Statement on the Death of Futures Representative, retired Federal Judge, The Hon. Charles Renfrew

Posted 12/19/2017
The Trust mourns deeply the loss of its distinguished Futures Representative, retired U.S. Federal Judge Charles Renfrew, and extends its heartfelt sympathy to his family.  

Serving as the Futures Representative since creation of the Trust, Judge Renfrew worked tirelessly on behalf of all future claimants to ensure that the Trust’s goals were met. 

Trust rules make no provision for an interim Futures Representative and require that the Trustees act now to nominate a qualified individual to succeed Judge Renfrew. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of California (San Francisco Division) must confirm the nominee.

The nomination selection process is underway and the new Futures Representative will be announced and submitted to the Bankruptcy Court for its approval in the coming weeks.

Please call (775) 324-5511 with any questions.

Modification to Case Valuation Matrix

Posted 12/13/2017
At the December Trustee meeting, a modification to the Case Valuation Matrix Section V(vii) Serious Asbestosis was approved by the Trustees, with the consent of the Futures Representative and Trust Advisory Committee. The modification is as follows:

“Serious Asbestosis” is

1. Asbestosis with ILO 2/2 or greater and AMA Class IV Impairment

Or

2. Where the Injured Person is “On Oxygen” and otherwise meets the requirements of subsections i, ii, or iii, below.

     i. Injured Person has a diagnosis of asbestosis, has pulmonary function test results qualifying as Grade I, and a Pulmonologist or Occupational Medicine physician states that a contributing cause for the use of oxygen is asbestosis. Claim will be valued as a matrix claim even if there are other contributing causes listed for the need for oxygen.

     ii. Injured Person has a diagnosis of asbestosis, but does not have pulmonary function test results qualifying as Grade I.  Even though a Pulmonologist or Occupational Medicine physician states that the predominant cause or contributing cause for use of oxygen is asbestosis, claim a) will be valued under Individual Review and subject to the Individual Review process as described in Section VIII of the Matrix and b) if there are other contributing causes, the Trust will give equal weight to each cause for the need to be on oxygen.

     iii.  Injured Person has diagnosis of asbestosis, treating physician board certified in pulmonology or occupational medicine prescribes oxygen to the Injured Party, and the treating physician states the predominant need for oxygen is asbestosis.  Regardless of the existence of other contributing causes for the need to be on oxygen, claim will be valued as a matrix claim.

“On Oxygen” means oxygen needed to perform activities of daily life, e.g., not oxygen that is prescribed only for comfort care, at night, for surgery, or on occasion.

Or

3. “Asbestosis death” is where asbestosis is listed as the cause or a significant contributing cause of death on the death certificate, or where a report from a Pathologist, Pulmonologist, or an Occupational Medicine Physician states that asbestos was a significant contributing cause of death.  If an Injured Person has evidence of serious asbestosis or asbestosis death, and exposure to (debtor) products or conduct was a substantial contributing cause of the serious asbestosis death, then the valuation criteria for lung cancer, including the base Lung Cancer case, as defined in (II)(a), shall be utilized to determine the value of the claim.

Timing of Requests for Consideration at Trustees’ Meetings

Posted 12/12/2017
Below is the schedule for any requests for revisions to Trust policies or procedures, physician certification, modifications to an approved list, and/or TDP/Matrix interpretations or questions to be considered during 2018 Trustees’ meetings.

     Trustees’ Meeting        Deadline for Requests

     February 2018              Monday, January 15, 2018

     April 2018                        Monday, March 12, 2018

     September 2018            Monday, August 6, 2018

     November 2018             Monday, October 8, 2018

Increase in Base Case for Economic and Medical Loss

Posted 11/09/2017
At the October Trustee Meeting, a resolution was passed by the Trustees, with the consent of the TAC and Futures Representative that the base case for Medical and Economic loss will be indexed for all pending and futures claims, and that the index will be revised annually based upon the prior year’s Economic and Medical Care CPI.

The new indexed base cases values for 2017 are as follows:

New Economic Loss Base Case $204,816

New Medical Loss Base Case $210,125 

Modifications to Site List

Posted 09/28/2017
The following modifications to the Plant Land Site List were approved at the September 22, 2017 Trustees’ meeting:

Site Name	City	State	Start Date	End Date	Rating
Army Ordinance Depot (AKA Norris Army Ordinance Depot)	Riverbank	CA	1/1/1968	12/31/1978	Very Low
Bank of America – California Street	San Francisco	CA	10/23/1967	12/31/1978	Very Low
California State University	Chico	CA	1/1/1949	12/31/1978	Very Low
California Medical Facility/Department of Corrections – Main Institution Units 2 & 3	Vacaville	CA	12/31/1953	12/31/1978	Standard
Camp Parks	Pleasanton	CA	1/1/1952	12/31/1978	Low
Camp Pendleton Naval Hospital	San Diego	CA	9/27/1961	12/31/1963	Very Low
Chabot College	Hayward	CA	1/1/1964	12/31/1978	Low
Community Hospital	Long Beach	CA	6/15/1962	12/31/1963	Very Low
Del Monte Corp–Plant #37, 3000 East 9th Street, Fruitvale District	Oakland	CA	2/16/1946	12/31/1978	Very Low
Del Monte Corp — Plant #24, 2744 East 11th Street, Fruitvale District,	Oakland	CA	6/3/1941	12/31/1954	Very Low
E&J Gallo Winery	Modesto	CA	1/1/1957	12/31/1978	Very Low
El Camino Hospital	Mountain View	CA	5/25/1964	12/31/1978	Very Low
Ford Glass Co.  (AKA Libby Owens Ford Glass, Lathrop, Ca)	Lathrop	CA	1/1/1964	12/31/1978	Standard
Ford Motor Company	Milpitas	CA	1/1/1966	12/31/1978	Low
General Motors	Fremont	CA	1/1/1961	12/31/1978	Standard
Harold’s Club	Reno	NV	1/1/1949	12/31/1959	Low
Harold’s Club	Reno	NV	1/1/1960	12/31/1978	Very Low
Hunt Foods	Davis	CA	1/1/1963	12/31/1978	Low
Hershey Chocolate	Oakdale	CA	1/1/1964	12/31/1978	Standard
Judson Steel	Emeryville	CA	1/1/1963	12/31/1978	Standard
Los Angeles Athletic Club	Los Angeles	CA	4/20/1961	12/31/1963	Very Low
Lucky Lager Brewery	San Francisco	CA	3/10/1955	12/31/1978	Low
Hillsdale Shopping Center	San Mateo	CA	1/1/1954	12/31/1978	Low
Marin General Hospital	Greenbrae	CA	1/1/1963	12/31/1978	Low
Marquardt Corporation	Van Nuys	CA	8/31/1962	12/31/1963	Very Low
Masonite Plant	Ukiah	CA	1/1/1950	12/31/1978	Standard
Mira Loma Prison	Mira Loma	CA	1/1/1960	12/31/1963	Low
Naval Air Station- Moffett	Sunnyvale	CA	1/1/1954	12/31/1978	very Low
Peralta Hospital	Oakland	CA	1/1/1964	12/31/1978	Low
PG&E- Antioch	Antioch, CA			12/31/1978
PG&E- Humboldt Bay Eureka Power Plant Units #1 & #2	Eureka	CA	8/1/1955	12/31/1978	Standard
PG&E – Potrero Power Plant, Units #1 & #2	San Francisco	CA	3/6/1958	12/31/1978	Low
PG&E – Potrero Power Plant, Unit #3	San Francisco	CA	6/29/1965	12/31/1978	High
Pinole Junior High School	Pinole	CA	1/1/1960	12/31/1978	Very Low
Point Arena Air Force Base	Point Arena	CA	1/1/1950	12/31/1978	Very Low
Rancho Seco Nuclear Power Plant	Herald	CA	1/1/1973	11/31/1978	Very Low
Rough & Ready Island (AKA Naval Supply Center, Rough & Ready Island)  –	Stockton	CA	1/1/1966	12/31/1978	Very Low
San Jose State University- Science Building – List as “California State University – San Jose”	San Jose	CA	1/1/1959	12/31/1978	Very Low
San Pedro Community Hospital	San Pedro	CA	8/31/1960	12/31/1963	Very Low
Sandia National Labs	Livermore	CA	1/1/1965	12/31/1978	Very Low
Shasta Dam	Shasta	CA	1/1/1950	12/31/1978	Very Low
Shell Chemical	Martinez	CA	1/1/1952	12/31/1978	Standard
Sir Francis Drake Hotel	San Francisco	CA	1/1/1945	12/31/1978	Very Low
Spreckles Sugar Co.	Manteca	CA	1/1/1965	12/31/1978	Standard
Tracy Clark Powerhouse – Units 1 & 2;	Sparks	NV	1/1/1964	12/31/1978	Low

Possible Increase in Base Case for Economic and Medical Loss

Posted 09/26/2017
This notice applies to all Trust claim filers and those who intend to file claims with the Plant Asbestos Settlement Trust.  The Trustees, with consent from the Trust Advisory Committee and Futures Representative, have determined that all claims submitted to the Trust after September 22, 2017, may be subject to adjustments in the economic and medical loss base case based upon generally accepted indices because of inflation.

Annual Report

Posted 04/27/2017
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that a hearing on the motion to approve Plant Asbestos Settlement Trust’s Fifth Annual Report and Accounting is scheduled for Thursday, June 8, 2017 at 10:00 a.m. before United States Bankruptcy Court Judge, the Honorable Hannah L. Blumenstiel, at the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco Division, located at 450 Golden Gate Avenue, 16th Floor, San Francisco, California 94102 in Courtroom 19.

Interrogatory Requirements

Posted 03/31/2017
The Trustees, Trust Advisory Committee (TAC), and Futures Representative reviewed the general status of claim submissions at the March 16, 2017 Trustee meeting.  Section 6.2(a) of the Trust Distribution Procedures require claims to be submitted with San Francisco Superior Court General Order 129 Form Interrogatories, Set 1 and Set 2.  The Trustees, with the consent of the TAC, and the Futures Representative, have resolved that the Abbreviated Interrogatories used in the other trusts that share facilities with the Plant Asbestos Settlement Trust (Plant), may also be used when submitting claims to Plant.  In addition, other forms of interrogatories may be accepted by the Trust if they contain the same information.

Modifications to Site List

Posted 03/22/2017
The following modifications to the Plant Land Site List were approved at the March 16, 2017 Trustees’ meeting: 

Naughton Station Unit #3 (Utah Power & Light) (AKA PacificCorp)	Kemmerer	WY	05/01/71	12/31/78	Very Low
Travis Air Force Base	Travis	CA	01/01/52	12/31/62	Very Low
Travis Air Force Base	Travis	CA	01/01/63	12/31/78	Low
UCSF Medical Center	San Francisco	CA	01/01/53	12/31/78	Low
Varian Associates	Palo Alto	CA	01/01/59	12/31/64	Very Low
Varian Associates	Palo Alto	CA	01/01/65	12/31/78	Low
Willamette Iron & Steel (AKA Willamette Shipyard	Richmond	CA	01/01/48	12/31/77	Standard