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Settlement Avoids Trial In Post-Katrina Trash Case

Kevin Harber / Flickr.com
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https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/

A civil lawsuit over post-Hurricane Katrina trash disposal involving former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and others has been settled. 

The confidential settlement reached last week avoided a trial set for Monday. It involved claims by Waste Management of Louisiana that River Birch - owned by Fred Heebe (HEE'-bee) and Albert Ward - made campaign contributions to local officials to gain advantages in the debris disposal business.

Nagin, imprisoned on unrelated charges, was ordered to give a deposition in the case. 

River Birch was once the subject of a federal investigation. That was abandoned after Heebe's lawyer discovered in 2012 that a federal prosecutor made anonymous online posts critical of Heebe and others. The scandal led to the resignation of then-U.S. Attorney Jim Letten, who wasn't implicated in online posts.