Class Actions

Environmental & Toxic Tort

Whitfield Bryson LLP represents individuals in class actions who have suffered damage from the discharge of toxic substances into the environment. In particular, our firm has had success litigating complex cases involving devastating groundwater contamination caused by oil refinery and transportation disasters and leaking underground storage tanks. We are also currently involved in groundbreaking federal climate change litigation.

Our past successes include:

Riggs Park Underground Storage Tank Litigation

Whitfield Bryson LLP attorneys represented more than one hundred homeowners in the Washington, D.C. neighborhood of Riggs Park in litigation against Chevron USA. The plaintiffs alleged Chevron and other owners and operators of a neighboring gas station were responsible for a massive underground gasoline leak. The parties settled the case for approximately $6.2 million.

Patuxent River Oil Spill

Whitfield Bryson LLP recovered $2.25 million for commercial fisherman and homeowners for damages caused by an oil spill that discharged approximately 111,000 gallons of oil into the Patuxent River in Maryland. This was the largest oil spill in the history of Maryland.

Whitfield Bryson LLP is currently involved in a number of environmental and toxic tort cases, including:

The BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

The April 2010 explosion, fire, and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon resulted in an oil spill of devastating proportions in the Gulf of Mexico. Whitfield Bryson LLP co-founded the BP Oil Spill Legal Network, a national coalition of attorneys with extensive experience litigating environmental and mass tort cases, to represent individuals and businesses who have suffered financial harm from the spill.

The BP Oil Spill Legal Network has filed class actions in Louisiana and Alabama on behalf of commercial fisherman and operators of charter boats who have suffered economic losses. Defendants include BP, Halliburton Energy Services, Inc., and Cameron International Corporation.

The BP Oil Spill Legal Network is also pursuing individual claims under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA) for economic losses suffered by other individuals, including those employed in the tourism industry, and owners of private property. If you believe you have a claim for economic losses caused by the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Global Warming in Kivalina, Aslaska

Whitfield Bryson LLP, along with five other law firms and two non-profit legal organizations, represents the Inupiat Eskimo Village of Kivalina in northwest Alaska in a groundbreaking lawsuit against several major industrial greenhouse gas emitters for damages caused by global warming. As recognized by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, global warming has melted the sea ice that has protected Kivalina from crippling ocean storms for centuries, and now Kivalina must be relocated or face total destruction. The federal government has estimated that relocation can cost as much as $400 million.

Union Carbide Toxic Contamination in Bhopal, India

Whitfield Bryson LLP has joined in the representation of citizens of Bhopal, India who have been exposed to toxic contamination emanating from the now-abandoned Union Carbide Pesticide Plant— the site of the infamous 1984 gas leak that killed and injured thousands of helpless nearby residents. Through this litigation, plaintiffs allege chemicals remaining at the plant site contaminated the local groundwater, causing the surrounding communities to suffer from a variety of health ailments, including cancers and neurological disorders. The lawsuit, currently pending in the Southern District of New York, seeks to compel Union Carbide to clean up the plant site and pay damages to individuals injured by the toxic pollution.

Environmental and Toxic Tort Lawyers

The lawyers at Whitfield Bryson LLP are not afraid to take on large corporations. We aggressively represent victims against companies who have created environmental hazards. If you have questions regarding an environmental or toxic tort, don’t wait to contact us today.