Schools Reach $200-Million Asbestos Deal : Liability: The case was one of the largest in the U.S. involving the insulation material.

An asbestos property damage settlement totaling more than $200 million has been reached in lawsuits affecting thousands of school districts across the United States.

The 10 companies involved in the settlement announced Tuesday included some of the most prominent manufacturers in the country, ranging from construction materials leaders such as U.S. Gypsum Co. and Georgia Pacific Corp. to chemical conglomerates W.R. Grace Co. and Union Carbide Corp.

Attorney David Berger, the lead lawyer in the case, said his firm is continuing negotiations with other firms who haven’t yet settled.

The class action, one of the biggest and most complex among the asbestos civil cases still before the federal courts, was filed in 1983 against more than 50 companies on behalf of more than 30,000 school districts seeking reimbursement for the cost of removing asbestos from school buildings.

Asbestos, a fiber-like insulation material, causes cancer and respiratory diseases. It was once widely used in construction.

The agreement must be approved by U.S. District Judge James Giles, who is handling the case, and the plaintiffs in the class action.

Other asbestos property damage cases still pending, besides the school case, involve colleges and universities, government buildings and commercial buildings.

Berger called the settlement “an important step toward ultimate resolution of the school asbestos litigation.”

However, it wasn’t clear how far the settlement money would go in compensating the schools for the costs of ridding buildings of asbestos, which is an enormously expensive process.

Gwen Gregory, deputy general counsel for the National School Boards Assn., which wasn’t directly involved in the case, said, “We were hoping the school districts would obtain a settlement that would give them sufficient funds to make the necessary repairs.”

U.S. Gypsum also announced a separate settlement involving 333 school districts in Michigan that had elected to sue separately. That case too is now ending.

USG indicated both agreements would cost the firm $30 million in cash and $50 million in discount coupons that the school districts can use to purchase U.S. Gypsum plaster products.