GAF Corp. & Ruberoid Co.

Company History: From Ruberoid to GAF

The story of GAF Corp.’s asbestos liabilities begins not with GAF itself, but with its century-old predecessor: The Ruberoid Company. Founded in 1886, Ruberoid became one of the most important manufacturers of roofing materials in the United States, building a national distribution network and a reputation for asphalt and asbestos-based roofing products that spanned more than eight decades.

Ruberoid’s business model relied heavily on asbestos as a core raw material. Asbestos was prized by roofing manufacturers for its fire resistance, durability, and weather-proofing properties. Beginning in the early twentieth century, Ruberoid incorporated chrysotile and other asbestos fibers into a wide range of products — roofing shingles, roofing felts, insulating cements, and flat-roof built-up systems. By mid-century, Ruberoid products were found on millions of American homes, commercial buildings, schools, and industrial facilities.

In 1967, Ruberoid merged with General Aniline & Film Corporation (GAF) — a chemical and photography products company that had itself been seized by the U.S. government from its German parent, I.G. Farben, during World War II. After the merger, the roofing and building materials division continued under the GAF name, and Ruberoid-branded asbestos products continued to reach the market well into the 1970s.

The full scale of asbestos-related harm caused by Ruberoid and GAF products became apparent over the following decades as former workers and building occupants developed mesothelioma, lung cancer, and asbestosis. Litigation against GAF mounted through the 1980s and 1990s, eventually threatening the company’s financial viability. To manage this liability, GAF restructured through an entity called G-I Holdings Inc., which formally filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2001 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey. The reorganization plan established the G-I Holdings Asbestos Personal Injury Settlement Trust to compensate current and future asbestos claimants.

Today, GAF Corporation continues to operate as a leading roofing manufacturer — the company no longer uses asbestos in its products — while the separate G-I Holdings Trust handles the historic liability inherited from Ruberoid-era manufacturing.

Asbestos Products & Occupational Exposure

Ruberoid and GAF produced a broad range of asbestos-containing building products. Workers in roofing, construction, shipbuilding, and industrial maintenance trades frequently encountered these materials, often without protective equipment or any awareness of the health risks involved. Secondary exposure also occurred when family members came into contact with asbestos dust carried home on work clothing.

The highest-risk exposure scenarios involved cutting, sawing, sanding, or dry-sweeping asbestos roofing or siding materials — activities that released large quantities of respirable asbestos fibers into the air. Reroofing jobs on buildings with existing Ruberoid or GAF asbestos shingles were particularly hazardous, as breaking apart old shingles generated concentrated dust clouds. Many roofers and construction contractors performed such work daily for years without respirators or other engineering controls.

Manufacturing Facilities & Locations

Ruberoid and GAF operated manufacturing plants across the United States, as well as the only significant chrysotile asbestos mining operation in the eastern United States. Workers at each of these facilities faced varying degrees of asbestos exposure depending on their specific job duties and the time period of their employment.

The Vermont Asbestos Mine: Eden & Lowell, VT

Among the most distinctive and alarming chapters of GAF’s asbestos history is its operation of a chrysotile asbestos mine in the rural towns of Eden and Lowell in Lamoille and Orleans Counties, Vermont. This mine — sometimes called the Vermont Asbestos Group (VAG) mine — was one of the only significant asbestos mining operations in the eastern United States and one of a handful in the country as a whole.

Ruberoid Co. controlled the Vermont chrysotile deposits for much of the mid-twentieth century, extracting raw asbestos fiber that was then processed and incorporated into the company’s roofing shingles, cements, and asbestos-cement boards. At its peak, the Vermont mine employed hundreds of local workers, who drilled, blasted, crushed, and milled raw asbestos ore in conditions that generated extreme concentrations of airborne chrysotile fibers. Many of these workers had no protective respiratory equipment and were not informed of the known hazards of asbestos inhalation.

The mine’s impact extended far beyond the workforce. The processing and milling of raw chrysotile ore produced fine asbestos dust that settled on surrounding properties, roadways, and community spaces. Residents living near the processing facilities were exposed through outdoor air and through the common practice of using asbestos tailings — a mining byproduct — as fill material for driveways, playgrounds, and unpaved roads. This use of asbestos mine waste as gravel-like fill was widespread in the Eden and Lowell communities and represented a significant source of secondary community-wide exposure that affected people who never set foot inside the mine.

Former mine workers and residents of these communities have reported elevated rates of mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases in subsequent decades. Some workers’ family members also suffered secondary exposure from chrysotile dust brought home on work clothes, hair, and skin. Epidemiological studies have documented the health consequences of the Vermont mine operations, and surviving workers and their families may be eligible to file claims with the G-I Holdings Asbestos Trust.

The mine ceased full operations by the latter half of the twentieth century, but environmental contamination and health effects from decades of chrysotile extraction continue to affect the region. If you worked at the Eden or Lowell Vermont mine — or lived nearby during mine operations — you should discuss your medical history and exposure history with a qualified asbestos attorney, as statutes of limitations apply to both personal injury and wrongful death claims.

G-I Holdings Asbestos Trust Fund

In January 2001, G-I Holdings Inc. — the corporate successor entity created to hold GAF’s asbestos liabilities arising from Ruberoid-era manufacturing — filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey. The bankruptcy was driven by the overwhelming volume of asbestos personal injury lawsuits filed against GAF and Ruberoid by former workers, building occupants, and community members across the country.

After years of negotiations among asbestos claimants’ counsel, the company, and insurers, a reorganization plan was confirmed and the G-I Holdings Asbestos Personal Injury Settlement Trust was established. This trust is administered by an independent trustee and follows a Trust Distribution Procedure (TDP) that sets scheduled values for each disease category and governs the claims review process.

Key Trust Details

The approximately 5% payment percentage means that a claimant whose case is assigned a scheduled value of, for example, $100,000 would receive approximately $5,000 from the G-I Holdings Trust. In practice, mesothelioma victims often hold claims against multiple asbestos trusts simultaneously — since exposure to asbestos typically occurred through products made by many different companies over the course of a career — meaning total recoveries from all trusts combined can be substantially higher than any single trust payout.

How to File a Claim

Filing a claim with the G-I Holdings Trust requires demonstrating both a qualifying diagnosis and a sufficient connection to GAF or Ruberoid asbestos-containing products. The standard documentation required includes:

• Medical records confirming the asbestos-related diagnosis (pathology reports, imaging studies, physician records)
• Work history affidavit documenting employment at sites where GAF or Ruberoid products were used
• Product identification evidence linking the exposure to a covered product
• Exposure affidavit — often from the claimant or a co-worker — describing how exposure occurred
• In cases of deceased claimants, a certified death certificate, executor or administrator documentation, and heir information

Because the G-I Holdings Trust TDP has specific evidentiary requirements and deadlines, most claimants benefit significantly from working with an asbestos attorney who specializes in trust fund claims. Attorneys in this field handle cases on a contingency fee basis, meaning there is no upfront cost to the claimant; fees are only paid if compensation is recovered.

Frequently Asked Questions