Sen. Jacobsen says oil company lawsuit news to him

Thursday, Dec. 10, 1998 | 3:48 a.m.

"I was dumbfounded because I hadn't heard a thing about it," said Jacobsen, sued for $700,000 earlier this week in U.S. District Court, Las Vegas, by Union Oil Co. of California.

"I've been out of there for 16 years," added Jacobsen. "It's strange it would surface in that manner without some papers being served on us."

Jacobsen ran the plant from 1954 to 1982. He said he left on short notice after Unocal "sold the property out from under us." After that, he said there was minimal contact with the oil company.

Unocal's lawsuit claims Jacobsen released petroleum products into the environment, and Union Oil began cleaning up the site after getting a demand to do so in 1993 from the Carson Valley Inn, which now owns the land.

Jacobsen, 77, is the longest-serving member in the Nevada Legislature. First elected to the Assembly in 1963, he served there until 1978 when he was elected to the Senate.

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