Suit Settled Over Arsenic Fallout Asarco To Pay $67.5 Million To People Near Tacoma Smelter
Asarco Inc. on Wednesday settled a lawsuit filed by arsenictroubled neighbors of its closed smelter by offering to pay for medical monitoring and lost property values for 10 years.
The amount was reported at $67.5 million, lawyers for Asarco and the plaintiffs said, including cash payments of at least $10 million to residents.
Approval by the U.S. District Court is needed before the settlement could take effect.
The suit, filed two years ago, represented thousands of owners and renters near the smelter, as well as a medical monitoring group of more than 20,000 individuals living within two miles of the site. The smelter processed copper, with arsenic as a major byproduct, until it was closed in 1985.
Asarco agreed to pay until the end of 2005 for any property-value losses suffered by residents because of arsenic or lead contamination above state standards.
Amounts will be determined by a property-value assurance panel. The panel will consist of one person named by Asarco, one named by the plaintiffs’ legal firm, and one attorney for the people covered.
Asarco will provide and publicize a 10-year medical monitoring program of all adults and children living in the area to find out if they are exposed to lead or arsenic.
Studies have shown that long-term exposure to low levels of arsenic can lead to disorders of the skin, nervous system and blood vessels.
“The monitoring will test for exposure to these harmful contaminants and provide follow-up and medical advice to those individuals who are exposed above normal levels,” plaintiff lawyers Tom Burt and David Hoff said in a statement.
Cash payments will be made to property owners and renters within two miles of the smelter site, the attorneys said. The total amount will be at least $10 million and possibly more than $50 million, depending partly on the outcome of lawsuits between Asarco and its insurance carriers, the attorneys said.
“This settlement will go a long way toward alleviating the fears many class members have that the contamination will reduce the value of their homes,” said Burt and Hoff.