On November 15, 2011 the family of a child cancer patient filed a Complaint against BP, Chevron, and other owners and operators of a bulk petroleum transport and storage facility near the boy’s home.
The plaintiff, who was born and raised within a half-mile radius of the facility, was diagnosed at age four with a specific type of childhood leukemia associated with benzene exposure. Unbeknownst to the child’s family, the defendants had engaged in documented and illegal disposal methods of toxic chemicals, including benzene, for years. The improper and hazardous activities included dumping toxic waste on the ground near the child’s house and contamination of a drinking water well which the child’s family used.
The lawsuit, filed in the Superior Court of Athens-Clarke County, Georgia, names some of the world’s largest oil companies, including BP, Chevron, Unocal, Transmontaigne Product Services, Gulf Oil, Louis Dreyfus Highbridge Energy, LLC, Colonial Pipeline, and Plantation Pipe Line.
The family is represented by Chris Nidel of Nidel Law, PLLC in Washington, D.C., and Matt Harman of Harman Law LLC in Atlanta, Georgia.
