6. Contingencies The Company is a defendant in numerous lawsuits alleging bodily injury and death as a result of exposure to asbestos dust. From 1948 to 1958, one of the Company?s former business units commercially produced and sold approximately $40 million of a high-temperature, calcium-silicate based pipe and block insulation material containing asbestos. The Company exited the pipe and block insulation business in April 1958. The typical asbestos personal injury lawsuit alleges various theories of liability, including negligence, gross negligence and strict liability and seek compensatory and in some cases, punitive damages in various amounts (herein referred to as ?asbestos claims?). As of September 30, 2011, the Company has determined that it is a named defendant in asbestos lawsuits and claims involving approximately 5,300 plaintiffs and claimants. Based on an analysis of the lawsuits pending as of December 31, 2010, approximately 76% of plaintiffs either do not specify the monetary damages sought, or in the case of court filings, claim an amount sufficient to invoke the jurisdictional minimum of the trial court. Approximately 22% of plaintiffs specifically plead damages of $15 million or less, and 2% of plaintiffs specifically plead damages greater than $15 million but less than $100 million. Fewer than 1% of plaintiffs specifically plead damages $100 million or greater but less than $122 million. As indicated by the foregoing summary, current pleading practice permits considerable variation in the assertion of monetary damages. The Company?s experience resolving hundreds of thousands of asbestos claims and lawsuits over an extended period demonstrates that the monetary relief that may be alleged in a complaint bears little relevance to a claim?s merits or disposition value. Rather, the amount potentially recoverable is determined by such factors as the severity of the plaintiff?s asbestos disease, the product identification evidence against the Company and other defendants, the defenses available to the