Asarco talks settlement, but taxpayers might get stuck with billions for toxic cleanup
TACOMA – Former mining and smelting giant Asarco is holding preliminary talks with federal regulators and a dozen or so states, including Washington, about settling more than $6 billion in environmental claims it faces in federal bankruptcy court.
But with the discussions in a preliminary stage and pressure increasing for the company to file a reorganization plan, Asarco asked the Texas-based court last week to sort out how much it owes to clean up the toxic legacy of its mining, smelting and other operations at nearly 100 sites nationwide.
The court is set to review more than 95,000 asbestos-related claims that could be worth between $500 million and $1 billion. Asarco, based in Tuscon, Ariz., has turned over more than 2 million documents to lawyers representing the asbestos claimants. A court proceeding known as an estimation hearing is scheduled for this fall.
Asarco’s case has enormous implications for taxpayers, who could be left with the multibillion-dollar cleanup bill.
The company’s Tacoma smelter has been torn down and the site sold to private developers. However, Washington state filed a claim worth more than $600 million, alleging that a plume of arsenic, lead and other hazardous substances from the smelter contaminated the water, soil and air in parts of Pierce, Thurston and King counties.
The Washington claim, according to lawyers involved in the bankruptcy case, is the second-largest filed by the states, behind Oklahoma’s $2 billion claim.
Other states with major claims include Missouri, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. No state-by-state breakdown is available.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency seeks more than $1.3 billion to clean up a number of Superfund sites. American Indian tribes and private parties also filed environmental claims against Asarco, a former Fortune 500 company.
Some want Asarco’s assets
The settlement talks, which began last fall, have taken on urgency amid reports that a major Swiss multinational corporation, in partnership with a Montana company, wants to buy most of Asarco’s remaining assets. Other international mining companies also are reportedly interested in Asarco.
The talks come as Asarco’s Mexican owner, Grupo Mexico S.A. de C.V., seeks to reassert control over its subsidiary.
Earlier court filings claimed Grupo Mexico stripped Asarco of its most valuable assets – two Peruvian copper mines – then let the company slip into bankruptcy to avoid environmental cleanup costs and asbestos-related claims. Grupo Mexico has denied the allegations.
“Everyone is sort of circling right now,� said John Tate, a Dallas lawyer representing some of the asbestos claimants.
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Asarco talks settlement, but taxpayers might get stuck with billions for toxic cleanup
