By ALEX VEIGA
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - A jury awarded $3.3 million to six workers on Monday who claimed they were left sterile by a pesticide used at a banana plantation in Nicaragua operated by Dole Fresh Fruit Co.

The workers' lawsuit accused Westlake Village, Calif.-based Dole and Standard Fruit Co., now part of Dole, of negligence and fraudulent concealment while using the pesticide DBCP in the 1970s. The chemical was used to kill microscopic worms on the roots of the banana plants.

The suit also alleged that Dow Chemical Co. and Amvac Chemical Corp., manufacturers of the pesticide, "actively suppressed information about DBCP's reproductive toxicity," according to the lawsuit.

Amvac reached a $300,000 settlement in the case before the trial, according to spokeswoman Kelly Kozuma.

The six plaintiffs - whose awards ranged from $311,200 to $834,000 - were among 12 workers suing Dole and Dow. The jury found that the two companies were a substantial factor in causing them harm.

Members of the seven-man, five-woman jury awarded the other six plaintiffs nothing after ruling that the companies did not substantially harm them.

Jurors decided that Dole would be held responsible for the bulk of the payments.

The case is the first of five lawsuits involving at least 5,000 agricultural workers from Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama, who claim they were left sterile after being exposed to the pesticide. Other growers and manufacturers are named as defendants.

Duane Miller, the workers' attorney, had accused Dole of improperly applying the pesticide in amounts far exceeding guidelines. Miller claimed that Dole chose to spray the pesticide rather than injecting it into the soil or mixing it with ground water as its manufacturer recommended on the product's label.

Dole attorney Rick McKnight, meanwhile, said that the pesticide was only applied once or twice a year. He said the chemical was diluted with water, sprayed at night for 15 minutes and then the plants were washed with 56,000 gallons of water for more than an hour afterward. Dole wanted the chemical on the roots, not the leaves, he said.

Legal experts have said the case was significant because it raised the issue of whether multinational companies should be held accountable in the country where they are based or in the countries where they employ workers.

The lawsuit could open the door for others to file similar claims in this country, where juries are known for awarding bigger judgments, experts said.