Settlement win for Golden State Water Company results in costs recovery for removal of TCP

SL Environmental represented Golden State Water Company in a TCP contamination suit against Shell and Dow Chemical. While cases like these can often take seven years or more to resolve, this case was settled in less than two years. Key to the relatively speedy settlement was a legal strategy to go through federal courts instead of state courts, where a backlog of cases would delay proceedings for years. This TCP case was the first ever to be successfully taken from state to federal court.

Since the victory, Golden State has been using the settlement proceeds to pay for the new treatment plant, rather than passing on the costs to their customers. They’re also using it to cover other contamination response costs, including the cost of purchasing expensive replacement water from alternative sources.