Plaintiff develops cancer after unknowingly buying contaminated property. $63M. Santa Barbara County.

Facts and Background

• Facts and Background:

  In 1985, plaintiff Wright built his home on land he purchased in Santa Maria, unaware that it had previously been a chemical pit for Union Oil Company, a Chevron subsidiary, in the 1970s. The area had been a producing oil field for ten years since 1964, and when production ended, the defendants covered it in dirt. Chevron began remediation of the field in 2011, several years after it acquired Union Oil.

  In 2015, plaintiff was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer that can be caused by benzene exposure. 

  Plaintiff lived in the house for two years. Benzene, a known carcinogen, was discovered at toxic levels in the soil beneath his home decades later, after the property was sold again. His multiple myeloma is in remission, but he experiences severe pain on a daily basis and requires routine chemotherapy treatments to keep the cancer at bay.

   

• Plaintiff's Contentions:

  That Union Oil Company of California failed for 41 years to properly clean the site of chemicals per regulatory standards. Further, that the company failed to disclose the use of a toxic chemical sump pit for production purposes in 1974. That Union Oil failed to abide by a state law then in effect that required oil companies to excavate and remove the toxic remains.

• Defendant's Contentions:

  Defendants disputed plaintiff’s claims and contended the site was cleaned up in 2015 per regulatory standards, and that in 2016 the Santa Barbara Health Department issued a “no further action" letter.

  As to punitive damages, defense counsel argued that defendant's actions constituted negligence but there was no intent to inflict harm.