LOS ANGELES : Shell, Dow Agree to Study Contamination Cleanup

Shell Oil and Dow Chemical have agreed to spend $10 million figuring out how to clean up soil and ground water contamination at a proposed Superfund site in Los Angeles, federal officials announced Monday.

The companies also have agreed to pay $450,000 to the Environmental Protection Agency and $450,000 to the state for work performed at the 280-acre site of a former rubber manufacturing complex. Federal officials intend to seek another $250,000 from other companies that have operated on the site.

Investigation of the so-called Del Amo site, just southwest of the junction of the Harbor and San Diego freeways, is expected to take about 2 1/2 years. High levels of compounds believed to cause cancer have been found on the site.