Dole Food Co. v. Superior Court

Opinion

EDMON, P. J.

This mass tort litigation arises out of an environmental investigation which revealed that soil beneath a housing tract in Carson, California, was contaminated with residual petroleum hydrocarbons. In this writ proceeding challenging the trial court’s determination of good faith settlements, we are called upon to address whether a government-ordered environmental cleanup was part of the settlement consideration, and whether the good faith settlement could be approved without an individualized allocation of the settlement proceeds among the numerous plaintiffs and between…