Basic Information

1. What is this lawsuit about?

The lawsuit claims Goodyear made defective Entran II hose for use in radiant heating and snow-melting systems. The people who sued Goodyear claim that the hose leaks, cracks, and damages the boiler and other component parts under normal running conditions. They are asking the Court to award money to everyone who has property damage caused by Entran II hoses. Goodyear says that its product is not defective, and denies that it did anything wrong. Goodyear believes that if properly maintained, Entran II hose does not cause a problem.

The Court in charge of the lawsuit in Canada is the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. The name of the lawsuit is Kelman et al. v. The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company et al., Court File No. 42665 CP. The people who sued are called Plaintiffs, and the companies they sued, are called Defendants.

2. Why is this a Class Action?

In a class action lawsuit, one or more people called “Representative Plaintiffs” sue on behalf of other people who have similar claims. All these people together are a “Class” or “Class Members.” The Court decides all the issues in the lawsuit for all Class Members, except for those who exclude themselves from the Class. The judge hearing this class action lawsuit in Canada is the Honorable Justice Warren Winkler.

3. Why is there an Amended Settlement?

The Court has not decided in favor of the Class or Goodyear. Instead, both sides agreed to an Amended Settlement. That way, they avoid the cost and risk of a trial, and the people affected will get money.

Who Is In the Amended Settlement

4. How do I know if I’m part of the Amended Settlement?

To see if you can get money from this Amended Settlement, you first have to know if you are a Class Member.

The Court has said you are a Class Member if:

• You own or owned property in any state or U.S. territory
  
  and
  
  
• Entran II hose made by Goodyear was or is used for a radiant heating system on the property.
  
  and
  
  
• You submit a valid Claim Form no later than November 19, 2009.
  

If you own or owned property in the United States in which Entran II hose was or is used for radiant heating, please contact the Claims Administrator and ask for a U.S. Notice.

5. Are there exceptions to being included in the Amended Settlement?

You are not a Class Member if:

• You have Entran II hose, but it was made by the company Dayco, not Goodyear.
  
  
• You exclude yourself from this Amended Settlement.
  
  
• You are the Judge in this lawsuit, or a member of the Judge’s immediate family.
  
  
• You are a company that owns or is owned by Goodyear, you are Goodyear or its successor, or you are an agent of Goodyear.
  

6. How do I know if I have Goodyear Entran II hose?
Entran II hose is commonly installed as part of a radiant heating system, which is a way to heat a building (or sidewalks or driveways) using hot fluid flowing through pipes or hoses. Sometimes it is part of a baseboard heating system, and sometimes it is in or under a floor or the ground. The floor heating system might have been buried or stapled in place. Or, the hose might have been buried in a driveway or sidewalk to melt snow.

There are several ways to find out if you have Entran II hose installed in your home or in any other building you own:

(1) Inspect your hose. The Goodyear Entran II hose will have the following features:

• The hose is made of rubber and is orange.
  
  
• Its inside diameter is about 1/4 to 3/4 of an inch. Its outside diameter is 3/4 to 1 inch.
  
  
• It is usually stamped with a name “Heatway” or “Heatway Systems” on the outside, and with another trade name such as Entran II, Nytrace, Entran II Trace, Entran II Wire, Entran 2, Entran 2 Trace, Entran 2 Wire, or Twintran.
  
  
• A date code will be printed on the hose, with the word “Entran”. The date code will also include the letter “A”, “B”, “C”, “D”, or “Z”. (Note: some Twintran hose made by Goodyear in 1989 has a date code without a letter.)
  
  Note: Entran II hose made by the company Dayco is not included in this Settlement. Hose made by Dayco has “ENTRAN” (all capital letters) stamped on it, and a shorter date code (typically just a month and year). The date code on Dayco hose doesn’t have a letter along with the date.
  

(2) Go to the website, www.entraniisettlement.com. The Settlement website includes further information and pictures of Entran II hose to help you identify your hose.

(3) Check your purchase or repair documents. You may have receipts, warranties, bills of sales, or brochures from when you purchased or repaired your radiant heating system. These documents may say that Entran II hose was used in the system. The contractor or company that installed or repaired your radiant heating system may also know whether Goodyear Entran II hose was installed.

The Amended Settlement Benefits - What You Now Get

7. How is the Amended Settlement different from the Original Settlement?

Both the Original and Amended Settlement Agreements are available for you to review on the Entran website. We encourage you to read them. Some of the important differences include the following:

• Goodyear’s obligation to make payments is no longer conditional on any future financial performance.
  
  
• It provides awards to property owners who may not have received an award under the prior settlement. Now all property owners who have or had Goodyear Entran II may receive an award.
  
  
• It includes property owners in the states of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Connecticut and Rhode Island who were not included in the prior settlement.
  

8. What does the Amended Settlement provide?

The Amended Settlement calls for payments totaling $300 million (U.S.) into a fund to pay to Class Members in the United States and Canada who submit claims. Payments into this fund will be made over a four-year period. A complete description of the payment schedule is in the Amended Settlement Agreement. You can get a copy of the Amended Settlement Agreement by visiting www.entraniisettlement.com, or by calling toll-free, 1-800-254-9222.

9. How much will I be paid?

Your share of the Settlement Fund will depend on the number of claims that are submitted. As an estimate (not guaranteed), some Class Members may get 50% or more of the cost of remediation after payment of Attorneys’ fees, costs and expenses. More details about the way the Settlement Fund will be paid out are in a document called the Amended Plan of Distribution and Allocation. The Plan is included with this Notice package.

How To Get A Payment - Submitting A Claim Form

10. How can I get a payment?

To qualify for a payment, you must send in a completed Claim Form. A Claim Form is included in this Notice package. You can also get a Claim Form by:

• calling this toll-free number: 1-800-254-9222
  
  
• visiting the website, www.entraniisettlement.com; or
  
  
• writing the Claims Administrator at:
  

Entran II Claims Administrator
P.O. Box 1051
Fort Erie, Ontario L2A 6C7

You have 5 years from the date the Court approved the Amended Settlement to send in your Claim Form. The Court approved the Amended Settlement on November 2, 2004, which is the date of the Fairness Hearing, your Claim Form must be mailed and postmarked by November 19, 2009. You must include any documentation the Claim Form asks for along with the completed Claim Form.

Mail your completed Claim Form to:

Entran II Claims Administrator
P.O. Box 1051
Fort Erie, Ontario L2A 6C7

Remember, if you don’t send a Claim Form, you can’t get a payment. If you already sent in a Claim Form from the Original Settlement you do not need to send in a new one.

11. When will I get my payment?

On October 26, 2004, the Court held a hearing approving the Amended Settlement. A Claims Administrator appointed by the Court has begun reviewing each Claim Form submitted. Please note that there is often a delay after a Settlement like this is approved. For example, there may be appeals, and payments can’t be made until appeals are finished. Because of this, there could be a delay before the first claims are reviewed and paid. The claims will generally be reviewed and paid on a first-come, first-served basis.

12. Am I giving anything up for my payment?

As a Class Member, all decisions made by the Court in this lawsuit or about the Settlement will apply to you. If the Court approves the Amended Settlement, you will have released Goodyear from any further claims against it about the issues in this lawsuit, and you can’t ever sue Goodyear again about these issues. This is true even if you do not send in a Claim Form for a payment, provided you haven’t excluded yourself from the Amended Settlement.

Your Rights - Getting Out Of The Amended Settlement

13. What if I don’t want to be part of the Amended Settlement or the Class?

You do not have to take part in the Amended Settlement or be a Member of the Class. This is called “excluding” yourself. If you exclude yourself, you cannot get a payment and you cannot object to the Settlement. Any Court orders will not apply to you. By excluding yourself, you also keep any right to file or maintain your own lawsuit you may have. The deadline to exclude yourself has passed.

14. How do I exclude myself from the Amended Settlement?

The deadline to exclude yourself has passed.

Your Rights - Objecting To The Amended Settlement

15. How do I tell the Court if I don’t like the Amended Settlement?

If you’re a Class Member and don’t exclude yourself, you can tell the Court you don’t like the Amended Settlement or some part of it. This is called objecting to the Amended Settlement. The deadline to object has passed.

16. What’s the difference between objecting and excluding myself?

Objecting is the way to tell the Court what you don’t like about the Amended Settlement. The deadline to object has passed.

Excluding yourself is the way to tell the Court you don’t want to be a part of the Class and the Amended Settlement, and that you want to keep the right to file your own lawsuit. If you exclude yourself, you can’t object because the Amended Settlement doesn’t affect you any more. The deadline to exclude yourself has passed.

If You Do Nothing

17. What happens if I do nothing at all?

If you do nothing, you will not get any money from the Amended Settlement. You must send a Claim Form to get a payment.

If you are a Class Member and do nothing, you will also be part of the Class and all of the Court’s orders will apply to you. You won’t be able to start a lawsuit or be part of any other lawsuit against Goodyear about the claims in this lawsuit, ever again.

The Lawyers Representing You

18. Do I have a lawyer in this lawsuit?

The Court has recognized the following lawyers to represent you and all Class Members. Together, these lawyers are called Class Counsel. You will not be charged for these lawyers. The names and addresses of Class Counsel are as follows:

19. How will the lawyers be paid?

The lawyers who represent the class and other lawyers who have helped will ask the Court for attorneys’ fees of 30% of the Settlement Fund or $90 million (U.S.). These lawyers will also ask the Court to approve the reasonable out of pocket expenses out of the Settlement Fund, which they estimate will be approximately $7 million (U.S.). The Motion for attorneys’ fees, expenses and costs shall be submitted to the Court no later than August 5, 2004. The Court has approved any requests for fees, expenses and costs.

The Court’s Fairness Hearings

20. When and where will the Court decide whether to approve the Amended Settlement?

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice held a Fairness Hearing at 10:00 a.m. on October 26, 2004. At this hearing, the Court considered the Amended Settlement was fair and adequate. The Court listened to people who asked to speak at the hearing. After the hearing, the Court decided to approve the Amended Settlement.

The Fairness Hearing was held at:

Ontario Superior Court of Justice
361 University Avenue
Toronto, Ontario M5G 1T3

There was also a Fairness Hearing in the United States at 10:00 a.m. on October 19, 2004. In addition, there was a second hearing in the United States on November 8, 2004 at 10:00 a.m. where the Court considered the amount of attorneys’ fees and expenses. The Court listened to people who asked to speak at this Hearing, and considered any objections to the attorneys’ fees and expenses. After this second Hearing, the Court decided how much the attorneys were to be paid and reimbursed out of the Settlement Fund.

Both U.S. Hearings was held at:

United States District Court
Room 2020
District of New Jersey
402 East State Street
Trenton, N.J. 08608
United States

Getting More Information

21. Are more details available?

This Notice summarizes the Amended Settlement. More details are in the Amended Settlement Agreement. You can get a copy of the Amended Settlement Agreement from the Claims Administrator by calling toll-free, 1-800-254-9222, or writing to: Entran II Claims Administrator, P.O. Box 1051, Fort Erie, Ontario, L2A 6C7.

You can also look at and copy the legal documents filed in this lawsuit at any time during regular office hours at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, 361 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 1T3 or at the Office of the Clerk of the Court, United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, 402 East State Street, Trenton, New Jersey, 08608.

If you have any questions about this Notice or the Amended Settlement, you can visit the website at www.entraniisettlement.com, or write the Claims Administrator at:

Entran II Claims Administrator
P.O. Box 1051
Fort Erie, Ontario L2A 6C7