The former parent companies of Maxus Energy Corp. reached a $575 million settlement on Thursday to end a longstanding bankruptcy-court lawsuit over who should pay to clean up the contaminated Passaic River in New Jersey, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Argentine energy company YPF SA has agreed to pay half of the settlement, according to a securities filing by YPF on Friday. Spain’s Repsol SA, another former owner of Maxus, has agreed to pay the other half, a company representative said. The settlement amounts to a fraction of the $14 billion that the remnants of Maxus have sought, although it isn’t unusual for a party demanding large damages to end up with a much smaller settlement amount. Occidental Chemical Corp., which shares liabilities for the Passaic cleanup with Maxus, also agreed to drop all claims against YPF and Repsol related to Maxus, the Passaic River and other areas subject to environmental remediation, according to YPF’s filing.
