SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic. (Wire Services).- The Dominican Republic has settled a lawsuit against the U.S. energy firm AES Corp, that it accused of dumping industrial waste on 2 of its ports, a lawyer for the country said Wednesday.

The settlement with Virginia-based AES Corp. was reached Tuesday, less than a week before the case was scheduled for trial in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, said attorney Susan Burke.

Terms of the settlement were not immediately disclosed. The Dominican had sought US$80 million (RD$2.5 billion) in damages from the power company.

The Caribbean nation said the company dumped 82,000 tons of the pollutant rockash on its beaches in the port at Manzanillo, Montecristi province (northwest) and the port town of Arroyo Barril, Samana province (northeast) between October 2003 and March 2004, sickening islanders and damaging the environment.

The rockash was shipped from an AES plant in Guayama, Puerto Rico.

AES, a major energy provider for the Caribbean country of 9 million people, had denied any wrongdoing. A company spokeswoman did not immediately return calls Wednesday.