When does the Statute of Limitations Begin to Run?

Posted on April 9, 2007 by David Austin

An appeal was recently filed in a case where a lower court ruled that the time limit on a person's benzene claim began running when the person was first exposed to benzene.  Wow.  Well this is one big problem with exposure lawsuits.  The question I have is how can person bring a lawsuit for an injury they don't know they have yet. One idea (which is not new) is to allow the time period to start running when the person first learned that the benzene exposure was linked to their aplastic anemia, MDS (Myleodysplastic Syndrome) or AML.

See this link for more on the story of this person who is appealing to the US Supreme Court over this lower court decision.

http://www.al.com/news/mobileregister/index.ssf?/base/news/1175937607192090.xml&coll=3

Tags:

Efforts to curtail Benzene in Texas

Posted on April 9, 2007 by David Austin

Despite an initial backlash against what they perceived to be an overstep of mayoral authority, Baytown officials and state lawmakers seem to be falling in step, at least in principle, with Houston Mayor Bill White's efforts to curtail benzene emissions from east Harris County refineries.

The ball is now rolling on a regional task force overseen by the Greater Houston Partnership and composed of scientists, environmental advocates, industry representatives and appointees by several local mayors, including Baytown mayor Stephen DonCarlos. The task force, the actual members of which are still being decided, should begin sitting down to discuss strategies within the next few months.

At the heart of the task force's mandate, at least from White's perspective, will be the voluntary reductions on benzene emissions that first sparked the outcry from officials and led to the meeting of local mayors out of which the task force eventually sprouted. Benzene, a common gasoline component and byproduct known to cause cancer over long periods of exposure in a small percentage of humans, has been red-flagged by scientists as being the toxic chemical most likely to affect people in the greater Houston-Galveston area.

For the Rest of the story please see the Baytown Sun

Tags: