The State - News from Dec. 10, 1985

Attorney Melvin Belli has filed an $80-million lawsuit charging that toxic discharges from an Oroville lumber mill and a wood treatment plant caused an epidemic of cancer and other diseases. The suit, filed in San Francisco Superior Court, names as defendants the Louisiana Pacific Corp., operators of a lumber mill, and Koppers Co., whose plant produces lumber and poles treated with preservatives and fire retardants. Spokesmen for the two companies said they had not seen the lawsuit and could not comment. The suit charges negligence in handling and discharging chemicals, including pentachlorophene, creosote and chromated copper arsenic.