Dole Sues Dow Chemical, Shell Over Drinking Water Contamination

Dole Packaged Foods LLC filed suit against Dow Chemical Co. and Shell Chemical Co. in the Central District of California, alleging they contaminated the drinking water at its Atwater, Calif., plant with the chemical 1,2,3-trichloropropane.

The companies manufactured TCP and products containing TCP “when they knew or reasonably should have known that this harmful compound would reach groundwater, pollute drinking water supplies, render drinking water unusable and unsafe, and threaten the public health and welfare,” Dole alleges in the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Dole alleges that TCP has been detected in ...