Up to a quarter of the water wells around Bakersfield are showing trace amounts of a banned chemical, and officials say the health risk is extremely low. But they're suing the companies that made the chemical, hoping to get funds to pay for any treatment that might be required in the future.

As Eyewitness News first reported Monday, the City of Bakersfield and California Water Service have filed a lawsuit against Dow Chemical and Shell Oil. Those companies produced the material called "1,2,3-trichloropropane" or TCP.

It's now being found in about 15-percent of the City's water wells, and about a quarter of the Cal-Water wells.

"Our water meets public health water quality standards," Bakersfield water director Florn Core told Eyewitness News. "However we're concerned that this material may increase in the future supplies and it may spread over time."

Core says TCP was used in farm fumigants, and it was banned 30 years ago. "But, it's now showing up in the supplies and in part it's because the detection methods are much more sensitive now that they've been in the past."

Measurements are now so sensitive, they pick up traces of the chemical in the parts per trillion. What do Bakersfield residents think about the situation?

"It's scary," says Albert Alire. "They should have known this a long time ago about this."

"As long as my health isn't in jeopardy, I'm not too worried about it," says Bakersfield resident Chris Wilson.

How much of the chemical is a health danger? Core says it's low at the level now being seen in the wells around Bakersfield. "We're looking at you would have to drink several thousand gallons of this water over a period of years in order for it to have any effect," says Core.

But, Core says the state is now reviewing what the standards should be for TCP, and that's the reason the actions are being taken against Dow Chemical and Shell Oil makers of the chemical.

'In order to stay ahead of the curve, the city is acting now by filing this suit," says attorney Victor Sher. He's the environmental law specialist who's working on the lawsuit for the city and Cal-Water.

Eyewitness News reached Sher by phone in his San Francisco office on Monday. The attorney says a number of other counties have filed similar suits over TCP, and the local action will be joined to that.

Core says the problem with TCP is showing up in areas where wells are being drilled over former farmland.

Eyewitness News contacted both Dow Chemical and Shell Oil. Shell has not responded.

Dow sent an e-mail. It states: "The TCP levels in question are not in violation of any established government health standards. The concerns about TCP raised in the lawsuit are based on tests conducted more than a decade ago."

The e-mail also says it's Dow's position that in those tests, the lab animals were dosed at levels far above any possible human exposure from the trace levels in water.

What should people do about this chemical in the drinking water? Florn Core says it's not necessary to boil the water. He says that would not remove this type of contamination and again, he says the levels of TCP being found are very low, and not considered a risk.

But, both the city and Cal-Water say the state may eventually set requirements for extremely low levels of TCP. They also worry the chemical could end up in even more wells it could migrate into more wells.

That's why they're suing the chemical-makers in case expensive treatment might be required to get rid of the TCP. Core says that could cost up to a million dollars each for any affected well.

But, no matter what happens, Core asserts the city will take whatever steps are needed to insure the safety of the well water. "If we need to get emergency treatment on these wells, we'll do so. But there is no danger to the water supplies at this point."