Chevron is facing another lawsuit from a Brazilian federal prosecutor, Eduardo Santos, for an oil spill at the Frade project off of Brazil’s coast. The lawsuit was filed against both Chevron, the U.S. oil company, and Transocean, the drilling company, because last month, Chevron noticed that there were leaks at the Frade project. Although Chevron stopped drilling as a precautionary measure once it noticed the leak, it is facing an $11 billion lawsuit for the environmental damages caused from these leaks.

This lawsuit is the second $11 billion suit filed within the last six months against Chevron’s Frade project. The first suit addressed a 3,000-barrel oil spill in November of last year. A drilling accident caused oil to leak from the well into fissures on the Brazilian seabed. Some critics argue that the most recent lawsuit is overzealous because the leak consists of two barrels, only one of which escaped. Also, critics assert that unlike the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico, no oil reached the Brazilian shoreline.

Santos only intensified the debate when he filed criminal charges against Chevron and Transocean last month seeking penalties estimated to be about 31 years in prison. His current civil suit also seeks to prevent Chevron and Transocean from drilling in Brazil, transferring Brazilian profits to locations overseas, and obtaining financing from the government. Chevron has not yet commented on the pending civil and criminal lawsuits.

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Roxana, a small village in Illinois, filed a lawsuit against Shell Oil, ConocoPhillips, and WRB Refining due to contamination from the Wood River Oil Refinery, a nearby plant. The village alleges that toxic chemicals have leaked from the refinery and damaged surrounding property.

It has been reported that the refinery’s own testing has revealed elevated levels of toxic chemicals in the water and soil surrounding the plant. In a few locations, toxic levels were tens of thousands of times higher than the amount allowed by Illinois state law.

It is expected that lawsuits filed by individual property owners will ensue following the progress of this initial lawsuit. For more information about this case and other toxic tort cases, visit our website today.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued a warning about formaldehyde exposure in women who work with the popular Brazilian Blowout hair styling products.  The agency has issued a hazard alert for the products, which the agency states contain formaldehyde in levels that are higher than those set by the federal agency.  One particular product, the Brazilian Blowout Smoothing Solution was found to contain as much as eight times the allowed levels of formaldehyde.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration units in California and in other states have begun investigating the Brazilian Blowout styling products.  Complaints involving injuries involving these products have been emerging for a while now.  In fact, California mass torts lawyers have found several complaints, including respiratory problems, red eyes, blisters, vomiting, nausea, and headaches in salon employees, who work in close proximity with the products. 

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has investigated several of these cases.  Warnings about the products have been issued in California.  However, there is no nationwide ban on the use of the product.  That is in sharp contrast to several other countries including Australia, France, Cyprus, Germany, and Canada that have already banned the products. 

Formaldehyde is a strong smelling gas that can be absorbed not just through the lungs, but also through the skin.  It is also a known carcinogen, and has been linked to nose cancer.  The OSHA warning applies not just to Brazilian Blowout products, but also to makers of other similar keratin-containing hair smoothing products.  In the meantime, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is asking salon employees to ensure that their employees are not exposed to unnecessary levels of formaldehyde.  Employees must be provided respirators, and must be trained in the proper procedures of cleaning up spills.  Besides, air venting arrangements must be made to eliminate formaldehyde fumes.