. At that point it faced more than 129,000 pending asbestos personal injury claims and had already paid nearly $700 million through 207 prior settlements, with over $60 million in verdicts outstanding across nine personal injury and wrongful death cases.³⁴

Bankruptcy Judge Judith K. Fitzgerald confirmed the Joint Plan of Reorganization on January 31, 2011, and Senior District Judge Ronald L. Buckwalter affirmed it on January 30, 2012, reaffirming on June 11, 2012, after reconsideration. The Third Circuit upheld the plan in 2013, and Grace emerged from bankruptcy on February 3, 2014, when the three trusts took on the company’s remaining asbestos liabilities.¹²³

The Chapter 11 case itself is still open. In September 2024, Grace moved for a final decree to close the last part of the case after 23 years. Anderson Memorial Hospital of South Carolina objected, the hearing was cancelled, and as of June 2026 a motion to approve a compromise is scheduled for hearing in July 2026.¹³

Suing Grace’s Insurer Is a Separate Path

A trust claim is not the only legal route for someone exposed to Grace’s asbestos. In February 2022, a Montana jury awarded former Grace mine worker Ralph Hutt $36.5 million in a lawsuit against Maryland Casualty Company, which had provided workers’ compensation coverage to Grace from 1963 to 1973. The award was $6.5 million in compensatory damages and $30 million in punitive damages, and the case was a bellwether trial, the first to reach a courtroom out of more than 800 pending lawsuits against the insurer.⁴

The Montana Supreme Court had earlier ruled that the insurer owed a common-law duty to warn Grace employees of known asbestos hazards because it had helped develop safety programs and conducted medical monitoring at the mine. Evidence showed airborne asbestos fiber levels at the Zonolite mill ran 60% to 80%, far above safety limits, and that both Grace and its insurer knew of the dangers as early as 1963.¹⁴

In January 2023 Hutt filed a new federal complaint against Zurich American Insurance Company, which had acquired Maryland Casualty, alleging that Zurich was systematically stalling to delay payment and pressure other claimants into lower settlements. The pending insurer litigation is distinct from the trust claim process; a claimant can pursue either, both, or neither, depending on their work history and the advice of counsel.¹⁴

1
WRG Asbestos PI Trust. WRG Asbestos PI Trust Home
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ZAI Trust. ZAI Trust General Information
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W.R. Grace. Asbestos Trusts
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Mesothelioma.com. W.R. Grace Asbestos Exposure
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WRG Asbestos PI Trust. WRG Asbestos PI Trust FAQs
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WRG Asbestos PI Trust. WRG Asbestos PI Trust About
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ZAI Trust. ZAI Trust FAQs
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EPA. Libby Asbestos Superfund Site Cleanup Profile
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The New York Times. A Company’s Silence Countered Safety Fears About Asbestos
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ATSDR. Libby Health Consultation Mortality Review
11
PMC/Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology. Asbestos-Associated Mortality in Libby, Montana 1979–2011
12
U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware. Memorandum Opinion, In re W.R. Grace
13
CourtListener. W.R. Grace Chapter 11 Docket
14
Daily Montanan. Federal Lawsuit Claims Insurance Company Deliberately Stalling in Libby Asbestos Cases