Asarco Settles Smelter Lawsuit

Asarco Inc.'s infamous Tacoma copper smelter closed 10 years ago but it's still costing the company big bucks.

Asarco yesterday agreed to an out-of-court settlement of a class-action lawsuit filed in 1993 on behalf of 20,000 North Tacoma and Ruston residents who live within two miles of the smelter site.

The arrangement could cost the company millions over the next 11 years.

The smelter's landmark smokestack spewed arsenic and lead, contaminating yards in surrounding neighborhoods during the 80 years it operated. In the lawsuit, residents sought damages for reduced property values and increased health risks.

The settlement, subject to approval by a federal judge, requires Asarco to:

-- Compensate owners who sell their property anytime before 2006 for any drop in property value attributable to smelter contamination. Losses will be determined by an Asarco-paid panel.

-- Provide free blood and urine tests for North Tacoma and Ruston residents for the next 11 years to monitor lead and arsenic levels. Arsenic has been linked to cancer, while lead affects brain development in children.

-- Pay at least $10 million, and perhaps more than $50 million, to property owners and renters.

The class-action suit had been scheduled to go to trial this week. David Hoff, an attorney for residents, called Asarco's agreement to compensate owners for lost property values without financial limitation "an unprecedented, open-ended commitment."

The smelter has been designated a Superfund site by the Environmental Protection Agency. At EPA's insistence, Asarco already is spending up to $80 million removing and replacing contaminated soil on more than 500 nearby properties.

But Hoff and Tom Burt, another plaintiff lawyer, said that program benefits only a fraction of the affected properties.