Lawsuits involving toxic torts, N.O.R.M., oil spills, and other environmental disasters are challenging for any law firm. Apart from the enormous capital expenditures required, the defendants in these cases are usually the wealthiest companies in the world. They hire the "best legal talent money can buy". Few law firms have both the capability and the economic strength to challenge them.
Our firm has assembled the right team of lawyers, staff, and experts to deal with these industrial giants. The results in the courtroom have been dramatic, ranging from the largest, single landowner verdict in our nation's legal history, to obtaining the costs of an environmental cleanup for a small landowner.
We handle cases for individuals or in mass actions and class actions. We work with the client to determine which type of lawsuit is the most appropriate.
The acronym stands for "Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials." During most oil and gas well drilling, the radioactive materials naturally present deep in the earth are concentrated and brought to the surface. Until very recently, N.O.R.M. was carried to the surface by water or was simply scattered around the well site. There it would remain, on the surface, for 1600 years (half life). We and Stuart Smith pioneered N.O.R.M. litigation, the chief object of which is to force the oil companies to clean up the radioactive and contaminated property.
To date we have concluded cases with nearly every oil company in the world, including Chevron, Texaco, Exxon, Mobil, Pennzoil, Amoco, Conoco, Shell, Ashland Oil Company, and a number of smaller independents.
We have represented:
- Families who own contaminated property.
- Owners of pipe yards which have been contaminated.
- Individuals injured by radiation and heavy metal contamination.
- Families of pipe yard workers who died from exposure to radiation or heavy metals at their jobs.
"Fracking" (Hydraulic Fracturing)
Currently, we are investigating allegations that the natural gas drilling method known as hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") can contaminate drinking water supplies with toxic chemicals such as benzene and methane, as well as radioactive materials like radium and barium. As with NORM contamination, water contamination can occur by allowing the toxic frack-water to leak directly into water supplies through poorly-made well walls or leaky impoundment pits, or by processing the toxic mixture through waste water treatment plants incapable of properly treating the frack waste - which then release the 'untreated' water into the drinking supply.
Other Environmental and Complex Litigation Cases
Our firm has represented thousands of individuals in actions against oil companies, chemical manufacturers and waste disposal companies:
- Arkansas - A class action and a mass action to recover for the diminution in property values and exposure damages on behalf of more than two hundred individuals for toxic chemical releases from El Dorado Chemical Company.
- Louisiana - hundreds of property owners recovered diminution in their property values caused by a waste disposal plant located near clients' homes.
- Over 19,000 clients from 11 states recovered damages in a products liability case the against Shell Oil and Hoechst Celanese for defective plumbing material, polybutylene.
- We participated as members of the MDL Oil Royalty litigation committee in a nationwide class action lawsuit against every major United States oil company.
- Bogalusa, LA - We currently represent over 1500 clients who were exposed to a toxic release of nitrogen tetroxide as a result of an explosion at a chemical facility.
- Brookhaven, MS - Mass actions and individual actions, on behalf of over 1200 people on over 700 properties, for N.O.R.M. contamination as a result of Chevron's 40 years of negligent operation of the oil field.
- Mass action in Mississippi state court against Foremost Insurance Company for fraud in the sales of insurance policies to mobile home owners.
- We are counsel for a Louisiana antitrust class action against Microsoft, now consolidated in MDL 1332.
- Numerous N.O.R.M. cases in Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Texas and Arkansas.
An environmental disaster is any action involving a financially solvent business which causes an environmental problem that requires legal intervention. Examples include contamination of land and water, diminution in real property values, including stigma damages, and damage to personal property. The most memorable recent example of such a disaster would be the BP oil spill, which coated the Gulf of Mexico with millions of gallons of raw petroleum.
A toxic tort is an injury caused by contact with a poisonous or hazardous substance. The number of dangerous, toxic substances in our environment has grown exponentially with the increase in consumer products. For example, the plastics for certain items used in homes contain over a dozen toxic chemicals and by-products. Other examples of toxic substances and the injuries they cause, include:
- Lead-based paint (brain damage, especially in children)
- Asbestos (lung cancer and other breathing-related problems)
- Dry cleaning and other solvents (brain damage, major organ damage)
- Pesticides such as dioxin and DDT (birth defects)
- Toxic land waste (leukemia, other physical syndromes)
- Various drugs and pharmaceuticals, such as DES and Fen phen
- Common industrial chemicals such as benzene, PCBs and heavy metals
- Other chemical constituents which can pollute property, such as radium, lead, mercury, oil field waste, arsenic and dozens of other chemicals.
Our attorneys consult with experts such as toxicologists and certified industrial hygienists. Other experts are hired in cases where the land has been contaminated by toxic chemicals or substances. Since the responsible parties in toxic exposure cases (corporations and the manufacturers of toxic substances) enthusiastically defend these cases, it is important to retain a law firm that can overcome the many defenses that the attorneys for the wrongdoer raise.
It is rare for toxic exposure to affect just one person, especially in environmental contamination cases. Sometimes a class action may be initiated to represent the class of individuals or property owners affected by the toxic waste or toxic substance.
If you suspect that you or your family has been or is being exposed to toxic substances, you should contact your family physician first. Then call us at 1-800-578-5300.