Keasbey & Mattison / Ruberoid Company: Asbestos Products and Trust Fund Information

Keasbey & Mattison Company, headquartered in Ambler, Pennsylvania, was one of the earliest and most significant manufacturers of asbestos-containing insulation and construction products in the United States. Founded in 1873, the company operated for nearly a century at an industrial scale, producing asbestos pipe insulation, asbestos-cement pipe, and asbestos roofing and siding products that were distributed to jobsites across the country. Workers in the construction, shipbuilding, power generation, and industrial trades encountered Keasbey & Mattison products regularly from the late nineteenth century through the early 1960s. The company’s Ambler, Pennsylvania plant was among the largest asbestos manufacturing operations in North America during its peak years of production.

Keasbey & Mattison was acquired by the Ruberoid Company in 1962, the same year the combined entity ceased asbestos use in its product lines. As a result of the extensive asbestos-related personal injury liability arising from decades of product manufacturing, a trust was established under 11 U.S.C. § 524(g) of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. That trust — the GAF Asbestos Settlement Trust — remains active today and accepts claims from workers and family members who were exposed to Keasbey & Mattison or Ruberoid asbestos-containing products.

Company History

Keasbey & Mattison was established in Ambler, Pennsylvania in 1873 by Henry Keasbey and Richard Mattison. Mattison, a chemist, recognized the commercial potential of asbestos as an industrial insulating material during the early years of widespread steam power in American manufacturing and transportation. Under his direction, the company developed proprietary manufacturing processes for combining asbestos fiber with magnesia and other binders to produce thermal pipe insulation products capable of withstanding high-temperature industrial environments.

The Ambler plant grew steadily through the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, eventually employing thousands of workers and covering hundreds of acres. The town of Ambler itself was effectively shaped by the Keasbey & Mattison operation — the company built worker housing, civic infrastructure, and community facilities in and around the plant site. Asbestos fiber was processed openly at the facility, and both plant workers and residents of the surrounding community experienced documented exposures over many decades.

By the mid-twentieth century, Keasbey & Mattison had become a major supplier of insulation and construction products to American industry, the U.S. military, and large-scale construction projects. The Ruberoid Company, a national manufacturer of roofing and building materials with its own extensive asbestos product lines, acquired Keasbey & Mattison in 1962. Ruberoid subsequently became part of GAF Corporation. It is through GAF’s bankruptcy reorganization and the resulting § 524(g) trust that current claims are administered.

Asbestos-Containing Products

Keasbey & Mattison and Ruberoid manufactured several distinct categories of asbestos-containing products. Each product category carried specific exposure risks depending on how the material was installed, maintained, disturbed, or removed.

Magnesia Pipe Insulation

Keasbey & Mattison’s magnesia pipe insulation was one of its foundational and most widely distributed products. Manufactured from a combination of magnesium carbonate and chrysotile asbestos fiber — typically composed of 15 percent asbestos by weight or more — these pipe-covering sections and block insulation were applied to steam and hot-water distribution systems in power plants, refineries, chemical plants, shipyards, hospitals, and large commercial buildings. The insulation was sold in pre-formed half-sections designed to fit standard pipe diameters and was distributed under the Keasbey & Mattison brand through industrial supply channels from the late 1800s through the mid-twentieth century.

Cutting, fitting, and securing magnesia pipe covering released asbestos fiber into the surrounding air. Workers who mixed finishing cements, sawed sections to length, or removed and replaced existing insulation experienced the highest fiber concentrations. Pipefitters, steamfitters, insulators, boilermakers, and helpers who worked alongside these trades were also exposed.

Ruberoid Asbestos-Cement Pipe

Ruberoid asbestos-cement pipe was manufactured for use in drainage, sewer, and conduit applications. Asbestos-cement pipe of this type was composed of Portland cement reinforced with asbestos fiber, producing a rigid, corrosion-resistant product used extensively in municipal infrastructure, industrial facilities, and building construction. Cutting, drilling, and breaking asbestos-cement pipe during installation or repair released asbestos-containing dust.

Asbestos Shingles and Siding

Both Keasbey & Mattison and Ruberoid produced asbestos-cement roofing shingles and flat siding panels for residential and commercial construction. These products contained chrysotile asbestos fiber embedded in a cement matrix and were marketed as fire-resistant, durable alternatives to wood shingles and clapboard siding. Roofers, carpenters, and siding installers who cut these products with power saws or hand tools, and workers who removed old asbestos-cement shingles during renovation and demolition work, were exposed to asbestos fiber released during those operations. Asbestos shingles and siding installed during the mid-twentieth century remain present in older residential and commercial structures and continue to pose a regulated abatement concern under AHERA and EPA guidelines when disturbed.

Occupational Exposure

Workers across a wide range of industries and trades encountered Keasbey & Mattison and Ruberoid asbestos-containing products during the course of their regular job duties. Documented occupational groups with significant exposure histories include:

  • Insulators and asbestos workers who applied, cut, and finished magnesia pipe covering and block insulation in industrial and commercial settings
  • Pipefitters and steamfitters who worked alongside insulation trades in power plants, refineries, shipyards, and industrial facilities
  • Boilermakers who installed and maintained insulated boilers and pressure vessels
  • Plumbers and pipefitters who worked with asbestos-cement pipe in construction and infrastructure applications
  • Sheet metal workers and HVAC tradespeople who worked near insulated ductwork and pipe systems
  • Roofers, carpenters, and general construction workers who installed or removed asbestos-cement shingles and siding
  • Shipyard workers who applied or disturbed pipe insulation during ship construction or overhaul
  • Power plant operators and maintenance workers who serviced equipment insulated with Keasbey & Mattison products over decades of plant operation

Secondary exposure — sometimes called bystander or household exposure — has also been documented. Family members of workers who carried asbestos-contaminated dust home on work clothing, hair, or skin may have experienced meaningful exposure over time.

Because Keasbey & Mattison supplied products to national industrial markets from the 1870s through 1962, exposure histories are not confined to any single region or industry. Workers in virtually every state and major industrial sector may have encountered these products during the peak decades of American industrial expansion.

Keasbey & Mattison Company and the Ruberoid Company are covered defendants under the GAF Asbestos Settlement Trust, established pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 524(g) as part of GAF Corporation’s bankruptcy reorganization. The trust was created specifically to compensate individuals who developed asbestos-related diseases — including mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, asbestosis, and other asbestos-caused conditions — as a result of exposure to products manufactured or sold by Keasbey & Mattison, Ruberoid, or related GAF entities.

The GAF Asbestos Settlement Trust processes claims according to established Trust Distribution Procedures (TDP). To file a claim, claimants or their representatives generally must:

  1. Establish a qualifying diagnosis — Mesothelioma, lung cancer with documented asbestos exposure, asbestosis, and other asbestos-related diseases are recognized compensable conditions. Medical documentation supporting the diagnosis is required.

  2. Document product exposure — Claimants must demonstrate exposure to a covered Keasbey & Mattison or Ruberoid product. Exposure evidence can include personal affidavits, co-worker testimony, employment records, union records, Social Security earnings history, and other documentation placing the claimant at a jobsite where these products were used.

  3. Meet exposure period requirements — Because Keasbey & Mattison ceased asbestos production in 1962, qualifying exposures generally involve work performed at sites where their products were installed during the years of active manufacture and distribution, which extended through the early 1960s. However, products already installed in facilities continued to pose exposure risks during maintenance, repair, and removal work for many decades afterward.

  4. Submit a completed claim package — Claims are filed directly with the GAF Asbestos Settlement Trust and are reviewed against the TDP criteria. Claims may be processed through an expedited review process for certain disease categories or through individual review where documented exposure and medical evidence support a higher-value claim.

Summary: Your Options if You Were Exposed

If you or a family member worked with or around Keasbey & Mattison magnesia pipe insulation, Ruberoid asbestos-cement pipe, or Keasbey & Mattison asbestos shingles and siding — and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, asbestosis, or another asbestos-caused disease — you may be eligible to file a claim with the GAF Asbestos Settlement Trust.

Because Keasbey & Mattison operated from 1873 through 1962 and its products were installed across a wide range of industrial, commercial, and residential sites, many workers and family members may qualify without realizing it. Employment records, union membership records, and the recollections of former co-workers can all be used to establish the exposure history required for a successful claim.

An attorney experienced in asbestos trust fund claims can help evaluate whether your work history and diagnosis meet the trust’s eligibility criteria, prepare the required documentation, and file on your behalf. Trust claims are separate from civil litigation and can often be pursued concurrently with claims against other responsible parties. There are no geographic restrictions on who may file with the GAF Asbestos Settlement Trust — eligible claimants from any state may submit a claim.