The City of Fresno nabbed nearly a quarter billion dollars in a legal settlement with Dow Chemical Company and Shell Oil over contamination of wells.
The two companies used contaminated wells with a chemical they hid in pesticides designed to kill nematodes.
The backstory: For decades, the city alleged, Dow and Shell put 1,2,3-Trichloropropane (TCP) into nematocides, which the companies admitted could seep into water supplies, despite the fact it was largely useless to kill nematodes.
- Shell and Dow concealed the addition of TCP, labeling it as “unknown C3 ingredients.”
- TCP is a byproduct of many manufacturing processes and a suspected carcinogen, and it has a low state Water Resources Control Board treatment threshold at five parts-per-trillion.
- TCP can travel long distances, eventually appearing in public water supplies and drinking water wells.
- More than 30 Fresno wells were identified as contaminated by the chemical.
Zoom in: Fresno’s lawsuit also included Occidental Chemical Company, Wilbur-Ellis Company, and Nutrien Ag Solutions. In total, Fresno netted $230 million in the settlement with the companies, Fresno City Attorney Andrew Janz announced.
- Settlement money must be used to mitigate damage and clean up contaminated wells over the next ten years.
- Fresno is the latest California city to win a TCP lawsuit, following Clovis, which won a $22 million fine, and Atwater, which was awarded $63 million in damages.
- The contaminated wells were concentrated in Fresno, Tulare, and Kern counties, spread up and down the Central Valley, even into the Los Angeles Basin, and along the coast.
What they’re saying: “This historic settlement now ensures the city will be able to return the contaminated wells back into service.” Janz said in a statement. “I want to thank my legal team led by Mike Axline for their unwavering dedication to this difficult case for the last 16 years.”
