Last checked at 
By Laila Kearney
Nov 7 (Reuters) - Residents of a small Nevada city won up to$20 million in a class action lawsuit that claimed AtlanticRichfield Company and its parent corporation allowed a defunctcopper mine to leak harmful chemicals into nearby soil anddrinking water.
Atlantic Richfield (ARCO) and BP America, part of BP Plc, agreed to pay $6.3 million in property damages andbetween $6.5 million and $12.5 million to reroute water suppliesto select residents of the city of Yerington, about 80 miles(129 km) southeast of Reno, to settle the case, according to alawyer for the plaintiffs.
"We're very proud of this settlement," Allan Kanner, leadattorney for the plaintiffs, said of the agreement reached latelast month and revealed publicly this week. Kanner said he was"pleasantly surprised" to have reached an agreement with ARCOand BP without a long-term legal battle. "I was expecting trenchwarfare."
About a dozen families, representing more than 900 neighborsin Yerington, filed the lawsuit in 2011, alleging that uranium,arsenic and other harmful chemical from the ARCO-owned AnacondaCopper Mine had seeped into their private soil and water wellsfor more than two decades.
ARCO acquired the mine, built in 1918 as the Empire NevadaMine, from the Anaconda Company in 1977 and permanently ceasedoperations five years later.
The Environmental Protection Agency and state agencies beganissuing reports as far back as 1982 that said the Anaconda minecould have been contributing to dangerous levels of uraniumfound in local groundwater and dirt, but ARCO did little toaddress the problem, the complaint says.
In their original complaint, the plaintiffs argued thatconsuming and touching the chemicals could lead to multipleforms of cancer, neurological, kidney, and liver damage, as wellas behavior and learning problems.
ARCO and BP did not admit wrongdoing under the agreement,which also requires that they establish a $900,000 fund forresidents to receive medical screenings and other preventativemedical costs possibly associated with Anaconda mine toxins.
"Atlantic Richfield is pleased that the court has approvedthe settlement as fair and reasonable," ARCO said in astatement.
"The company supported settlement in this narrow casebecause it delivers a good outcome for the community byguaranteeing the availability of a reliable, clean source ofdrinking water," the statement said.
Kanner said the agreement, approved by the U.S. DistrictCourt of Nevada, does not bar residents from filing personalinjury claims against ARCO or its parent company due to Anacondamine contamination in the future. (Editing by Cynthia Johnston)
