According to an Associated Press article, W.R. Grace and Company has agreed to pay $17.9 million to settle eight asbestos property-damage claims as part of its Chapter 11 case.

The settlements, which come on the heels of a bankruptcy court ruling favoring asbestos claimants who had sought to speed up the claims resolution process against Grace, will include the Port of Seattle, which would receive the largest claim at $14.5 million, followed by the state of Washington’s claim of just over $2 million, and the Fargo Housing and Redevelopment Authority claim, for which the organization would get about $810,000.

Other claimants include CHP Associates of Cherry Hill, N.J., the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer in Montgomery, Minn., the Church of St. Helena in Minneapolis, and the American Legion of Fargo, N.D.

Columbia, MD-based W.R. Grace and Company admitted no wrongdoing in any asbestos matters but said it agreed to settle “because it is in the best interest of its Chapter 11 estates to avoid further expense, inconvenience and the distraction of expensive, burdensome and protracted litigation over the claims’ merit and value.”

According to the article, the agreement requires that the claims be paid within 30 days after the bankruptcy court approves Grace’s reorganization plan. Grace will either pay the claims from its bankruptcy estate or through an asbestos trust fund.

The bankrupt Grace is currently faced with more than 135,000 asbestos-related lawsuits. The company claims their asbestos liabilities are estimated at about $1.3 billion. Critics believe that number is closer to $5 billion.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 25th, 2007 at 11:43 am and is filed under Asbestos Exposure. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed. Responses are currently closed, but you trackback from your own site.