A bankruptcy judge has preliminarily approved a class of some 16,000 homeowners who sued W.R. Grace & Co. over exposure to asbestos fibers in the bankrupt home materials maker's Zonolite attic insulation. Judge Judith K. Fitzgerald ruled Friday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware that the proposed settlement, reached in November, is reasonable and should be submitted to class members for comment. A final approval hearing on the matter is set for April 1.

The class members affected by Friday's preliminary approval are typically individual residential property owners with claims of modest value, according to the ruling. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has estimated that there could be from 15 million to 52 million homes across the country that contain Zonolite, according to court filings. The settlement class is represented by Richardson Patrick Westbrook & Brickman, The Scott Law Group PS and Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP.