“Jury Comes to Surprising Verdict in Long-Running California Lawsuit That Pits Drycleaners and their Suppliers Against City of Modesto.” Textile Care Allied Trades Association, August 2006

PDATE: The trial judge has ordered that punitive damages be reduced to the amount of $7.25 million for Vulcan Chemical and to $5.44 million for Dow Chemical. In the event that the City of Modesto does not accept this reduced amount, the Court has granted the defendants a new trial in respect to the punitive damages.

In 1998, the City of Modesto California filed a lawsuit seeking more than $162 million dollars from numerous defendants for perchlorethylene contamination of city wells and property it owned in a redevelopment area of the City. The defendants comprise local drycleaners, distributors, and industry suppliers including the Dow Chemical Company, Vulcan Materials Company, R.R. Street & Co. Inc., PPG Industries, Occidental Chemical Corporation, and American Laundry Machinery among others.

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