The ASARCO mining company, which filed for bankruptcy in 2005, may be able to emerge this year now that parent company Grupo Mexico has agreed to assume the responsibility for paying asbestos lawsuit claims made against the company.

Grupo Mexico has made the offer partly to prevent the ASARCO company from putting itself up for sale. The parent company has therefore agreed to sponsor a reorganization plan that involves paying all legitimate claims that have been made against ASARCO.

Some estimates put the value of claims and other liabilities at tens of billions of dollars.

Among the total is several billion dollars worth of lawsuits relating to exposure to asbestos, lead, and other toxins. More than $165 million will be allotted to clean-up environmental damage in eight different Montana sites.

ASARCO filed for bankruptcy in 2005, and during the process a bankruptcy judge removed Grupo Mexico’s control over the company due to allegations that the parent company was stripping ASARCO’s assets.

On Monday, ASARCO filed documents indicating that it has reached an agreement with entities it owes money to, along with its intentions to sell itself to the highest bidder. The documents also included references to having six interested bidders.

The company said that the sale would raise enough money to resolve all asbestos and toxin-related liabilities as well as to fund the environmental clean-up. The company owns a total of twenty sites that are included on the EPA’s Superfund list.

Last month, the company managed to keep Hayden, the community that houses an ASARCO smelter, off the Superfund list by pledging to spend $13.5 million on soil testing on community property, and to cover the costs of any clean-up that might be needed.

The EPA had previously found carcinogens contaminating soil in Hayden and Winkelman, located nearby. Residents hope that ASARCO will either buy their contaminated properties, or pay for relocation.

Some residents have noted that the company seems willing to solve the community’s environmental problems, but it hasn’t always been that way.

Prior to the company’s bankruptcy declaration it used a 1912 deed to sue community residents to prevent them making claims for environmental damage the company had caused. The company alleged that the deed granted it the right to emit unlimited amounts of “smoke, dust, fumes and other deleterious matter” from the Hayden smelter without having to assume any liability for damage it might cause.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 30th, 2008 at 9:39 am and is filed under Montana. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.