Missouri to receive $43.9 million for environmental damages from Anadarko settlement

The state of Missouri will receive a $43.9 million share from the landmark $5.15 billion Anadarko Petroleum Corp. bankruptcy settlement, according to Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster. The sum will be used to clean up environmental damages to soil and groundwater at former creosote wood-treatment sites in Kansas City and Springfield.

Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp., now a subsidiary of Anadarko, used the facilities to treat wood railroad ties, and it had spun off those operations onto a new company called Tronox, which later filed for bankruptcy. Kerr-McGee exited the wood tie and tie treating business in late 2004.

Under the terms of the settlement, judges maintained that Anadarko was still responsible for the cost of the environmental damage, despite Kerr-McGee’s reorganization.

“Missouri’s share of the settlement will cover the cost of remediation at the former Kerr-McGee sites in our state and result in millions more for reclamation of other damaged sites for public use,” Koster said in a statement.

In April 2014, Anadarko agreed to pay $5.15 billion for environmental damages caused to various sites across the country. The U.S. Department of Justice has stated this is the largest settlement ever paid in an environmental case.