After drinking water from his spring, he became violently ill and went to the hospital/Testing of his water source revealed the presence of benzene, a carcinogenic substance used in oil and gas drilling.

Failure to comply with [chemical] leak detection and repair requirements under federal emissions standards for hazardous air pollutants was the rap.
In a face slappingly arrogant statement the company said:”[Vertellus] is confident that these emissions did not have any effect on it’s employees or neighbors.”

The widow and children of a deceased Texas man have filed a lawsuit against Chevron alleging that the man died wrongfully as a result of benzene exposure. "As a result of such exposure, Luther Wesley Miller, developed multiple myeloma from which he died a painful and terrible death on Feb. 7, 2008," the lawsuit  filed [...]

The World Health Organization estimates that up to 1/4 of all disease stems from environmental toxins. If this is truly the case, it means that toxic chemicals released by humans into the environment are sickening millions of people around the globe. At the greatest risk of health degrading chemical exposure are those living in developing [...]

Yesterday thirty-eight workers and villagers were poisoned and hospitalized after inhaling benzene gas at a village in east China’s Zhejiang Province. The poisoning took place as workers dismantled tanks that had contained the chemical. Short term exposure to benzene causes immediate depression of the central nervous system. Symptoms include drowsiness, headache, dizziness, loss coordination, loss of [...]

Scientists at the University of Alaska (UAS) have discovered significant levels of benzene and other organic solvents in snowpacks around Valdez Alaska. The town is located at the end of the trans-Alaska pipeline and is where tankers are loaded with crude oil. The researchers took snow cores from around Valdez and compared them to samples [...]

In Texas City, Texas, 143 residents have filed a lawsuit against BP (British Petroleum) in response to a 2007 incident in which the refinery released toxic chemicals into the air, negatively affecting workers, and those living near by.  Apparently there were two releases, one involving a powdery cloud that caused residents skin and eye  irritation, [...]