The State of Oklahoma might be close to settling a lawsuit filed four years ago against several companies accused of defrauding Oklahoma’s Petroleum Storage tank Division Indemnity Fund.
This week, Attorney General Mike Hunter informed the Oklahoma Corporation Commission that after mediation, a settlement had been reached with MRP Properties Company, LLC named in a 2014 lawsuit.
The suit was originally filed by then-attorney general Scott Pruitt who accused Valero Energy Corporation, MRP Properties Company LLC, Valero Marketing and Supply Company, and ABC Corporation of violating state law. Pruitt sued to recover money paid to the firms for cleanup of leaking underground storage tanks for which they were ineligible. He accused them of numerous violations based on their ownership of insurance.
Valero was dismissed from the suit two years later. In a July 19 Oklahoma County District court filing, Hunter indicated the state took part in a mediation session with an attorney for MRP Properties Company.
“On July 9, 2018, the parties reached an agreement in principle to settle this matter contingent upon the requisite approval by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission,” stated the recent filing. The settlement was given to the commission during a Tuesday meeting.
As laid out in the July 19 filing, if and when the Commission agrees to the settlement, the state will dismiss the lawsuit. The motion filed by the attorney general asked the court for 90 days to finalize the proposed settlement.
Details of the settlement were not included in the filing.
The 2014 lawsuit accused the firms of violating the Indemnity Fund law which stated that the fund could not be used to pay for cleanup of leaking petroleum storage tanks for which the companies had insurance. The state accused the companies of making “false applications to the Fund for contaminated petroleum marketing facilities.” by “falsely claiming that they had no insurance when in fact Defendants had hundreds of insurance policies.”