BUTLER TWP — Butler School District's attorneys have reached a settlement with Liberty Mutual ending all litigation resulting from a lawsuit filed over exposure to lead and copper at Summit Township Elementary School.

The school board voted Monday night to accept the settlement.

Tom King, Butler's solicitor, said Monday that the district will be paid $40,000 by the Netherlands Insurance Co., which is a subsidiary of Liberty Mutual.

A lawsuit filed against the district earlier this year sought money for students and teachers who were exposed to lead and copper at Summit Elementary. That lawsuit was dismissed by a federal judge in June.

To defend the district against the suit the board hired Burns White of Pittsburgh, but Netherlands and Peerless Insurance Co. filed a suit against the district claiming that they did not have to cover legal defense costs under the district's insurance policies. The district also won that suit, and the settlement reached Monday is reimbursement for legal fees the district paid to fight that second lawsuit.

King said that Liberty Mutual's attorneys had offered $10,000 to settle the dispute, which the school board turned down. The district's attorney had threatened to file a complaint to sue for the legal fees, but instead reached a settlement that represents almost the full amount owed.

“This brings an end to all of that,” King said about the district's litigation with its insurance carriers.