McColl Plaintiffs Pleased With Agreement : Other Defendants May Try to Block Tentative Settlement With Chevron

Residents near the McColl hazardous waste site are delighted with the tentative settlement reached with an oil company and its subsidiary, but other defendants still involved in litigation over the smelly Fullerton dump may try to block the court agreement, attorneys said Friday.

Under the proposed settlement, Chevron Corp. and its Chevron USA subsidiary will pay an undisclosed figure--several hundred thousand dollars, according to several sources--to be divided among 78 families living north of the World War II refinery acid dump.

About 50 families living east and south of the site will drop their lawsuit against Chevron (formerly Standard Oil Co. of California), according to attorneys.

However, the residents’ lawsuits still stand against about a dozen other defendants, including oil companies suspected of producing the waste at McColl, government agencies, housing developers and a landowner.

Although the first to settle, Chevron was considered a lesser defendant in the case because it was never suspected of dumping at McColl and had divested itself of property in the area years ago.

‘It’s a Start’

“I don’t know all the details, but I’m happy,” said Glenn Cosman, one of the leading plaintiffs in the suits. “It’s a start, . . . a positive development, and I hope it encourages other parties to whittle it down.”

Jeffrey Matz, attorney for about 280 McColl-area residents, has called the agreement a “breaking of the ice” that could lead to other settlements. He said he would not disclose terms of the settlement until Wednesday, after he has met with his clients.

“I think it’s great; it’s a start,” said Diane Bennett, another resident living north of the dump, at which a $21.5-million, 15-month cleanup is scheduled to begin in a few weeks.

Attorneys for the defendants not involved in the settlement said they could not comment on their companies’ positions until they have seen the terms of the agreement.

However, Matz and Chevron’s attorney, Kenneth L. Waggoner, who received calls from the other defendants Friday, said some co-defendants indicated they might argue against the agreement at a court hearing scheduled for Feb. 28.

If the settlement is approved by Orange County Superior Court Judge Phillip Petty, the other oil companies and co-defendants would not be able to later sue Chevron to collect damages, Matz explained.

Positions Being Considered

Petty earlier had deemed that “in effect, that every defendant had sued every other defendant,” Matz said. If the settlement is approved, Chevron will be free and clear of all litigation in the case, he said.

“There is some indication that some may oppose it in court,” Waggoner agreed. “But others are also considering settling. Right now they’re all looking at where they are” legally.

Waggoner said Chevron’s decision to settle with the homeowners is not an admission of guilt. “We don’t believe we have any responsibility (for damages).” Chevron decided to settle because the sum, which he refused to disclose, “was substantially less than the cost to defend the litigation. That would have been horrendously expensive, even for a peripheral defendant.”

Chevron, when it was Standard Oil, owned property north of Rosecrans Avenue, McColl’s northern boundary, and transferred it in 1977 to Chevron USA, which later sold it to the property developer, Waggoner said. Chevron had no interest in property south of Rosecrans, he said.

Matz said the proposed settlement with Chevron is a “major step forward” in the lawsuits because many of the defendants “did not want to be the first. . . . They did not want to be the subject of criticism (by other defendants) for financing the lawsuit against the rest” by paying the plaintiffs the first sum of money, he said.

But Waggoner said there was no pressure by the other defendants. “Besides, the amount we’re paying won’t finance” a drawn-out court battle against the other defendants, he said.

Matz said he is in “active negotiations” with about eight other defendants.

The dump was created in 1942 when local refineries producing wartime aviation fuel deposited acid wastes in the licensed sumps operated by Eli McColl. The once-rural area has since been developed with houses on three sides and a golf course, which covers some of the sumps, on the fourth.

State health officials have determined that nearby residents are suffering from aggravated respiratory problems, nausea and headaches because of the dump’s fumes, which contain benzene and sulfur dioxide.

Excavation of the waste will be financed by an unprecedented $19.35-million advance from the federal Environmental Protection Agency Superfund for the cleanup of hazardous waste sites.