The Plan was confirmed by an order of the Bankruptcy Court entered on February 13, 2013, and affirmed by an order of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania entered on March 11, 2013.

The sole Trustee of the Trust is Anne M. Ferazzi. The Future Claimants’ Representative is Philip A. Pahigian, represented by Gary P. Nelson of Sherrard, German & Kelly, P.C., and the Trust Advisor is Bryan Blevins of the Provost Umphrey Law Firm, L.L.P. General Counsel to the Trust is Steven A. Buxbaum of Haynes and Boone, LLP.

The Trust was formed to resolve APG Silica Trust Claims for which the APG Entities (as defined below) have Legal Responsibility, as provided in and required by the Plan and the APG Silica Trust Agreement. “Legal Responsibility” means responsibility for (i) a claim for personal injury caused by exposure to goods manufactured or sold, or by operations (including installation) conducted by an APG Entity where initial exposure occurred on or prior to February 14, 2002, which is the Petition Date applicable to each of the APG Entities, involving products containing respirable crystalline silica or (ii) a claim for personal injury caused by exposure to goods manufactured or sold, or operations (including installation) conducted by General Refractories Company on or prior to August 1, 1994, involving products containing respirable crystalline silica (all capitalized terms used but not otherwise defined herein have the meanings ascribed to them in the Glossary filed of record in the Bankruptcy Case on September 15, 2005, which is available on the Trust’s website at www.apgsilicatrust.org). APG Silica Trust Claims DO NOT include workers’ compensation claims except as specifically provided in the APG Silica Trust Distribution Procedures and other than Convenience Class Claims, they DO NOT include claims from exposure as a sandblaster, unless the exposure was in a covered Industry for not less than one year.

The “APG Entities” are the following companies:

• A.P. Green Industries
• A.P. Green Services, Inc.
  • f/k/a Bigelow Arch Company
  • f/k/a Bigelow Liptak Corporation
• APG Development Corp.
• Detrick Refractory Fibers, Inc.
• APG Refractories Corp.
• Intogreen Co.
• A.P. Green International Inc.
• A.P. Green Refractories, Inc.
• Bigelow-Liptak of Canada, Ltd. (pre-1985 only)

If an APG Silica Trust Claim first diagnosed prior to February 14, 2002 was not barred by the applicable statute of limitation or repose on February 14, 2002, it will be treated as timely filed if it is actually filed with the APG Silica Trust by December 31, 2014. Any claims that were first diagnosed after February 14, 2002, irrespective of the application of any relevant statute of limitation or repose, must be filed with the APG Silica Trust on or before December 31, 2016 or within three years after the date of diagnosis, whichever occurs later.

See the APG Silica Trust Distribution Procedures for a description of the types of claims, medical and exposure criteria, claims values and other matters, including a description of Convenience Class Claims. Allowed Claims will be offered a payment of an amount equal to their allowed liquidated value multiplied by the Trust’s current payment percentage. The Trustee has established an initial payment percentage for the Trust of 20%.

Convenience Class (Type 3) Claims must meet the Trust’s medical criteria but are not required to meet exposure criteria. To file a Convenience Class Claim, the claimant must have cast a ballot for or against approval of the GIT Plan and elected Convenience Class treatment on the ballot. The Trust has a list of those eligible to file a Type 3 Claim and will not consider Type 3 Claims for anyone not on the list. A claimant who did elect Convenience Class treatment on his or her ballot is not limited to filing a Type 3 Claim and can file a Type 1 or Type 2 Claim instead of a Type 3 Claim. Type 3 Claims have a full value of $1,000, but they will not be paid unless and until the Payment Percentage reaches 50%, and when they are paid, the $1,000 ALV will be multiplied by the Payment Percentage to determine the payment amount. The initial Payment Percentage has been set at 20%, and it is unknown whether the Payment Percentage will be increased to or above 50% in the future.

THE APG SILICA TRUST IS REQUIRED TO, AND WILL, REPORT ALL PAYMENTS MADE TO OR FOR THE BENEFIT OF CLAIMANTS FOR WHICH REPORTING IS REQUIRED TO THE CENTERS FOR MEDICARE & MEDICAID SERVICES, WHICH MAY SEEK TO RECOVER A PORTION OF THOSE PAYMENTS FROM CLAIMANTS TO RECOVER MEDICARE OR MEDICAID BENEFITS PAID TO OR FOR THE INJURED PARTY ON ACCOUNT OF A SILICA-RELATED DISEASE.

Claims are being processed for the Trust by Verus Claims Services, LLC, 3967 Princeton Pike, Princeton, NJ 08540. The Trust's Claim Form is available from Trust Services, Inc. and will be available on this website under the Documents tab. Claims may be filed by mail, by facsimile or electronically. Contact Trust Support for law firm registration, training or further information on claim submission.