A California jury awarded Chevron a $63 million judgment after discovering the oil company concealed a hazardous chemical dump on property bought by a man who subsequently discovered he had blood cancer and built a house there.
In 1985, multiple myeloma patient Kevin Wright unintentionally constructed his home over a chemical pit close to Santa Barbara, according to his lawsuit.
According to court documents, Union Oil Company of California, a Chevron affiliate, has been using a sump pit for oil and gas extraction since 1974, a practice that left the carcinogenic chemical benzene on the land.
In 1985, Wright acquired the property and erected the house. According to court records, he was diagnosed with the disease that targets plasma cells in the blood and can be brought on by exposure to benzene almost three decades later.
Wright’s lawyer, Jakob Norman, claimed that the jury in Santa Barbara returned the $63 million verdict on Wednesday. Norman referred to the situation as a “blatant example of environmental pollution and corporate malfeasance.”
Union Oil Company would challenge the ruling, according to Chevron.
Chevron issued a statement on Thursday saying, “We strongly disagree with the jury’s decisions to award compensatory and punitive damages.”
Wright’s cancer is in remission, according to his attorneys, but to keep the condition at bay, he frequently receives chemotherapy treatments.
In a statement supplied by his attorneys, Wright claimed that “they cut corners, and as a result, my life was turned upside down.” Chevron’s ongoing denial of the devastation it inflicted serves as a disgusting reminder that this business prioritizes profits over people.
