TEXAS CITY, Texas A Hitchcock woman is suing BP claiming her son s death was a result of emissions released from the company s Texas City refinery earlier this year.
BP faces a state investigation for the release of more than 500,000 pounds of material, including several tons of benzene, into the air. The 40-day incident started April 6 and ended May 16, according to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and BP.
The lawsuit, to be filed in state district court Thursday morning by attorney Anthony Buzbee, claims the 6-month old was diagnosed with pneumonia and that symptoms got worse in April and May while the infant was being cared for at his aunt's house and a nearby day care.
The aunt's house is on Second Avenue South, less than a mile from BP s Texas City refinery, according to the lawsuit. The boy spent most of his time at her home, according to the lawsuit.
The baby died June 23. A medical examiner s report listed the cause of death as undetermined, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims that all of the children being cared for at the day care had respiratory and sinus problems during the time of the emissions event. Others suffered severe headaches, Buzbee said.
BP maintains that the release of the chemicals posed no threat on the community and that air monitors at the refinery and from the community monitoring network did not detect any dangerous concentrations of harmful emissions.
During the entire 40-day period of this event, the site s recently enhanced fence line monitors, which measure for the presence of benzene and other constituents, did not signal elevated readings or ground level impact, refinery manager Keith Casey wrote in a letter to Texas City Mayor Matt Doyle. Similarly, air-quality monitors in the community that are maintained by external parties did not show elevated readings throughout the 40-day period.
BP faces a lawsuit by the Texas Attorney General over the incident as well as a $10 billion federal lawsuit filed on behalf of 2,200 clients by Buzbee.
Buzbee said he expects to add as many as 18,000 clients to that lawsuit within the next few weeks.
The lawsuit filed Thursday is the first to claim a death connected to the emissions. Buzbee said details of the lawsuit were going to be released during a press conference this afternoon.
Meanwhile, Galveston County District Clerk Latonia Wilson said 50 lawsuits had been filed in state courts and she expected 1,500 more within the month.
