Erin Brockovich files suit
2003-06-10 11:31
Los Angeles - US environmental crusader Erin Brockovich, the inspiration for a hit Hollywood movie, on Monday sued a raft of energy firms claiming that an oil well in a Beverly Hills high school gave pupils cancer.
Brockovich joined forces with lawyer Ed Masry to file the wrongful death and negligence suit on behalf of 21 former pupils of the posh Beverly Hills High School who allegedly have cancer as a result of the on-campus rig.
"This case is about the inexcusable and knowing failure of the oil and gas industry and municipal and administrative bodies to protect school children, the suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court states.
"Defendants in this case utterly failed in carrying out their highest and most fundamental duty - protecting persons at Beverly Hills High School and the surrounding communities from being exposed to toxic materials that emanated constantly from their operations," it added.
The latest legal action targets oil giants ChevronTexaco Corp, Venoco Inc, Sempra Energy, Wainoco Oil and Gas Co and Standard Oil of California.
Brockovich, a legal researcher, and Masry famously teamed up in 1996 to help win a $333 million settlement against a power utility which they claimed was responsible for contaminating a local water supply near Los Angeles.
The story of their ground-breaking battle against the powerful Pacific Gas and Electric formed the basis of the screenplay for the film Erin Brockovich for which Julia Roberts won the best actress Oscar in 2001.
Their latest legal action came after Brockovich in April filed a separate suit against Beverly Hills High School over claims that toxins produced by the camouflaged campus oil rig gave 12 students and staff Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
In the new suit, Brockovich and Masry contend the cancer their 21 clients contracted was the result of being exposed to toxic fumes while attending the high school which is alma mater to a phalanx of Hollywood stars.
Unlike the April suit, the new action does not name the local school district nor the city of Beverly Hills as defendants.
All 21 alleged victims have contracted Hodgkin's Disease cancer, and three have died, the suit said. The oldest alleged victim attended the school from 1976.
When the first claims were filed in April, Brockovich and Masry said tests done on air samples by his law firm showed abnormally high levels of toxins in the air around Beverly Hills High.
Local media reports have said that the well earned the Beverly Hills school district $300 000 a year.
According to the school district's website, the oil operation was shut down in February, but was reopened recently under new ventilation requirements.