NEW YORK (AP) -- Tronox Inc. has agreed to pay $270 million toward cleaning up multiple contaminated sites in 22 states, according to settlement documents filed in bankruptcy court Tuesday.
Oklahoma City-based Tronox, which makes titanium dioxide pigment used to whiten paint, paper and plastic, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2009 in order to reorganize its operations and alleviate liabilities including environmental cleanup and litigation costs.
Tronox has accused former parent Kerr-McGee Corp. of undercapitalizing the company, stripping it of its most valuable assets and cash, and sticking it with hundreds of millions of dollars of environmental legacy lawsuits, including the costs of cleaning up contaminated soil near plants that closed more than 50 years ago under different owners.
Tronox last year sued Kerr-McGee and Texas-based Anadarko Petroleum Corp., which bought Kerr-McGee for $18 billion five months after Tronox was spun off.
Tronox has agreed to set up five environmental trusts, including one multistate trust that will fund the cleanup of sites in 14 states, according to Tuesday's filing in Manhattan bankruptcy court.
It will pay the trusts a combined $270 million and transfer 88 percent of its stake in any proceeds it receives from its pending lawsuit against Anadarko. It also is transferring ownership of certain Nevada assets and insurance and financial assets worth at least $50 million, according to recent regulatory filings.
