Fresno, California – The City of Fresno settles with Shell Oil Company in a lawsuit that was filed in 2007. In the settlement, Shell Oil has agreed to pay the City of Fresno $230 million, which is the largest known settlement of its kind in the country for this type of environmental claim.
In the complaint, the City of Fresno cited manufacturers and distributors of Shell Oil products contaminated some of the city’s water wells.
In a statement, City Attorney Andrew Janz said, “This historic settlement now ensures the city will be able to return the contaminated wells back into service.” Janz also said, “I want to thank my legal team led by Mike Axline for their unwavering dedication to this difficult case for the last 16 years.”
The settlement will be earmarked for cleanup and mitigation of contaminated wells belonging to the City of Fresno over a ten-year period. To be clear all existing water sources do not rely on the out-of-service wells that were involved in the lawsuit. ###
On March 21, 2007, the City of Fresno filed a lawsuit against manufacturers Shell Oil Company and Dow Chemical Company, and other distributor defendants for reimbursement of the cost of removal of TCP from city drinking water wells.
The City of Fresno has reached settlements with other companies resulting from this contamination.
Listen to the report by KMJ’s Liz Kern.
