Armstrong Contracting & Supply (ACandS Inc.) — Asbestos Product & Exposure Reference

Armstrong Contracting & Supply Company, Inc. — commonly known as ACandS Inc. — was one of the most active industrial insulation contractors in the United States from the late 1950s through the mid-1980s. Based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, ACandS installed asbestos-containing pipe covering, block insulation, and refractory materials at refineries, power plants, chemical facilities, shipyards, and industrial plants across the country. Because ACandS was not simply a manufacturer but an on-site contractor, its workers and the tradespeople who worked alongside them faced direct, sustained exposure to raw and fabricated asbestos insulation materials throughout their careers.

ACandS filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2002 and subsequently established the ACandS Asbestos Settlement Trust under Section 524(g) of the United States Bankruptcy Code. The trust became operational in 2008 and continues to process claims from workers and their families who were exposed to asbestos through ACandS’s contracting operations.

Company History

ACandS Inc. was incorporated in 1958 as a contracting subsidiary spun off from Armstrong World Industries, the well-known Lancaster-based flooring and building products manufacturer. Where Armstrong World Industries focused on manufacturing, ACandS was formed to perform the skilled labor of installing insulation systems at large-scale industrial facilities. This arrangement made ACandS a significant presence on American jobsites for nearly three decades.

From its founding through the mid-1980s, ACandS operated insulation crews at some of the most hazardous industrial environments in the country — locations where high-temperature pipe systems, boilers, turbines, and industrial vessels required extensive thermal insulation. Because asbestos was the dominant insulation material of that era, ACandS crews routinely handled raw asbestos-containing materials and pre-fabricated asbestos products on a daily basis.

ACandS formally ceased using asbestos-containing materials in its contracting operations in 1986, following regulatory actions by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that severely restricted occupational asbestos exposure. By that time, asbestos-related disease claims were already accumulating against the company. ACandS faced mounting litigation throughout the 1990s, and in September 2002, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. A reorganization plan was confirmed, and the ACandS Asbestos Settlement Trust was established in 2008 pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 524(g) to handle all present and future asbestos personal injury claims against the company.

Asbestos-Containing Products and Materials

ACandS Inc. was a contracting company rather than a product manufacturer. Its asbestos exposure liability stems from the materials its employees installed and the products they routinely handled as part of insulation and refractory contracting work. The core categories of asbestos-containing materials associated with ACandS jobsite operations include:

Pipe Insulation Installation

ACandS crews installed asbestos pipe covering on steam lines, hot water lines, and process piping at refineries, chemical plants, power generating stations, and other industrial facilities. This work involved cutting, fitting, and securing pre-formed asbestos pipe insulation — work that generated significant quantities of airborne asbestos dust. Products routinely installed by ACandS included asbestos-containing calcium silicate pipe covering, amosite block sections, and woven asbestos pipe wrap, much of it sourced from major insulation manufacturers of the period.

Block Insulation Installation

For boilers, industrial furnaces, turbines, and large vessels, ACandS installed asbestos block insulation. Block insulation work required sawing and shaping rigid asbestos-containing sections to fit irregular surfaces, a process that released high concentrations of asbestos fibers. Amosite asbestos — also known as brown asbestos — was a primary component of many block insulation products used during this period and is associated with a particularly elevated risk of mesothelioma.

Industrial Refractory Contracting

ACandS also performed refractory installation and repair work, applying high-temperature insulating cements, castables, and coatings to furnaces, kilns, and industrial process equipment. Many refractory materials used during ACandS’s operational period contained chrysotile or amosite asbestos as a heat-resistant binder component.

Removal and Tear-Out Work

In addition to installation, ACandS crews were frequently engaged in the removal and replacement of existing insulation — work that disturbed previously installed, often friable asbestos materials. Removal work is generally considered among the highest-exposure insulation activities because it releases accumulated asbestos fibers from aged and deteriorated insulation systems.

Occupational Exposure

The populations most directly exposed to asbestos through ACandS operations fall into two broad categories: ACandS employees themselves, and the bystander tradespeople who worked in proximity to ACandS crews on shared jobsites.

ACandS insulation workers — including pipecoverers, laggers, insulation mechanics, and foremen — handled asbestos-containing materials throughout the working day for periods spanning years or decades. Because ACandS operated as a contractor across multiple industrial sites, many of its long-term employees accumulated exposure histories at dozens of facilities in multiple states.

Bystander workers at the same facilities — including pipefitters, boilermakers, ironworkers, electricians, painters, and general laborers — were exposed to airborne asbestos fibers released by ACandS crews working in the same spaces. Industrial facilities of this era were typically not compartmentalized by trade, and fiber released during insulation work traveled throughout work areas.

Key industries and facility types where ACandS performed documented insulation contracting work include:

  • Petroleum refineries — where miles of high-temperature process piping required continuous insulation installation and maintenance
  • Electric power generating stations — including both fossil-fuel and nuclear plants, where turbines, boilers, and steam lines required substantial insulation systems
  • Chemical and petrochemical plants — with high-temperature reaction vessels, distillation columns, and associated piping
  • Shipyards and naval installations — where ACandS crews insulated engine rooms, boiler compartments, and steam systems aboard vessels
  • Steel mills and foundries — where refractory and insulation work was performed on furnaces and ladles

Workers in these industries who have a documented occupational history at a facility where ACandS performed contracting work — at any point between approximately 1958 and 1986 — may have a compensable exposure claim.

ACandS Asbestos Settlement Trust

ACandS Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 2002. Following bankruptcy court proceedings, the company’s reorganization plan was confirmed and the ACandS Asbestos Settlement Trust was established in 2008 under 11 U.S.C. § 524(g). This provision of federal bankruptcy law is specifically designed to address mass asbestos tort liability, channeling all present and future asbestos claims against ACandS to the trust rather than to the courts.

The trust administers claims from individuals diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases — including mesothelioma, lung cancer, asbestosis, and other asbestos-related conditions — who can document exposure to asbestos through ACandS’s contracting operations.

Who May Be Eligible to File a Claim

To file a claim with the ACandS Asbestos Settlement Trust, a claimant generally must be able to demonstrate:

  1. A qualifying diagnosis — mesothelioma, lung cancer, asbestosis, pleural disease, or another recognized asbestos-related condition confirmed by medical documentation
  2. Exposure to ACandS operations — documented or credibly asserted work history at a facility where ACandS performed insulation or refractory contracting, during the period when the company used asbestos-containing materials (approximately 1958–1986)
  3. Causation — that the diagnosed condition is related to asbestos exposure, typically established through medical records and occupational history

Claims may be filed by living claimants or by the estates of deceased workers. Family members who develop mesothelioma or other asbestos-related diseases as a result of take-home asbestos exposure — fibers carried home on the clothing of an ACandS worker — may also have standing to pursue a claim.

How to File

The ACandS Asbestos Settlement Trust processes claims through a structured review process. Claimants are strongly advised to work with an attorney who has experience handling asbestos trust fund claims. An experienced asbestos attorney can:

  • Obtain and review the claimant’s occupational and medical records
  • Identify all applicable trusts (exposure to multiple manufacturers and contractors is common, and claims may be filed with several trusts simultaneously)
  • Prepare and submit a complete trust claim package
  • Ensure deadlines and procedural requirements are satisfied

Trust claim filings are independent of any separate civil litigation. Filing a trust claim does not preclude pursuing claims against other liable parties.

Summary

ACandS Inc. was a Lancaster, Pennsylvania–based insulation contractor that installed asbestos pipe covering, block insulation, and refractory materials at industrial facilities nationwide from 1958 to 1986. Its workers and the tradespeople who labored alongside them at power plants, refineries, chemical plants, and shipyards faced sustained asbestos exposure over the course of their careers. ACandS filed for bankruptcy in 2002, and the ACandS Asbestos Settlement Trust — established in 2008 under federal bankruptcy law — exists specifically to compensate individuals diagnosed with mesothelioma, lung cancer, asbestosis, and related conditions caused by that exposure. If you or a family member worked at a facility where ACandS operated, or worked directly for ACandS, and have been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease, you may be eligible to file a trust claim. Consulting an asbestos attorney experienced in trust fund claims is the most effective first step toward obtaining compensation.