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Washington State

Office of the Attorney General

Attorney General

Nick Brown

AG McKenna’s statement on use of eminent domain for private purposes

OLYMPIA -- Attorney General Rob McKenna today issued the following statement on the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Kelo v. New London, Connecticut, in which the Court held that taking for "economic rejuvenation" satisfies the “public benefit” requirement in the Fifth Amendment’s takings clause in the U.S. Constitution.

“The Washington State Constitution prohibits the use of the power of eminent domain to condemn private property for private use and reserves to the judiciary the role in determining what constitutes a public use.

McKenna Announces New Division Chief for Fish, Wildlife and Parks Division

OLYMPIA -- Attorney General Rob McKenna today announced the selection of Joseph Shorin, III as the new division chief for the Fish, Wildlife and Parks Division of the Office of the Attorney General.

Shorin has served as an Assistant Attorney General with the Attorney General's Office for fifteen years. During that time he has worked in the Agriculture and Parks Division, the Natural Resources Division and most recently in the Ecology Division as a section manager.

Gregoire Announces Plan for Distribution of Energy Settlement Money

SEATTLE -- Attorney General Christine Gregoire today announced a plan for distributing approximately $37 million the state will receive over the next 20 years from antitrust settlements with two major energy companies, Williams Energy and El Paso Energy.

The settlement with El Paso, announced last June, and the settlement with Williams, reached in November 2002, followed investigations by the attorneys general of Washington, Oregon and California into alleged illegal manipulation of electricity prices during the West Coast energy crisis of 2000-2001.

Agreement reached in Attorney General's Energy Investigation

OLYMPIA -- Attorney General Christine Gregoire announced today that El Paso Corp. will pay Washington state $23 million to resolve state claims that it manipulated market prices for natural gas and abused its position in the natural gas market.

The settlement is between El Paso Corp. and its subsidiaries and affiliates, and the states of Washington, Oregon, California and Nevada, as well as numerous private litigants and other parties.

The total cash settlement is $665 million. It will be paid over 20 years.

States, El Paso Settle Energy Investigation

OLYMPIA -- Washington and El Paso Corp. today signed an agreement settling the state's claims that the natural gas company manipulated gas prices and abused its market position during the West Coast's 2000-2001 energy crisis.

The settlement, which also was signed by Oregon, California, Nevada and several other public and private parties, follows a memorandum of understanding the parties reached with El Paso in March.

Earthlink Agrees to Provide Clear Notice to New Customers

SEATTLE -- One of the nation's largest Internet service providers has agreed to change the way it deals with new customers acquired through its purchase of smaller ISPs, Attorney General Christine Gregoire announced today.

In papers filed in King County Superior Court, Earthlink -- which claims about 5 million customers nationwide -- agreed to the new standards, which were negotiated over the last several months with the Attorney General's High Tech Unit.

Washington Asked to Play Significant Role in Enron Lawsuit

OLYMPIA -- Washington has been selected to act as the representative of public bondholders in the class action securities fraud lawsuit filed against Enron.

At the request of the the Washington State Investment Board, the Attorney General's Office today filed an amended complaint in U.S. District Court in Houston seeking to recoup $97.5 million lost in Enron bonds.

The lead plaintiff in the suit against the energy trading company is the University of California Board of Regents. The Regents are represented by the law firm Milberg, Weiss, Bershad, Hynes and Lerach.

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