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December 1993
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Selenium Settlement

Three oil companies didn't meet the deadline for cutting their selenium discharges to the Bay by 50 percent but state regulators, in a recent tentative out-of-court lawsuit settlement, agreed to give them more time at a price. The settlement would give Exxon, Shell and Unocal until 1998 to get the selenium levels in their wastewater down to 50 parts per billion. Three other companies (Chevron, Pacific Refining and Tosco) are already in compliance. Because the first three didn't meet the 1993 deadline, they'll pay a collective penalty of $2 million. But the Bay Institute's Gary Bobker says, "Penalties for non-compliance should at least exceed the costs of compliance. These penalties don't even come close." Bobker also worries that the settlement will replace or gut a pending basin plan amendment mandating a 75 percent reduction in mass loading by 1997. Public comment will be heard December 15.

Contact: Jessie Lacy (510)286-0702

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