Briefcase

Oil spill cleanup to cost $42 million

BILLINGS – Cleaning up tens of thousands of gallons of crude oil that spilled from a pipeline and fouled a stretch of Montana’s renowned Yellowstone River is expected to cost Exxon Mobil Corp. an estimated $42.6 million, according to documents obtained Monday by the Associated Press.

About 42,000 gallons, or 1,000 barrels, of crude leaked into the waterway upstream of Billings, the state’s most populous city, when the pipeline buried under the scenic river broke on July 1. If the cost figure holds, the accident will cost Exxon more than $1,000 for every gallon spilled.

Exxon Mobil’s cost estimate includes $40 million for emergency response work and $2.5 million for damage to public and private property. The company valued the lost oil at $100,000, according to documents submitted to federal pipeline regulators.

Associated Press

More Americans facing foreclosure

WASHINGTON – The number of Americans at risk of foreclosure is rising, reflecting the U.S. economy’s continued struggles.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said Monday that 8.44 percent of homeowners missed at least one mortgage payment in the April-June quarter. That figure, which is adjusted for seasonal factors, rose 0.12 percentage point from the January-March period.

In a normal market, the percentage of delinquent borrowers is about 1.1 percent, according to the trade group.

The end of a state and federal investigation into faulty foreclosure paperwork will likely lead to increased foreclosures later this year.

Associated Press

Survey predicts small pay raises

NEW YORK – A new survey says salaried U.S. workers can expect another year of modest raises in 2012.

After increasing salaries by 2.6 percent this year and last year, companies are planning a 2.8 percent bump in 2012, benefits and human resources consultancy Towers Watson reported Monday.

That’s somewhat smaller than raises in the last decade. From 2000 to 2006, the year before the Great Recession began, salaries rose an average 3.9 percent for workers who were not executives.

Associated Press

Kellogg says logo too much like Sam

SAN FRANCISCO – Kellogg Co. is asking a group working to defend Mayan culture to reconsider its logo, saying consumers can confuse it with Toucan Sam, the mascot of its Froot Loops cereal.

An attorney for the world’s largest cereal maker has sent a letter to the nonprofit Maya Archaeology Initiative saying Kellogg opposes the group’s bid to trademark its logo. The attorney suggests a settlement that would limit the group’s use of the image.

The Maya Archaeology Initiative, based in San Ramon, Calif., says there is little similarity. It says its logo is based upon a realistic toucan native to Mesoamerica, while Toucan Sam is a cartoon character with the coloring of Froot Loops.

Associated Press