The United States government agreed on Friday to pay Ford Motor Co. $10.84 million in order to settle a 7-year-old lawsuit over the cleanup of the automaker's Rouge Complex near Detroit during both World Wars.
The 2,000-acre estate was bought in 1915 by Henry Ford where, among other models, he manufactured the iconic Model T. The National Park Service has since named it “the world’s most famous auto plant”. During World War I, the US government used it to build naval ships, an activity that was joined by the manufacturing of aircraft engines in World War II. In peacetime, Ford used it for auto and steel production.
In 2000, Ford began a $2 billion project for the redevelopment of the site to include the Dearborn Truck Assembly Plant. In 2004 it started production of the F-Series truck and sold the steel making unit to Russian company Sevestral OAO.
In the same year, Ford sued the federal government claiming the reimbursement of cleaning costs due to contamination caused by military operations. According to Ford’s lawsuit, the whole process would cost at least $99 million.
Ford called the settlement, which requires formal court approval, “fair, reasonable and consistent with the prompt cleanup of hazardous waste”. The government will pay $6,585,000 for the cleanup of the Rouge Complex, and a further $4,250,000 for the cleanup of the 48-acre adjacent estate that is used for wastewater treatment.
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