WASTE CASE SET TO START OIL PRODUCER MIGHT SETTLE.Byline: Nicholas Grudin Staff Writer A lawsuit claiming that oil giant Kerr-McGee has shirked cleanup obligations at drilling locations on the Newhall Ranch ranch, large farm devoted chiefly to raising and breeding cattle, horses, sheep, and goats. The cattle ranch was introduced from Latin America to Texas and the plains of the W United States and Canada. property is scheduled to go to court next week. 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. a complaint filed Jan. 30, 2001, by 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. , Kerr-McGee - one of the 10 largest oil companies in the nation - is responsible for cleaning up petroleum waste allegedly left by the oil company's drilling operations west of Stevenson Ranch Stevenson Ranch, California (in the 91381 ZIP Code) is a Los Angeles County, USA, unincorporated community west of Santa Clarita a few miles south of Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park. The Stevenson Ranch fountain was redone in 2007. . ``Newhall Land was forced to initiate 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. against Kerr-McGee to ensure that they clean up the extensive oil-waste contamination that has occurred,'' said Newhall Land spokeswoman Marlee Lauffer. Kerr-McGee officials would not comment on specifics of the case but said that settlement negotiations are under way. ``(We) are preparing for trial while at the same time discussing an out-of-court resolution,'' said Debbie Schramm, spokeswoman for Kerr-McGee. According to Lauffer, Kerr-McGee has been drilling for oil on the Newhall Ranch property since 1935, but with their lease about to run out, the oil company is not on pace to accomplish the terms of their cleanup agreement. ``It's important to us that Kerr-McGee takes responsibility and cleans up the land as their operations wind down,'' Lauffer said. The oil waste - petroleum hydrocarbon hydrocarbon (hī'drōkär`bən), any organic compound composed solely of the elements hydrogen and carbon. The hydrocarbons differ both in the total number of carbon and hydrogen atoms in their molecules and in the proportion of hydrogen - is below the surface of the ground and must be excavated, Lauffer said. ``They need to dig it up and take it away,'' Lauffer said. Newhall Ranch is about 12,000 acres, some of which are being developed for a 21,000-home project and some are being leased for crops or oil drilling. No development plans are imminent on the property that Kerr-McGee was drilling on, and Lauffer said the oil contamination does not pose any hazard. The Oklahoma-based Kerr-McGee has drilling sites throughout the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. and several offshore operations as well. The lawsuit, set to begin May 20, could last up to six months. |
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