THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Thursday, October 5, 1995              TAG: 9510050401
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: D3   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                         LENGTH: Medium:   53 lines

SOME HOMEOWNERS ELIGIBLE FOR SETTLEMENT LEAKY PLASTIC PIPES MAY BE COVERED BY A TENTATIVE SETTLEMENT OF $850 MILLION.

A nationwide campaign is under way to notify millions of homeowners that they may be beneficiaries of a class-action lawsuit settlement involving leaky plastic plumbing.

Homeowners who experience leaks in polybutylene plumbing systems installed as far back as 1978 are eligible under the tentative $850 million settlement to apply for compensation for past or future expenses incurred as a result of leaks. More than one million calls have been logged at a facility established by Hoechst Celanese Co. of Somerville, N.J., Houston-based Shell Oil Co. and plaintiffs' lawyers to deal with claims, Houston attorney Michael Caddell said Tuesday.

A Tennessee Chancery Court judge in Union City gave preliminary approval in July to the settlement. A final ruling is due Nov. 8.

Hoechst and Shell, which supplied the resin used to make the pipes or fittings, aren't admitting wrongdoing in settling the class-action lawsuit. The $850 million could grow if claims exceed that amount.

Attorneys touted the all-but-completed agreement as ``an extraordinary victory for consumers.''

``Essentially, this settlement provides 100 cents on the dollar for all unreimbursed property damage and repair costs suffered by any class member,'' Arthur Bryant, executive of Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, said Tuesday. ``Second, it provides opportunities for class members in appropriate circumstances to get their entire plumbing replaced at no cost.''

Bryant, whose organization participated in the filing of the class-action suit, said the agreement represents the largest property damage settlement in U.S. history.

Some six million mobile homes, apartments, houses and other structures are believed to have PB plumbing, which was widely installed in the 1970s and 1980s as a less costly alternative to copper or galvanized steel systems.The PB pipes - about the diameter of a garden hose - are most commonly recognized by their gray color for indoor plumbing and blue color for outdoor lines.

PB plumbing sometimes springs leaks after corroding because of oxidation, which often is speeded up by the presence of chlorine found in most drinking water.

Caddell estimated that half of all mobile homes in the U.S. are outfitted with PB plumbing, as are 5 percent of typical single-family houses. To learn more about the settlement, call 1-800-876-4698. by CNB