The Nation : Dioxin Settlement OKd

Residents of Times Beach and other Missouri areas who sued over dioxin contamination have accepted a $19-million settlement. The settlement of three suits filed by 128 people in 1983 and 1984 is subject to approval by several courts, including a bankruptcy court in Florida that is overseeing two of the companies sued, said Jerome Schlichter, the attorney for the residents. Schlichter said he expects the settlement with four chemical companies to be made final by the end of January. The payment would be the first large-scale settlement resulting from the spraying of dioxin-contaminated oil on dirt roads by Russell M. Bliss, a former waste hauler from west St. Louis County. It is also the first to involve residents of Times Beach, which was bought out by the federal government in 1983 because of dioxin contamination.