Asarco parent rips Everett smelter site liability settlement

By Caroline Salls

Pittsburgh, March 13 - Asarco LLC parent Asarco Inc. objected to a proposed Everett smelter site liability settlement, arguing that the company is asking the court to "rubber-stamp" the settlement without providing details on the merits of the $38 million settlement payment, according to a Wednesday filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Asarco Inc. said the motion and settlement agreement include only Asarco LLC's opinions, "while offering none of the requisite insight into the debtor's analysis of the merits, chances of success, costs of continuing the litigation or other relevant factors that could conceivably justify debtor's willingness to settle for more than double the $18 million liability estimate of its own experts."

In addition, the parent company said the motion should be denied because the claims in question "are wildly inflated and largely unsupported."

Asarco Inc. also said the settlement is "excessive and unfair to the estate."

Asarco, a Tucson, Ariz., mining company, filed for bankruptcy on Aug. 9, 2005. Its Chapter 11 case number is 05-21207.

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