City of Pomona water contamination verdict upheld by federal judge

Recently, the City of Pomona, Calif., got one step closer to winning its 10-year lawsuit against the U.S. subsidiary of a Chilean fertilizer manufacturer for contaminating the Southern California city’s drinking water.

The defendant had sold Chilean fertilizer used in the area’s citrus orchards which contained a toxic chemical, perchlorate. After three trials, a federal jury in Los Angeles in September awarded Pomona $48 million to pay for the damage from the presence of perchlorate in the city’s drinking water.