State Sets Limit for Water Toxin

Nossaman Partner, Byron Gee, is quoted in the Daily Journal article, "State Sets Limit for Water Toxin." The article discusses California’s newly adopted standard capping the maximum permissible level of perchlorate in drinking water at six parts per billion. The new rule should benefit water purveyors who chose to pursue clean up of perchlorate contamination and seek to recover those costs from insurers since they must show in court the cost to purify the water, which was difficult to do in the absence of a specific state standard.

Regarding that challenge, Mr. Gee said, "in the past we have argued that the public health goal is a standard that they need to comply with, but the footing for that argument isn't very well grounded in case law."

Despite that complication, Nossaman recently won a $100 million settlement on behalf of clients Castaic Lake Water Agency, Newhall County Water District, Santa Clarita Water Company and Valencia Water Company to clean up perchlorate contamination in the Santa Clarita Valley of Los Angeles county.