UNOCAL Admits Responsibility in Poi

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Subject:  UNOCAL Admits Responsibility in Poison Leak

        UNOCAL Admits Responsibility in Poison Leak at Residential Area

          The company will pay $80 millions for mis-handling chemicals

                Reuters, Tuesday, April 15, 1997 at 18:29

          RODEO, Calif., April 15 (Reuter) - Unocal Corp said Tuesday it 
agreed to pay $80 million to settle lawsuits stemming from a 1994 toxic 
leak at its Rodeo, Calif., refinery that sickened over 6,000 residents in 
the area.

          The agreement awaits final approval from a county superior 
judge, and lawyers will submit a written version to the court once 
details are worked out in two or three weeks.
          The refinery, bought last month by Tosco Corp, leaked catacarb, 
a mixture of chemicals that can cause respiratory problems, nasusea and 
skin irritations, over two weeks in the summer of 1994.
          The company paid $3 million in civil and criminal fines related 
to the leak in 1995.

          News of the settlement was first reported Tuesday by the San 
Francisco Chronicle.  A spokesman for Unocal confirmed the oil company 
had reached a tentative settlement but he declined to give further 
details before the formal settlement is reached.

       Copyright 1997, Reuters News Service