W tym Shell i BP dofinansowywane po cichu przec toriwki AWS
zatrudnione w krakowskim Funduszu Ochrony Srodowiska.

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Court rules four oil firms liable for $100 million Fullerton, Calif.,
waste cleanup

Wednesday, February 13, 2002
By David Kravets, Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court ruled Monday that four
oil companies are responsible for the bulk of the $100 million cleanup
cost of the McColl Superfund site in Fullerton, Calif.
The decision overturns a Los Angeles federal judge, who said the U.S.
government was liable for the costs of cleaning up the site, 25 miles
southeast of Los Angeles. The site, now a golf course adjacent to a
residential area, is a tomb of 100,000 cubic yards of hazardous waste.
It was a dump site for spent aviation fuel and other oil byproducts
during World War II era.

Now, after 12 years of litigation that produced the cleanup of the
22-acre former Superfund site, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
said the four oil companies who dumped at McColl must foot the cleanup
bill.

"This is a major development about ultimate accountability," said
Timothy Patterson, a deputy attorney general for California, which
sued the oil companies.

Shell Oil Co., Union Oil Co. of California, BP, and ChevronTexaco
Corp. had claimed the federal government should have to pay for the
cleanup because the companies were producing high-octane gas during
World War II for the U.S. military. The gas produced an acid-waste
byproduct.

Peter R. Taft, the oil companies' attorney, said his clients are
considering asking the court to rehear the case or may ask the U.S.
Supreme Court to intervene.

The appeals court noted that the United States only purchased the
Avgas and did not dictate how to dispose of the byproduct. The court
also said the Superfund site is riddled with other contaminates having
nothing to do with war.

"The undisputed facts indicate that the oil companies ... dumped acid
waste both before and after the war, that they dumped acid waste from
operations other than Avgas production at the McColl site, and that
they were not compelled by the government to dump waste in any
particular manner," Judge William A. Fletcher wrote.

The federal government declared the McColl site a high priority
shortly after the Superfund cleanup law was enacted in 1980. It was
put on the Superfund list in 1983, and the cleanup was finished in
1997.

Fumes are now filtered through pipes and carbon filters. A cap of
high-density polyethylene atop the pits keeps water out and
cancer-causing chemicals in. Clay walls inserted up to 40 feet into
the ground hold the hazardous waste.

Of the estimated $100 million cleanup, the federal government has
agreed to pay about $5.5 million.



Copyright 2002, Associated Press
All Rights Reserved

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