Atlantic Richfield Co

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday revived a class-action lawsuit accusing Arco, Chevron and several other refiners of conspiring to fix gasoline prices during the mid-1990s. But the same panel expressed doubt that the plaintiffs would be able to prove their case. The ruling stems from a suit filed by William O. Gilley on behalf of other wholesale buyers of the cleaner-burning fuel that since 1996 has been required in California.

The Atlantic Richfield Co. has pleaded no contest to charges that it released heavy black smoke from its Carson refinery and was fined $22,500. Municipal Court Judge Carlos Marino last week also sentenced the company to one year's probation. The company was ordered to repair the equipment that caused the smoke emission as a condition of probation.

Ghosts dwell among the living in Butte, Montana, a mining town haunted by its glory days, when the population was three times what it is now. It is haunted by the thousands of miners who died here, taking copper out of the underground tunnels with drills and dynamite. And from the viewing stand on the lip of a noxious 1,800-foot-deep mine pit that sits next to the Uptown neighborhood, it's clear that the city is also haunted by water.

Atlantic Richfield Co. said it will eliminate an additional 300 jobs and take charges of $890 million in the fourth quarter, continuing a trend of cutbacks and consolidation in an oil industry battered by low prices for crude and weak demand. The layoffs will now total about 7% of Los Angeles-based Arco's total worldwide work force of 18,000. "The bulk of the cuts are in corporate offices and technical areas, such as engineers and scientists," said spokeswoman Linda Dozier.

Manville Sells Cleaned-Up Site: Seven years and more than $10 million later, Denver-based Manville Corp. announced that it has sold a 50-acre former Superfund site in Carson to Atlantic Richfield Co. for an undisclosed sum. Manville received a California certification indicating that it had completed the Carson cleanup on June 30, 1990.

Atlantic Richfield Co. Chief Executive Michael Bowlin said his company's proposed natural gas project in Saudi Arabia was "well-received" by Saudi officials last week. Los Angeles-based Arco is one of a number of U.S. companies that have made recent proposals to invest in Saudi Arabia, which has a quarter of the world's proven oil reserves.

Arco International President to Visit Iran: The president of Atlantic Richfield Co.'s international unit, Marlan W. Downey, is to fly to Iran later this week to discuss possible exploration and production deals. Downey is president of Arco International Oil & Gas Co. In a phone interview from Dallas, Downey said the visit was a "courtesy call." "I'd like to be acquainted with all the senior people in oil producing regions," Downey said.

The operator of more than 100 ARCO gas stations in San Diego County has agreed to a $4-million settlement in a suit charging the company didn't properly maintain leak-detection equipment on underground fuel tanks. County officials said BP West Coast Products agreed to the settlement, which will go before a Superior Court judge for approval, according to the San Diego Union Tribune. The county filed the lawsuit after inspections dating back to 1999 reported some 1,300 violations at ARCO

Oil giant Arco on Tuesday agreed to spend millions of dollars cleaning up contamination beneath 143 gas stations that threatens Orange County's drinking water supply, ending a lengthy legal battle closely watched around the state. Atlantic Richfield Co. was one of several that the Orange County district attorney's office sued for allowing leaking gasoline storage tanks to taint the soil and ground water with MTBE, a gasoline additive that may cause cancer.

A prosecutor known for her aggressive enforcement of environmental laws said Friday that she had resigned after repeated clashes with Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas regarding an environmental contamination case against the Atlantic Richfield Co. Orange County sued the giant oil company in 2000 to force it to clean up contamination from leaking underground gasoline tanks at dozens of the company's service stations in the county.

California officials on Wednesday announced a $45.8-million settlement in a case against Atlantic Richfield Co. The oil company was accused of failing to make required safety improvements in underground tank systems at 59 service stations throughout the state. Arco, now owned by BP, has agreed to pay the state $25 million in costs and penalties and said it has carried out an additional $20.8 million in upgrades not required by law.

Arco has purchased 480 acres in the Sierra Nevada for the Washoe Tribe as part of a settlement over pollution from an abandoned sulfur mine in rural Alpine County. The settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency resolves Arco's liability for failing to prevent ponds of acid mine drainage at Leviathan Mine from spilling over and contaminating the Carson River watershed in 1998. The property, purchased for $720,000, is north of Stampede Reservoir in Sierra County.

BP, the giant British oil company, still was digesting its purchase of Amoco Corp. two years ago when it agreed to buy Atlantic Richfield Co., the California gasoline powerhouse based in Los Angeles. Mergers were widespread in the oil patch at the time, as the commodity's sinking price prompted energy executives to pursue alliances to make up for lost profit. Crude oil was $11 a barrel; self-serve regular gasoline about $1.20 a gallon.

Atlantic Richfield Co. and Barmet Aluminum Corp. in Carson each were charged with two counts of air pollution Thursday by the district attorney's office. The misdemeanor complaints, which carry a fine of $10,000 each, were filed in Compton Municipal Court. Last May, Arco negligently discharged air contaminants from a coke heater and gas unit incinerator, while Barmet unlawfully operated an aluminum melting furnace, said Deputy Dist. Atty. William W. Carter.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency has formally told Atlantic Richfield Co. to assist in the cleanup of the Leviathan Mine, recently designated a Superfund environmental site. Arco is a former owner of the mine in Alpine County, about 20 miles south of Lake Tahoe. Leviathan has been leaking a mixture of acids and dissolved metals into creeks that drain into the Carson River for years, discoloring the streams and making portions of them incapable of sustaining life.

Orange County prosecutors disclosed Thursday that they are seeking millions of dollars in civil penalties from two oil companies blamed for contaminating ground water underneath more than 100 gas stations across the county. Prosecutors are seeking the fines as part of a 1999 lawsuit against Atlantic Richfield Co. and Thrifty Oil, which are trying to clean up their leaking underground gas storage tanks, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Michelle Lyman.