Asarco Upper Blackfoot environmental claim settlement approved

By Caroline Salls

Pittsburgh, May 20 - Asarco LLC obtained court approval of an environmental liability settlement related to its Upper Blackfoot Mining Complex in Montana, according to a Monday filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Under the settlement, Asarco and oil and gas company Atlantic Richfield Co. will each pay $500,000 to the United States and $8 million to the State of Montana.

In addition, the United States will have a $228,446 allowed general unsecured claim against Asarco, and the state will have a $19.77 million allowed general unsecured claim.

In return, the state has agreed to dismiss a related lawsuit against Asarco and Atlantic Richfield, and all parties have agreed not to sue or assert other claims in connection with the Upper Blackfoot site.

Asarco said the government's experts estimated that the United States had more than $29 million in claims related to the site and the state had more than $79 million in claims, but Asarco's experts estimated that the company's share of the response costs was only $11.66 million.

The settlement will be implemented following approval from the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana.

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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