Asarco $38 million Everett smelter site environmental liability claim settlement approved

By Caroline Salls

Pittsburgh, April 18 - Asarco LLC received court approval of an environmental liability settlement under which it agreed to grant the Washington Department of Ecology and the Port of Everett a $38 million general unsecured claim, according to a Friday filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

Specifically, the settlement covers claims for areas impacted by the release of solid or hazardous substances from Asarco's former Everett smelter site.

In exchange for the allowing the claim, the state has agreed to discharge Asarco's environmental liabilities related to the Everett site.

According to the motion, the department of ecology filed claims against Asarco under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act and the state of Washington's Model Toxics Control Act for past remediation costs, future response costs and natural resource damages.

Asarco said the government and port's experts estimated that the company's Everett liability claims exceeded $135 million, but Asarco's experts estimated that the company's share of the claims was only $20 million.

Asarco, a Tucson, Ariz., mining company, filed for bankruptcy on Aug. 9, 2005. Its Chapter 11 case number is 05-21207.

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