U.S. enters $50.6 million settlement agreement with General Motors over environmental liabilities

2011-03-08 06:46:45 GMT+7 (ICT)

NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) -- Prosecutors on Monday announced that the United States entered a $50.6 million settlement agreement with Motors Liquidation Company, formerly known as General Motors Corporation ('Old GM') over environmental liabilities.

According to Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, the settlement agreement concerns certain environmental liabilities under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and the Clean Air Act.

Under the terms of the agreement, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will receive allowed general unsecured claims collectively exceeding $36 million to settle environmental claims at many sites contaminated with hazardous waste and resolve civil penalties at other facilities.

Such claims will be paid in stocks and warrants of the General Motors Corporation ('New GM') in an amount to be determined later during bankruptcy. In addition to the $36 million allowed general unsecured claim, EPA will receive $4.6 million from bonds posted by 'Old GM'.

This amount will cover cleanup work and sureties of certain bonds will perform cleanup work valued at $10.5 million. The settlement will resolve the automaker's environmental liabilities at 34 sites and facilities in 11 states.

In June 2009, 'Old GM' filed Chapter 11 petitions in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. At that time, the company was the second-largest automotive manufacturer in the world.

That same day 'Old GM' and three wholly-owned subsidiaries filed for bankruptcy, the company also filed a motion to sell substantially all of its assets to a newly formed corporation, now known as General Motors Company ('New GM').

Monday's settlement agreement is the eighth in a series of settlements of GM's environmental liabilities that have recovered more than $800 million for cleanup of contaminated sites nationwide.

In October 2010, the United States entered into a $773 million settlement agreement with 'Old GM' to resolve its liabilities at 89 sites. In December 2010, the U.S. entered into six settlements totaling $25 million with the company to solve environmental liabilities at six sites.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-03-08

If a Thai crew were contracted to clean up GM's toxic messes, the bill would probably be twice that amount.

I'm judging by the tens of millions of baht for a Thai gov't contract to clean out a warehouse - apparently a large load of unsold fruit had been stored there, and it was declared 'toxic waste' ('large rats running around' was mentioned), so the Thai gov't awarded a contract for tens of millions of baht to get some tractors to take the waste to a ditch next-door and cover it up.