The State : Water Pollution Suit Ends

Lawyers for 268 south San Jose residents said they have agreed to privately settle their lawsuit against two firms in the so-called Silicon Valley that unwittingly polluted public drinking water with toxic chemical solvents. Specific cash sums and other terms of the out-of-court settlement were not announced, but they were described as substantial, responsible and fair by attorneys John Tyndall and James Boccardo, who represented the residents. The suit grew out of the first widely publicized and deeply documented case of a serious pollution problem by what were thought to be environmentally benign high-technology companies. Fairchild Semiconductor Corp., then called Fairchild Camera & Instrument, was the initial target of the suit. The settlement announced jointly by plaintiffs and defendants also mentioned, but did not name, “another south San Jose electronics plant that had solvent contamination problems.”