The Simmes family, who owns the Simmes Ranch northwest of the Texaco gasoline refinery in Montana, recently filed a suit against several oil refineries. The lawsuit claims that the refineries are emitting large amounts of benzene, which is a known carcinogen, and putting the nearby community at risk.

The Simmes family says their land and underground water has become polluted with benzene and other toxins from the refineries leaking storage tanks. This is not the first benzene related lawsuit that has been filed in Cascade County. According to reports, a lawsuit filed by the Sunburst School District in 2001 against the refineries resulted in a $16 million settlement in the district’s favor. However, this case still isn’t completely settled seeing as the jury still needs to look again at the negotiations between Texaco and the state Department of Environmental Quality before awarding $25 million in punitive damages.

Benzene Lawsuit Details

The benzene lawsuit file names Chevron, Texaco and Pacific Hide and Fur Depot, the company that bought the Texaco facility in 1961, in the lawsuit. The benzene problems were originally discovered in 2004 when the DEQ investigated the areas surrounding the refineries and discovered a second plume of underground contaminants where two storage tanks once sat on the refineries properties.

“I would hope that this be the case that gets to trial much faster than the last one did,” says Mark Kovacich, the attorney for the Simmes family. The lawsuit is asking for the companies to pay for punitive damages and for the cleanup of the site.

 Benzene is a toxic chemical that can lead to the development of leukemia, MDS, and other forms of cancer when people are exposed over an extended period of time. The chemical is often used as an additive in gasoline and hundreds of lawsuits have been filed in the past few years against companies like Texaco involving benzene exposure.

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