A San Francisco Superior Court jury recently found Shell Oil, Tosco Corporation and Lyondell Co., formerly Arco, responsible for polluting Lake Tahoe groundwater with the gasoline additive MTBE. The verdict ends a three year battle waged by the South Tahoe Public Utility District, which sued the oil corporations in 1998 after MTBE contamination forced the utility company to close one-third of its drinking water wells.

The jury also found that officials with Shell and Lyondell intentionally withheld important safety information about MTBE. The cost of the water supply cleanup is estimated at $45 million.