Santa Barbara jury awards $63 million verdict in civil suit brought against Chevron subsidiary
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – A jury has returned a verdict on Thursday of $63 million against Union Oil, a wholly owned subsidiary of Chevron, for an undisclosed chemical sump that caused a man living on the site decades later to develop terminal blood cancer.
According to court documents, Union Oil did not disclose the use of a toxic chemical sump pit for production purposes in 1974, land that was eventually sold in 1983.
The man who brought the suit, Kevin Wright, unknowingly built his home at the site in 1985 and 27 years later developed multiple myeloma, a terminal form of blood cancer linked directly to exposure to benzene details court documents.
Benzene, a known carcinogen, was discovered at toxic levels in the soil beneath his home in the 2800 block of Starfire Street in Santa Maria decades after the property was sold again.
“Chevron poisoned the ground, they poisoned this community, and they tried to poison the science to cover it all up,” said Jakob Norman, an attorney for the Wright and National Managing Partner at Trial Lawyers for Justice. “This case is a blatant example of environmental pollution and corporate malfeasance that directly caused immense physical harm to our client.”
Multiple myeloma is a benzene-related cancer that forms in plasma cells, a critical part of the bodies' immune system.
Wright's multiple myeloma is now in remission, but he deals with daily severe pain and requires routine chemotherepy treatments to keep the cancer at bay details a press release from Trial Lawyers for Justice.
“They cut corners and my life was turned upside down as a result,” said Wright. “Chevron’s continued denial of the harm they caused is a shameful reminder that this company values only profits, not people.”
Despite California laws related to the requirements to dispose of these chemicals into the ground, Chevron denied any wrongdoing and supplied research from the American Petroleum Institute that argued benzene was less harmful.
Benzene is naturally found in petroleum and can be used in a refined form to make a variety of products.
Emissions from industrial burning of coal and oil cause an abundance of benzene in the surrounding environment that can travel through water and soil.
Exposure to benzene has been linked to a higher risk of cancer, especially leukemia and other cancer of blood cells detail the American Cancer Society, the U. S. Department of Labor, and the National Cancer Institute.
Chevron did not immediately return a request for comment on Thursday about the jury's verdict.
