Shell Oil Co. sued over contaminated neighborhood

2009-10-19 03:49:28 (GMT) (JusticeNewsFlash.com - Justice News Flash, Personal Injury)

Wiki Image: Hundreds of angry residents sued shell over toxic contamination.

Legal news for California personal injury attorneys. Hundreds of angry residents sued shell over toxic contamination.

California personal injury attorneys alerts- Hundreds of neighborhood residents filed a lawsuit against Shell Oil Company over contamination.

Los Angeles, CA—One of the largest oil companies in the world, Shell Oil Company, is being sued by hundreds of angry Carson residents who claim Shell contaminated a neighborhood with a cancer-causing carcinogen. The residents assert the contamination have led to the deaths of four residents. The lawsuit was filed on Wednesday, October 14, 2009 in Long Beach Superior Court, as reported by the San Jose Mercury News.

The lawsuit, which was filed on behalf of 343 Carson residents who live in the Carousel neighborhood, named both Shell Oil Company and a real estate firm who purchased the neighborhood from a developer. The disgruntled residents claim they started to notice discoloration of the concrete in the area, and an oily substance coming up out of the cracks of the concrete. Shell reportedly operated a tank farm in that area from 1924 to 1967. The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board started to test the neighborhood a couple of months ago.

The board detected benzene levels 100,000 times above the state of California’s standard. According to Wikipedia http://www.wikipedia.org Benzene is a natural constituent of crude oil, which can cause serious health effects if someone is exposed to the carcinogen. The US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) http://www.hhs.gov/ classified benzene as a human carcinogen. The long-term exposure to high levels of airborne benzene causes leukemia, a potentially fatal type of cancer. The Carousel neighborhood residents fear the test results and the overall outcome of the suspected contamination could leave their property worthless.

Wikipedia http://www.wikipedia.org states Shell Oil Company is the United States-based extension of the international oil company, Royal Dutch Shell.

Legal News Reporter: Nicole Howley-Legal news for California personal injury lawyers.