A proposed nationwide class-action settlement has been reached with two makers of phenolic foam roof insulation. Installed between 1980 and 1992 in thousands of high occupancy buildings, PFRI insulation is alleged to release acids, which can corrode steel roof decks.

The settlement in this lawsuit, Sebago Inc. et al. v. Beazer East Inc. et al, affects thousands of potentially “unaware” building owners in the United States whose roofs contain PFRI manufactured by Koppers Co. (later acquired by Beazer East) and Johns Manville Corp., Denver. The lawsuit is pending in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. While the two settlements are subject to final Court approval, preliminary approval was granted June 30, 2000.

The Court ordered that notice to the class be given commencing July 21, 2000. Notice of the settlement will be mailed to several thousand building owners that have already been identified. Plaintiff attorney Kenneth Gilman, Gilman and Pastor LLP, Saugus, Mass., states, “PFRI was installed in thousands of high-occupancy and commercial buildings, including schools, office buildings, condominiums and apartment buildings, manufacturing facilities, restaurants, shopping plazas and malls. To ensure that we get the message out, we will also be publishing notice in newspapers, trade journals, television and at a Website we’ve established, www.pfriclaims.com.”