Weber Aircraft Inc

The Justice Department has approved a nearly $70-million settlement with Lockheed and others over pollution of Burbank ground water, paving the way for a cleanup under the federal Superfund program, federal officials announced Thursday. The agreement between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Lockheed, Weber Aircraft Inc. and the city of Burbank means that construction of a treatment system to purge ground water of chemical solvents can begin by next year, a Burbank official said.

Weber Aircraft Inc., a maker of seats, galleys and lavatories for aircraft, has been sold by its British owner for $85 million in cash. The buyer is Air Cruisers Co. of Belmar, N.J., which makes aircraft escape chutes, life vests and inflatable boats and is part of Groupe Zodiac, a French manufacturer. Makers of airplane parts have been hurt by the recession because airlines are buying fewer planes.

Weber Aircraft Inc., a maker of seats, galleys and lavatories for aircraft, has been sold by its British owner for $85 million in cash. The buyer is Air Cruisers Co. of Belmar, N.J., which makes aircraft escape chutes, life vests and inflatable boats and is part of Groupe Zodiac, a French manufacturer. Makers of airplane parts have been hurt by the recession because airlines are buying fewer planes.

The Justice Department has approved a nearly $70-million settlement with Lockheed and others over pollution of Burbank ground water, paving the way for a cleanup under the federal Superfund program, federal officials announced Thursday. The agreement between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Lockheed, Weber Aircraft Inc. and the city of Burbank means that construction of a treatment system to purge ground water of chemical solvents can begin by next year, a Burbank official said.

A consent decree providing for ground-water cleanup in Burbank under the federal Superfund program will be the subject of a March 23 hearing in U. S. District Court in Los Angeles, an official with the U. S. attorney's office said. Court approval of the agreement is needed before construction begins on an elaborate treatment system that is to purge ground-water supplies of solvents suspected of causing cancer.

The Justice Department has approved a nearly $70-million settlement with Lockheed and others over pollution of Burbank ground water, paving the way for a cleanup under the federal Superfund program, federal officials announced Thursday. The agreement between the Environmental Protection Agency and Lockheed, Weber Aircraft Inc. and the city of Burbank means that construction of a treatment system to purge ground water of chemical solvents can begin by next year, a Burbank official said.

American Airlines aircraft seats that dislodged in flight, temporarily grounding 48 Boeing Co. 757s, had already had been under scrutiny by the carrier for becoming loose more often than on other aircraft. The airline initially blamed incorrectly installed saddle clamps before determining that a buildup of residue from spilled sodas, coffee and juice kept locking pins from remaining in place, David Campbell, American's vice president for safety, security and environmental, said Friday.

From the day he started Nordskog Industries in 1951 with a few machines in a Quonset hut, Robert Nordskog ran the Van Nuys maker of airline galleys with as much passion and drive as he raced powerboats. The champion racer was known as a one-man show at his company. "I'm the head honcho, a dictator," he would say, bluntly and without hesitation.

U.S. Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency officials expressed surprise Tuesday at disclosures that the U.S. military--not Lockheed Corp.--will pay most of Lockheed's $60 million to $80 million costs of cleaning up polluted ground water in Burbank. The two federal agencies last month praised an agreement under which Lockheed was to pay most of the costs.