Nossaman Highlighted for $65.9 Million Win for Santa Clarita Valley Water

A team led by Byron Gee, Patrick Richard and Fred Fudacz, and with significant assistance from Ilse Scott and Raven McGuane, was highlighted by several media outlets for securing a $65.9 million judgement for our client, Santa Clarita Valley (SCV) Water, in its case against the Whittaker Corporation. An earlier settlement in the case with Saugus Industrial Center, a cross defendant, resulted in a $2.9 million contribution, for a total recovery of $68.8 million.

The Daily Journal (subscription required) reported on the victory a number of times, including in the story “Aerospace Company Must Pay $65.9M for Water Contamination.” The publication noted the “site of the Whittaker Corporation has been contaminating the surrounding environment with perchlorate, an industrial chemical, and other toxins for more than 20 years. The first traces of perchlorate were found in the region in 1997.”

Commenting for the article, Byron said, “Some of the water supply wells have been contaminated by the Whittaker-Bermite site and some of them were required to be shut down. The money will be used to install the contamination treatment facilities that will restore the lost capacity associated with these drinking water wells.” He added, “Being in the third straight year of drought, the groundwater supply for Santa Clarita Valley Water is very important and will help ensure that they will be able to supply customers with drinking water.”

The Santa Clarita News also highlighted the win, stating that the jury “found in December 2021 that Whittaker, a wholly owned subsidiary of Meggitt PLC, was primarily responsible for the damages sought by SCV Water.”