NEWHALL LAND SETTLEMENT OIL COMPANY TO PAY NEARLY $9 MILLION.Byline: Nicholas Grudin Staff Writer VALENCIA - After more than two years of litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. , The Newhall Land and Farming Company The Newhall Land and Farming Company is a land management company based in Valencia, California, United States. The company is responsible for the master community planning of Valencia, as well as the management of farm land elsewhere in the state. announced Wednesday a nearly $9 million settlement in the ground contamination case against a major national oil company that had drilled on the developer's land since the 1930s. Newhall Land accused Kerr-McGee Oil & Gas Onshore on·shore adj. 1. Moving or directed toward the shore: an onshore wind. 2. Located on the shore: an onshore beacon; an onshore patrol. adv. of leaving petroleum waste on property that is inked to become Newhall Ranch, a 21,000-home residential subdivision southwest of the Golden State Freeway-Highway 126 junction. ``We're very focused on reaching a settlement so that the responsible parties could focus on the cleanup of the property and returning it to its original condition,'' said Marlee Lauffer, a spokeswoman for Newhall Land. ``We're pleased to get it resolved now - this is something that we've been working on for a number of years, because the contracts were not being abided by.'' On May 20, a Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Superior Court judge granted a stay in the case against Kerr-McGee for the two sides to resolve the conflict out of court. In the suit, filed Jan. 30, 2001, Newhall Land accused Kerr-McGee of shirking Shirking The tendency to do less work when the return is smaller. Owners may have more incentive to shirk if they issue equity as opposed to debt, because they retain less ownership interest in the company and therefore may receive a smaller return. its obligation to clean up land where it had drilled oil for decades. Newhall alleged: ``Kerr-McGee intentionally and deliberately took actions designed to hide and conceal the existence of such contamination, typically by covering over it with clean soil.'' After negotiations, a definitive settlement agreement went into effect Friday. Under the settlement, Newhall Land received a cash payment of $8.875 million for partial reimbursement Reimbursement Payment made to someone for out-of-pocket expenses has incurred. . ``The key terms of the settlement address the level of property remediation and restoration to be performed by Kerr-McGee ...,'' according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Newhall's quarterly report, which was released Wednesday. Restoration operations will start in 2004. Construction of the Newhall Ranch development, which is the largest subdivision ever approved in Los Angeles County, will begin in 2006. The entire building process will take 25 years, according to Newhall Land officials. Nicholas Grudin, (661) 257-5255 nicholas.grudin(at)dailynews.com |
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