Recently in Environment Category

More than 42,000 gallons of oil have been leaking daily following a massive explosion on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, with the potential to cause major economic and environmental damage

Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C. has filed a class action lawsuit (AL-2010-CR256941) against British Petroleum ("BP") and several other companies with ties to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The firm seeks to represent individuals and businesses that have incurred damages related to the disaster, including;  real property damages; personal property damages; loss of profits and earning capacity; loss of commercial and subsistence use of natural resources; increased costs of public services; and, loss of revenues.

The oil spill resulted from the explosion and sinking of the oil platform Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20th. Coast Guard officials estimate 5,000 barrels a day are leaking into the Gulf. The oil slick made landfall in southern Louisiana early Friday and is expected to reach Mississippi and Alabama within the coming days.

Experts are calling this the worst environmental crisis since the Exxon Valdez and are predicting the economic impact to be greater than that associated with hurricane Katrina. They estimate the massive oil spill has the potential to negatively affect the entire Gulf coastline. This includes a negative economic impact on thousands who earn their livelihood in the fishing industry, as well as tourism, itself a major industry along the scenic oceanfront. Additionally, the environmental impact is expected to be severe, with oil and byproducts damaging fragile marshlands, marine and bird life.

"We are calling on the Alabama congressional delegation to do everything in their power to speed federal resources to the Gulf coast in order to minimize damage to the environment and the thousands of families that depend on these waters for their livelihood. Our thoughts and prayers are with responders," said Jere Beasley, founding shareholder of Beasley Allen.

Beasley Allen has an experienced Toxic Tort section that includes lawyers and staff who have handled numerous environmental disaster cases. Protection of people, their property, and their livelihood from large corporate polluters is one of Beasley Allen's top priorities. Our attorneys are fighting to make a difference in the lives of those threatened by environmental pollution. We currently are handling class action litigation against the Tennessee Valley Authority in the largest coal ash spill in U.S. history. These are difficult cases, but Beasley Allen is fighting to make a difference. From the largest toxic tort settlement in U.S. history for PCB contamination - $700 million - to a $20.7 million verdict against Continental Carbon for air pollution, Beasley Allen is playing a significant role in toxic tort cases.

Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation (NYSE: COG) today announced it has learned that a lawsuit has been filed by a group of Dimock residents who are claiming damage to their property and to water supplies.

Cabot has successfully drilled and completed dozens of natural gas wells in the Dimock area. These activities are heavily regulated pursuant to the Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Act and other environmental laws and regulations. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has the responsibility to administer and enforce these laws and to ensure the protection of the residents and the environment. Cabot recently entered into a consent order and agreement with the DEP to provide further assurance that its activities are conducted in full compliance with DEP-administered environmental protection laws. "Cabot continues to cooperate with the DEP to ensure protection of residents and their property," said Dan O. Dinges, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. "While we respect the right of any resident to seek a judicial solution for a legitimate issue, we see no merit in these claims and are disappointed that these citizens felt it necessary to proceed in this fashion. We do not believe this matter will impact our continuing operations in the area."

SOURCE Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation

A federal grand jury in the Western District of New York, has returned a superseding indictment charging David Vega and Francis Rowe with committing violations of the Clean Air Act while they were project managers for Gordon-Smith Contracting, Inc., an asbestos removal company owned by Keith Gordon-Smith, the Justice Department announced.

The indictment supersedes an earlier indictment returned by the grand jury in June 2009, against Keith Gordon-Smith, charging him with numerous violations of the Clean Air Act, submitting false statements and obstruction of justice. The superseding indictment now also charges Gordon-Smith's company with the same criminal violations. In addition, the superseding indictment charges Francis Rowe with submitting a false statement in an effort to obtain a court-appointed attorney.

The charges stem from allegations that Gordon-Smith, Gordon-Smith Contracting, Vega and Rowe directed and caused workers to illegally remove and dispose of asbestos during the demolition of the Genesee Hospital complex in Rochester, N.Y.

The Clean Air Act requires contractors who remove asbestos from public buildings to follow federally-established work practice standards to ensure the safe removal of the asbestos. The required standards include providing notice to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) before commencing asbestos removal, adequately wetting the asbestos during the removal and before disposal, and properly disposing of the asbestos at an EPA-approved disposal site.

The 18-count indictment alleges that at different time periods between June 2007 and April 2009, Gordon-Smith, Vega and Rowe had Gordon-Smith Contracting employees remove asbestos from the Genesee Hospital complex without ensuring that the asbestos was kept adequately wet or properly disposed. The indictment also alleges that Gordon-Smith caused his company's employees to perform illegal asbestos removal at other sites, including schools, and that Gordon-Smith took several steps to hide the illegal asbestos removal from federal agencies. These included failing to provide prior notification to EPA before the asbestos removal projects were performed at the schools and hospital, giving false statements to an inspector from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and providing a false notification to the EPA.

If convicted, Gordon-Smith, Vega and Rowe could each be punished by up to five years in prison as well as a criminal fine of up to $250,000 for each count. Gordon-Smith Contracting could be subject to a criminal fine of the greater of $500,000 or twice the gain obtained by the company or suffered by any victims as a result of the crimes, for each count.

SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice

MFG Chemical, Inc., has agreed to pay $270,000 in civil penalties to resolve claims resulting from a toxic release on April 12, 2004 of extremely hazardous chemicals at the company's Dalton, Ga., plant, the Justice Department announced today.

The toxic release resulted from a runaway reaction at the plant when MFG, upon its initial production run for triallyl cyanuarate, mixed allyl alcohol with other chemicals, leading to an extreme increase in temperature and causing an explosion that released toxic gases to the atmosphere.

As a result, the surrounding community within a half mile radius of the MFG plant was evacuated. Over 150 people, including several emergency responders, were treated for exposure at the local hospital. One-half mile of vegetation south of the MFG plant was also burned and much of the aquatic life was killed throughout several miles of surrounding creeks which were contaminated by the water sprayed on the toxic vapor cloud in an attempt to control the vapor release.

The complaint, filed today in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, alleges that MFG failed to adhere to the Clean Air Act's general duty of care provision. The general duty of care requirement obligates companies handling extremely hazardous substances to take preventative measures to identify the risks involved and to reduce the risks by providing layers of protection on their equipment such as high temperature alarms, automatic feed shut off mechanisms, adequate pressure relief systems and a vapor release recovery and containment system. The complaint alleges MFG failed to identify the risk of a runaway reaction through its failure to calculate the temperature/time profile and to have appropriate layers of protection in place prior to the incident.

MFG has implemented measures to address conditions at the plant contributing to the explosion and release, including halting the use of allyl alcohol and hiring an experienced safety engineer to oversee its compliance with its Clean Air Act obligations. MFG also paid for the clean up of surrounding contaminated creeks. The $270,000 reflects the civil penalty that the United States determined MFG has the financial ability to pay.

Copies of the stipulation of settlement are available on the Department of Justice Web site at: http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html.

SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice

The United States has filed a civil complaint against BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. (BPXA) alleging that the company violated federal clean air and water laws, the Justice Department, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the U.S. Department of Transportation announced today.

According to the complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Anchorage, Alaska, BPXA illegally discharged more than 200,000 gallons of crude oil from its pipelines onto the North Slope of Alaska during two major oil spills in the spring and summer of 2006. The complaint alleges that BPXA failed to prepare and implement spill prevention, countermeasure and control plans in accordance with good engineering practices, and failed to implement certain required spill prevention measures pursuant to the Clean Water Act.

The complaint also alleges that BPXA violated the Clean Air Act by improperly removing asbestos-containing materials from its pipelines and failed to comply in a timely manner with a Corrective Action Order that the Department of Transportation-Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued to BPXA pursuant to federal pipeline safety laws. PHMSA's order required BPXA to conduct certain testing, inspection, maintenance and repair activities.

The lawsuit, filed by the Justice Department on behalf of EPA and PHMSA, asks the court to order BPXA to take all appropriate action to prevent spills in the future, including systemically inspecting its pipelines and associated facilities for corrosion. The United States also seeks civil penalties up to the maximum amount authorized by law.

This civil action follows a guilty plea by BPXA on Nov. 29, 2007, to one count of criminal negligent discharge of oil to the waters of the United States in violation of the Clean Water Act.

BPXA, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BP America, conducts oil exploration, drilling, and production in Alaska. Both major spills that are the subject of this case happened in Prudhoe Bay, which is the largest oil field in North America and one of the oldest on the North Slope.

SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice

Holy House Shipping AB, a Swedish corporation, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Camden, N.J., to pay a $1 million fine, a special assessment of $400,000 in community service payments and serve three years of probation for failing to maintain an accurate oil record book in an attempt to conceal illegal discharges of oil-contaminated waste directly into the ocean from one of its ships, the Justice Department announced.

Under the terms of the plea agreement approved by U.S. District Judge Jerome B. Simandle, the $400,000 special assessment will go to the congressionally-established National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to be used for projects to restore and protect fragile marine habitats in New Jersey.

According to documents filed in the case, on Feb. 27, 2008, U.S. Coast Guard inspectors from Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay boarded the M/V Snow Flower, a 568-foot, Cook Island flagged ocean-going ship, at the marine terminal in Gloucester, N.J., to conduct a routine inspection. Coast Guard inspectors reviewed the ship's oil record book, a required log in which ship engineers must record all transfers and discharges of oil. Inspectors identified a number of discrepancies related to the capacity and use of the ship's oil water separator. In addition, the inspectors identified a pipe that was believed to be used to discharge oil contaminated waste directly to the sea, bypassing the oil water separator.

Prior to the vessel entering the Gloucester Marine Terminal, crewmembers who worked in the Snow Flower's Engine Room Department, contacted members of the Coast Guard Sector Bay and reported that the ship's chief engineer had ordered the discharge of oily water and oil sludge overboard on the vessel's most recent voyage from Los Angeles to Chile and again on the return voyage to the United States. The crewmembers stated that the discharges were ordered in the Pacific and/or Atlantic Oceans and were accomplished by using a metal pipe connected to the vessel's starboard bilge holding tanks. During today's hearing, Judge Simandle ordered $375,000 be awarded to the two whistle blowers for their efforts.

The chief engineer, Igor Krajacic, pleaded guilty to failing to maintain an accurate record book on Nov. 3, 2008, and was sentenced on Jan. 16, 2009, to an $8,000 fine.

"Holy House Shipping violated our nation's environmental laws and today the company is paying for it," said John C. Cruden, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division. "Deliberate pollution from ocean-going ships is a continuing problem. Today's fine sends the message that we will continue to prosecute those who ignore laws meant to protect the environment."

"The Coast Guard is committed to aggressive enforcement of U.S. laws and international requirements designed to prevent pollution at sea. We thoroughly investigate credible reports of alleged illegal discharges of oil and/or tampering with shipboard anti-pollution equipment or falsifying oil discharge records," said Captain David Scott, Commanding Officer of the U.S. Coast Guard's Sector Delaware Bay. "We work closely with appropriate state and other Federal law enforcement agencies to prosecute environmental crimes, to promote compliance with these important environmental protection statutes."

"We work closely with the U.S. Coast Guard to investigate those who take shortcuts and dump waste oil and contaminated bilge water directly into the ocean," said William Lometti, Special Agent in Charge of Environmental Protection Agency's Criminal Investigation Division in New York. "Today's sentence should send a clear message that those who violate the law and pollute the ocean will be vigorously investigated and prosecuted."

As part of its probation, Holy House Shipping must implement an Environmental Management System/Compliance Plan (EMS) to ensure there is no future dumping from the ships it operates and manages that conduct business in U.S. ports. The company must hire a third party auditor to ensure it is following all procedures identified in the EMS. The auditor will have access to all of the company's ships and records. Additionally, each of the auditor's reports will be sent to the Coast Guard, the probation office, the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Justice Department's Environmental Crimes Section, at the same time the report is sent to the company.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Special Agents, U.S. Coast Guard Delaware Bay, and the Environmental Protection Agency's Criminal Investigation Division, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald Chillemi and Trial Attorney Gary Donner of the Environmental Crimes Section.

SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice

Third Largest Penalty for Discharge Permit Violations

WASHINGTON, Feb. 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Patriot Coal Corporation, one of the largest coal mining companies in the United States, has agreed to pay a $6.5 million civil penalty to settle violations of the Clean Water Act, the Justice Department and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the state of West Virginia announced today.

The settlement includes the third largest penalty ever paid in a federal Clean Water Act case for discharge permit violations. In addition, Patriot has agreed to extensive measures designed to ensure Clean Water Act compliance at its mines in West Virginia. The consent decree includes innovative and heightened operating standards which should serve as a model for the coal mining industry in Central Appalachia.

"This settlement represents a very important step in making sure that the coal mining industry is in compliance with the Clean Water Act," said John C. Cruden, Acting Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division. "It will benefit the citizens of West Virginia and helps make sure that the Mountain State's streams and rivers are not damaged."

"This settlement continues to set the bar high for the coal industry and Clean Water Act enforcement in general. Today's settlement reiterates EPA's commitment to maintaining clean and healthy waterways," said William T. Wisniewski, acting Regional Administrator for EPA's mid-Atlantic region.

In a joint complaint filed concurrently with the consent decree, the United States and the State of West Virginia alleged that Patriot violated its Clean Water Act permits more than 1,400 times -- representing over 22,000 days of violations between January 2003 and December 2007 at its mining complexes in West Virginia. During this time, Patriot and its subsidiaries allegedly discharged excess amounts of metals, sediment, and other pollutants into dozens of rivers and streams in West Virginia. Excess discharges of these pollutants can significantly harm water quality and aquatic life in West Virginia's streams.

As part of the settlement, Patriot has agreed to implement extensive measures to prevent future violations and to perform environmental projects, at a total estimated cost of $6 million. Specifically, Patriot will develop and implement a company-wide compliance-focused environmental management system including creating a database to track information relevant to compliance efforts; conduct regular internal and third-party environmental compliance audits; implement a system of tiered response actions for any possible future violations; and conduct annual training for all employees and contractors with environmental responsibilities. The company will also perform five stream restoration projects in local watersheds and perform assessments of mining impacts on aquatic life.

With corporate headquarters in St. Louis, Patriot owns and operates 16 mining complexes in West Virginia and Kentucky.

The consent decree, lodged in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, is subject to a 30-day public comment period and approval by the federal court. A copy of the consent decree is available on the Department of Justice Web site at: http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html.

SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice

After Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, Hurricane Ike survivors are being denied insurance for claims that they were supposed to cover. Outraged at the number of legitimate claims being denied, top Houstan attorneys were shocked at the number of people consulting them on what to do after their claims were rejected.

Further aggravating the woes of Hurricane survivors, insurance companies either reject claims or they offer insufficient payment for damages.

Personal injury attorneys are advising Texas Hurricane victims on what to do next. The Courtroom may be the only recourse for Ike survivors as their windstorm and flood insurance claims continue to be denied.

Pic of devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina courtesy Spiritwood / Greg Hounslow from flickr.com

Dozens of large black hogs have been a perpetual menace in Southwestern Wisconsin for several years, where they run wild, damaging property, uprooting trees and forcing people to stay indoors. These hogs are not native to the region and state investigators say they know who is responsible for bringing them to Wisconsin and they want him to pay. Former Gays Mills Elk Farm owner Robert S. Johnson has been identified as the culprit by the investigators who claim he brought 31 hogs from Texas to Wisconsin in 2002 and let them loose near the Kickapoo River in Crawford County.
Charged in February with illegally stocking wild animals, a civil infraction, Johnson’s trial began on September 5 and has since been delayed. Proceedings are set to resume this week.
The state Department of Justice, which is handling the case, wants Johnson to pay at least $31,000 in forfeitures, which works out to $1,000 for each pig, as well as money to cover environmental damages.

Pic courtesy Carl Von Canon on flickr.com

Texaco management ordered the destruction of reports documenting oil spills in the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador. The company, now owned by Chevron, faces $ 16.3 bn potential liability in a civil lawsuit.

Two persons who are now Chevron employees and were previously lawyers for Texaco have recently been indicted for fraud in environmental clean-up.

Now a newly discovered internal memo, from 1972, sent to the company's operations manager in Ecuador, threatens to be a major threat to the company. The memo orders that all previous reports  related to oil spills should be removed from offices and destroyed. Only major events that have attracted the attention of the press or regulatory authorities should be reported.

Texaco has already admitted to dumping more than 18.5 billion gallons of toxic waste into Amazone waterways and abandoning over 900 waste pits. Cancer and other health problems are far more predominant in surrounding regions than in other parts of Ecuador.

The $16.3 bn damages claim has been arrived at by an independent court appointed expert, to pay for clean up of pits, improvement of infrastructure, a system to deliver clean water, compensations for cancer deaths, and disgorgement of part of the company's profits.

U.S. District Judge Anthony Ishii has ruled that automakers can continue their lawsuit seeking to block strict vehicle emission standards adopted two years ago by California regulators.

The auto emission standards adopted by the California Air Resources Board were designed to cut greenhouse gas emissions from cars and light trucks by 25 percent and from sport utility vehicles by 18 percent starting in 2009. Ten other states have since adopted the California standard.

The automobile industry sued in U.S. District Court in Fresno, arguing that the state law amounts to an attempt to set new fuel-economy standards, something it says can be done only by the federal government.

Judge Ishii ruled the suit should go to trial Jan. 30.

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A San Francisco judge has reduced the damages awarded by a jury to the city of Modesto, California in a water contamination verdict. The damages have been trimmed from $ 175 million to 13 million.

The case relates to contamination from dry cleaning chemicals. A jury decided in June that the companies, Vulcan Materials and Dow Chemical, acted with malice because they failed to tell dry cleaners how to use and dispose of chemicals without harming the environment.

Judge John Munter reduced the punitive damages Tuesday against two chemical companies, but rejected a request to order a new trial.

Read our previous post on this case.

Read the news clipping.

Three  manufacturers of dry cleaning chemicals were ordered to pay the city of Modesto $178 million for contaminating its water with suspected carcinogens.

The jury in San Francisco Superior Court found that the companies had acted with malice because they failed to tell dry cleaners how to use the chemicals perchloroethylene or trichloroethylene without harming the environment. 

The city of Modesto was awarded over $175 million in punitive damages and $3.2 million in actual damages for groundwater contamination.

Vulcan Materials Co. was ordered to pay $100 million in punitive damages, Dow Chemical Co. was ordered to pay $75 million and RR Street & Co. Inc. to pay $75,000. Two dry-cleaning businesses that were named in the lawsuit do not have to pay damages as they did not know about the contamination risk.

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The Rohm & Haas chemical plant in Deer Park will pay a $485,000 civil penalty and purchase at least 300 acres of environmentally sensitive land in the Galveston Bay watershed. This will settle a lawsuit by the U.S. Justice Department Environmental Protection Agency that  found that the plant was dumping pollution in excess of its permits into the Houston Ship Channel, Tucker Bayou and the east fork of Patrick Bayou.

The pollutants included chlorine, nickel, cyanide, acid compounds and volatile compounds, according to the lawsuit. Rohm's clean-air violations included failing to conduct weekly inspections of pumps and record meter readings in 1999 and 2000.

According to the terms of the settlement, Rohm must purchase at least 300 acres but must try to buy 450 to 600 acres of a "mix of coastal estuarine or freshwater wetlands and upland habitats that will protect water quality and provide support for fisheries and wildlife."

Read our post about brain cancer patients suing Rohm & Haas

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A group of Costa Rican fern farmers have been awarded approximately $ 114 million in a lawsuit against DuPont Co. for damages to crops caused by the fungicide Benlate.  A Miami jury found that Benlate had damaged the ferns' underground systems, resulting in crop losses over many years. DuPont plans to appeal the verdict.

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Rocket manufacturer Aerojet-General Corp. reached a settlement with a group of persons who had sued over ground water contamination by rocket fuel. The plaintiffs had alleged economic damages and illness, and in some cases death, caused by groundwater contamination near the company's headquarters outside Rancho Cordova.

A jury last week had ruled against Aerojet and set damages at more than $14 million. The settlement has been reached before a second phase of the trial, which would have deliberated whether to impose punitive damages on the company.

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The State of Maryland has filed a suit seeking nearly $ 12 million in penalties from Exxon Mobil Corp and a local service station operator for a gasoline leak in Jacksonville area of Baltimore County. The suit accuses the giant corporation and the service station of violating state environmental regulations by allowing the leak and not detecting or reporting it promptly. State officials say that 62 residential wells are contaminated with  methyl tertiary butyl ether, or MTBE, a gasoline additive. In addition to the penalties, the state asks that Exxon and its operator clean up the gasoline that leaked.

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Two men from McHenry County have sued Rohm and Haas Chemicals, alleging that the toxic chemicals it released into air and groundwater have caused them brain cancer. A spokesman for the company said that the cleanup of groundwater near the plant has been underway for over 20 years, and also pointed out that the men live more than a mile away. He said that there was no basis for linking the mens’ illnesses to the operations at their plant.

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