News In Brief

A subsidiary of Ultramar Diamond Shamrock has agreed to pay just under $14 million to settle federal complaints that it contaminated soil and groundwater in three locations in Michigan. The deal involves a civil penalty of $4 million, one of the largest yet in the Midwest for an environmental violation, the Justice Department announced. TPI Petroleum Inc. is accused of illegally fouling a river in St. Louis, Mich., a creek in Gratiot, Mich., and property around a refinery it closed last October at Alma, Mich.

Creditors are expected to meet tomorrow to arrive at a decision on Renault's offer to pay up to $570 million for control of the financially troubled South Korean auto-maker Samsung. The companies were in extensive negotiations last week in Paris, amid reports that Renault would own 70.1 percent, Samsung 19.9 percent, and creditors the rest. If 16 creditor banks agree to the deal, the necessary contracts would be signed as soon as Thursday at Samsung's offices in Pusan. Last summer, Renault bought a 37 percent stake in Japan's Nissan Motors.

(c) Copyright 2000. The Christian Science Publishing Society