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Article

12 Jun 2013

Author:
Taos Turner, Wall Street Journal

New Jersey in Partial Pollution Settlement With Argentina's YPF [USA]

...YPF...has reached a deal with the state of New Jersey that might allow the company to avoid billions of dollars in potential liabilities related to the contamination of the Passaic River. According to the state...YPF and...other companies agreed to pay the state $130 million to settle some claims alleging they are legally responsible for the dumping of dioxin, a highly toxic chemical and suspected carcinogen,...in the 1950s and 1960s...YPF agreed to pay $65 million...YPF would also see its potential liability in the case limited to $400 million. A recent Environmental Protection Agency estimate had put the cleanup cost of an eight-mile area of the river at between $1 billion and $3.4 billion...YPF itself didn't pollute the river. But a New Jersey state court ruled two of YPF's subsidiaries, Maxus Energy Corp. and Tierra Solutions, were responsible for the pollution. YPF bought Maxus Energy Corp. in 1995...Maxus's predecessors owned a Newark chemical [pesticide] plant, which the state says dumped dioxin into the river, until 1986...New Jersey said other companies, including YPF Holdings, Inc., YPF International, Spain's Repsol SA, CLH Holdings...also joined the settlement...A YPF spokesman declined to comment. A Repsol spokesman said the settlement essentially ends the state's litigation in the case and caps future liabilities for the company...One litigant, Occidental Chemical Corp. [part of Occidental Petroleum],...which purchased part of Maxus's business, didn't participate in the deal...Last year, a state court held Occidental liable for cleanup and removal costs...Eric Moses, a spokesman for Occidental, said Maxus is required to pay for "all liabilities" that Occidental might face in the New Jersey case.