SAN FRANCISCO (Thomson Financial) - A number of the nation's largest oil
companies have agreed to pay $423 million to settle litigation with 153 public
water providers that sued over groundwater contaminated by MTBE, according to a
media report late Wednesday.
The terms of the agreement submitted for court approval also call for the
companies to pay clean-up costs that arise over the next 30 years, the Wall
Street Journal reported.
The companies that settled include BP PLC's BP America Inc., Chevron Corp.,
ConocoPhillips, Royal Dutch Shell PLC's Shell Oil Co., Marathon Oil Corp.,
Petroleos de Venezuela SA's Citgo Petroleum Corp., Sunoco Inc. and Valero Energy
Corp., the report said.
At least six companies declined to settle, including ExxonMobil Corp.
The settlement is the largest to date in a case involving MTBE, or methyl
tertiary butyl ether. For 30 years, oil companies added it to gasoline to curb
smog emissions, and leaky storage tanks allowed the additive to seep into the
water table in many places in the United States.
The Environmental Protection Agency calls MTBE a "known animal carcinogen"
and a "possible human carcinogen," the report said.
Gabriel Madway
gm
COPYRIGHT
Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.
The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content,
including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior
written consent of Thomson Financial News.
|