Asarco seeks to disallow Tar Creek property damage claims based on statute of limitations

By Rebecca Melvin

New York, Feb. 15 - Asarco LLC has asked the court to disallow property damage claims associated with the Tar Creek site in Oklahoma and two class action suits, based on the statute of limitations, according to a Friday filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, Corpus Christi division.

Tar Creek is a 40-square mile area Superfund site located in northeastern Oklahoma. The area has been associated with high levels of lead poisoning of families, especially children, stemming from contamination related to lead and zinc ore mining.

The amount of the claims - which relates to alleged reduced property values - wasn't available Friday as the matter was the subject of mediation in Texas, sources said.

The claims, which derive from the Cole and Evans class action suits, are scheduled for a bankruptcy court estimation trial starting March 3.

"I don't think I can tell you the number. But it's big," a source associated with the counsel for the claimants said of the dollar amount of the claims.

Asarco asserts that mining activities in the area ceased more than 50 years ago and that the statute of limitations is two years in such cases. Furthermore, Asarco says it never had operations in Tar Creek; the mining operations were those of Federal Mining & Smelting Co., with which Asarco merged in 1953.

The earlier of the claims were made in 2003, about 50 years late, the company's filing states.

Asarco asked for summary judgment and a brief that will disallow the claims or value them at zero for purposes of the upcoming estimation proceeding.

The claims are from a time prior to the claims bar date established in its cases, the Asarco filing states.

Certain claimants filed proofs of claim against the debtors alleging toxic tort, personal injury, environmental property damage and related breach-of-settlement claims, including claims relating to personal injury and property damage in Tar Creek. Last summer, the bankruptcy court ordered that the company establish procedures for the estimation of toxic tort liability and authorized Asarco to file omnibus objections to toxic tort related claims.

Through mediation last fall, Asarco settled most of its personal injury claims relating to Tar Creek; Hayden, Ariz.; and El Paso, Texas. However, certain property damage claims, filed by parties represented by Charlie Speer and Dennis Reich were not resolved and remain pending.

In January new claimants appeared seeking to file additional new claims almost a year and a half after the claims bar date, the filing states.

Through a motion to file late claims, the claimants seek to add more than 950 new proofs of claim against the company's estate on behalf of about 523 individuals, municipal and commercial property owners in the Picher, Cardin and Quapaw towns, the filing states.

In the Cole/Picher case, the plaintiffs' class certification motion and supporting brief were filed Dec. 8, 2004 and the district court held a class certification hearing on June 3, 2005.

The Evans/Quapaw case was stayed on May 17, 2004, pending resolution of the Cole/Picher case.

The court will rule on an estimation of claims based on a proceeding March 3, 4 and 7.

Asarco, a Tucson, Ariz.-based mining company, filed for bankruptcy protection in August 2005 to resolve environmental and asbestos claims resulting from Asarco's operations.

Its Chapter 11 case number is 05-21207.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.