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# Oil companies not off the hook for water pollution
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/oil-companies-not-off-the-hook-for-water-pollution/
- Published: 2002-03-26T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T00:10:41.000Z
- Author: Andrew Fixmer
- Tags: Business, Santa Monica, #archive-import

A judge refused to dismiss a lawsuit last week that could force a $200 million dollar clean up of Santa Monica’s drinking water.

Several oil companies, including Shell and Arco, sought to dismiss the city’s lawsuit against them, arguing that the statute of limitations on the case had run out. The companies argued that though legal action was not taken until 2000, the contamination was first discovered in 1995.

However, Orange County Superior Court Judge Stephen J. Sundvold ruled Friday that because the plume of MTBE contamination continues to plague Santa Monica’s water supply, the statute of limitations had not run out.

“The city expects to win,” said Deputy City Attorney Joe Lawrence. “And at this time we expect there will be a trial.”

Sundvold also allowed the city to ask for three times more in punitive damages under a civil court code meant to help water utility companies seek extra damages if a water supply is contaminated by an outsider.

Lawrence said the city hasn’t determined how much it will seek in damages, though the cost of cleaning up the ground water has been estimated to cost more than $200 million.

“We’re suing to clean up the drinking water,” Lawrence said. “But surely, when this is all over it will likely cost them several hundred million dollars.”

Oil company lawyers could not be reached for comment Monday.

Methyl tertiary-Butyl Ether is a colorless chemical that at very low concentrations smells like turpentine and is a suspected carcinogen. The state was scheduled to ban the additive, though California Gov. Gray Davis recently delayed instituting the ban.

Two years ago Santa Monica sued 18 refiners, manufacturers and suppliers of MTBE and MTBE-laden gasoline for allowing the chemical to leak into its ground water.

The pollution closed seven of Santa Monica’s 11 wells, forcing the city to import about 80 percent of the 12 million gallons of water it uses a day. Until the ground water is cleaned up, the oil companies are paying $3.5 million a year to import drinking water to the city.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 26, 2002.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/032602.pdf?ref=smdp.com)