La Lockheed paga 5 milioni di dollari per evitare una causa (8 ottobre)

Lockheed Offers To Settle Claims
http://news.excite.com/news/ap/001008/01/lockheed-settlement
October 8, 2000
 
BURBANK, Calif. (AP) - The Lockheed Martin Corp. said it is offering $5 million to about 300 Burbank residents to settle claims that they got sick from toxic chemicals released during decades of defense manufacturing. The settlement proposal, an about-face for the aerospace giant, could end four years of litigation. Lockheed said the offer is a business decision, not an admission of guilt.

The company has already paid $93 million to settle claims by thousands of other residents and former workers who also say they were made ill by the manufacturing byproducts that allegedly contaminated air, soil and ground water.

Plaintiffs have until Oct. 16 to accept or reject the offer, and Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carl J. West must approve the deal. If the offer is rejected, the case could go to trial next year.

A separate lawsuit by other residents against Lockheed is pending in federal court and is unaffected by the settlement negotiations.

The offer comes as government regulators are investigating elevated levels of chromium 6 in the San Fernando Valley's drinking water supplies. Lockheed has admitted using materials that contain chromium 6, a known carcinogen when inhaled.

But Lockheed spokeswoman Gail E. Rymer said Friday there is "absolutely nothing" linking the settlement offer with recent stories reporting elevated chromium 6 levels in some of the county's drinking water.

Lockheed, which built aircraft in this Los Angeles suburb from 1928 until the early 1990s, has spent $265 million since 1986 to clean up the soil and water underneath its old factories. The company said it could spend $100 million more over the next two decades as the cleanup continues.


Nota: da noi in Italia ci sono 70 milioni di dossier raccolti illegalmente dalla polizia militare su tutti i cittadini, anche i neonati, ma sapere dall'ANPA la lista dei luoghi a rischio per via delle lavorazioni nucleari non si può... per via della legge sulla privacy...vergogna! Forse fra un po' ci diranno pure che le confessioni dei pentiti non valgono perché...violano la legge sulla privacy. Come al solito due pesi e due misure, dove chi ci rimette è sempre, invariabilmente, la cittadinanza "sovrana".