Toxic environmental pollution and spills are not limited to rivers and streams. Communities across Montana have had pollution in and below their soils for decades remaining from major commercial industrial operations. Montana law also protects those individuals and property owners that are affected by toxic plumes and migrating materials under the surface or hidden underneath the surface. Unfortunately, Montana has a long tradition with corporate polluters, yet, thanks to access to the court system, regular Montana citizens can get redress for property and personal injury damages that relate to toxic pollution.
]]>ExxonMobil agreed Thursday to pay the state of Montana $1.6 million in penalties over water pollution caused by a pipeline break last July that fouled dozens of miles of shoreline along the scenic Yellowstone River.
Montana Department of Environmental Quality Director Richard Opper said the penalty marks the largest in the agency's history.
The Texas oil company will pay $300,000 in cash and spend $1.3 million on future environmental projects, Opper said. Exxon will reimburse more than $760,000 in emergency response costs racked up by state agencies.
Also Thursday, Exxon increased by 50 percent its estimate of how much crude spilled into the river during the July 1 accident near Laurel. The company now says at least 1,509 barrels of oil, or more than 63,000 gallons, was released into the river. That's up from earlier estimates of 1,000 barrels spilled - a number that Gov. Brian Schweitzer had disputed as too low.
Only about 10 barrels of crude were recovered by cleanup crews, less than 1 percent of the total spilled, federal officials have said.
Opper said the adjusted oil spill estimate had no bearing on Exxon's $1.6 million settlement with the state.
"The state has always thought the estimate (of the amount of oil spilled) was higher" than Exxon's first estimate, he said.
The settlement was based primarily on the extent of the damage done by the spill, Opper said. As such, the new spill estimate "doesn't really change anything."
Exxon waited to adjust its estimate until it had gathered all the data it could from the break and the spill, which included pulling the ruptured pipe out of the ground to examine the break, said Alan Jeffers, media relations manager for ExxonMobil Pipeline Co.
"It was an effort to get as much data as we could," he said.
Early electrical conductivity tests in July following the spill suggested that the pipe had separated. Once the pipeline was removed from the riverbed in December and officials found the pipe had split in two, they calculated the final number.
Thursday's settlement came after more than three months of negotiations between attorneys for Exxon and the state. It contains provisions to shield the company against future lawsuits from state agencies, although it will not become final until after a 30-day public comment period.
"It was a significant violation. There were hundreds and hundreds of acres of land affected and it was a major oil spill," Opper said. He added that the penalties probably would have been "a lot higher" if Exxon had not cooperated on the cleanup.
"It doesn't mean they were perfect," he said. "They were responsible, but they really were committed to undoing the damage that was caused."
Jeffers declined to make a comment specific to the settlement. He did say the higher estimate would not have changed his company's response to the spill, which at its peak involved more than 1,000 Exxon contractors working to clean up oil-soaked sandbars, logjams and vegetation.
"ExxonMobil Pipeline Co. has entered into an agreed Administrative Order on Consent with the Montana DEQ for the July 1, 2011, Silvertip Pipeline incident," Jeffers said in a statement released late Thursday. "ExxonMobil Pipeline Co. regrets that this incident occurred and takes full responsibility for the cleanup. We are committed to completing this effort from start to finish."
Still pending against the company is a lawsuit from a group of riverfront property owners seeking tens of millions of dollars in damages over allegations that the company failed to properly clean up after the spill.
The landowners are represented by Billings attorney Cliff Edwards.
Attorneys for Exxon have asked U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull in Billings to dismiss that case. A decision is pending.
Edwards said he was "mystified" by the state's willingness to settle for $1.6 million.
"This is chump change to what was done," Edwards said. Exxon "got off for soiling one of the greatest rivers in America."
The state was stigmatized by the spill and it negatively affected tourism, he said.
"That's hurts our economy," Edwards said. "This is outrageous."
To read the original story, please see The Billings Gazette
]]>Three months after the ExxonMobil Silvertip pipeline burst near Laurel, pouring about 42,000 gallons of crude oil into the flooded Yellowstone River, the disaster has spilled over into the courts.
Billings attorney Cliff Edwards filed a class action lawsuit Tuesday in Yellowstone County District Court on behalf of eight landowners. The suit asks for a jury trial and unspecified punitive damages from Exxon for long-term harm to their land and businesses.
"The only thing corporations understand is money, and I intend to cost them enough money for what they did to make them think twice before they do this again." Edwards said. "This is outrageous."
Dale Getz, a community relations adviser for ExxonMobil in Billings, said this is the first lawsuit to his knowledge resulting from the July 1 spill. His company doesn't comment on pending litigation, he said.
"We're going to be here until the job is done," Getz said earlier this year.
But according to Edwards' lawsuit, Exxon's cleanup has been "haphazard, sloppy and not well coordinated."
The lawsuit names ExxonMobil Oil Corp., ExxonMobil Pipeline in Houston, and two Billings individuals, Billings refinery manager Jon Wetmore and pipeline terminal superintendent Jason Montgomery, alleging damage including trespass, nuisance and stigma. That last allegation was made because landowners selling their land will have to disclose the oil spill to prospective buyers for years to come, Edwards said.
Other plaintiffs include a company that owns land near the confluence of the Clark's Fork and Yellowstone River, where Capt. William Clark camped in 1806, and a gravel pit off Johnson Road in Lockwood that was flooded with oily water.
Business activities on affected "oiled, soiled and spoiled properties" have been interrupted and damaged, the lawsuit claims.
"They haven't been able to mine a shovelful of gravel since then," Edwards said, adding that the companies can't legally sell oiled sand and gravel and they can't easily drain the contaminated pit that is so close to the Yellowstone River.
Brad Kembel, who owns 100 acres of riverfront land near Worden, said he joined the lawsuit, his first ever, after Exxon workers made several failed attempts to clean his land.
While he was combining malt barley, the first ExxonMobil workers came onto his land, unannounced, on a survey mission, he said. One adjuster kept telling him the oil wasn't anything to worry about and would be gone in a couple of months, he said.
Kembel then picked up a glob of oil from some grass to illustrate the problem.
"Out of the blue, he knocked it out of my hand with his walking stick," Kembel said, adding he was too surprised and shocked to react.
He said the first cleanup crew worked mostly on his cousin's neighboring land and they didn't do much in a day.
After he complained, Exxon sent out another team in early August. More than 20 people dressed in hazardous materials suits spent a day loading about 98 bags of soiled oil residue into a large container, but that barely dented the pollution along 100 acres of riverfront, he said.
Then a team dressed in blue jeans, without gloves, spent another day trying to clean up, Kembel said.
Then officials from Houston came to visit, apologized for the spill and promised to try again.
But the third cleanup team of around 50 people drove four-wheelers all over, wrecking his grass and still missing an obvious blob three feet from the road, he said.
"They had ridden by a patch of oil so many times, their dust covered it up," Kembel said.
If the oil isn't cleaned up before winter, spring runoffs will spread the trouble, he said.
Should he decide to sell his property, Exxon officials promised to run soil tests to prove the land is clean, but Kembel said that wasn't practical either.
"It just takes one spot to screw up our sale," he said. "I don't know if it will go away. I'm not a chemist."
The original Silvertip pipeline, buried about 5 feet to 7 feet under the Yellowstone River, was exposed by the near-record floodwaters in July. Last month, Exxon completed a new section of the 12-inch pipeline buried far deeper, 60 to 70 feet, and resumed the oil flow.
At the peak of the cleanup in August, ExxonMobil had nearly 1,100 workers cleaning up oil. Now the company is in the reclamation phase and is down to about 150 workers, Getz said Tuesday. An earlier preliminary estimate pegged the cleanup costs at $42 million.
Before starting the cleanup in July, the company first surveyed about 9,600 acres, with the help of state and federal agencies. Less than 40 percent of those acres had oil and less than 10 acres had heavy oil impacts, Getz said.
Some landowners have received generous Exxon payouts, Kembel said, and the oil giant bought a boat for the Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office so it could help scout for oil.
But, Kembel said he was put off by a parting gift from one oil company official who handed him an Exxon flashlight with an 800 number to call if he had more concerns.
"This pollution won't go away. It's marked our land probably for the rest of our lives and they give me a $2 flashlight that's made in China," he said.
To read the original story, please see The Billings Gazette
]]>A federal judge has returned to state court a lawsuit by Montana landowners whose property was contaminated with crude oil from a broken Exxon Mobil pipeline.
U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull's Feb. 16 ruling is an early victory for the plaintiffs.
They are seeking damages against Exxon for not preventing the July 2 spill and then allegedly botching the cleanup. More than 1,500 barrels spilled into the river, fouling 70 miles of shoreline.
The case originally was filed in state court in Yellowstone County, then transferred to federal court at the request of Exxon.
Plaintiffs' attorney Cliff Edwards says he wanted the case heard by a jury made up of residents of Yellowstone County, where the spill occurred.
For the original story, please see the The Billings Gazette
]]>A passenger in a western Montana bus crash that left two people dead and 32 injured filed a lawsuit Tuesday in state court accusing Rimrock Stages, Inc. and Greyhound Lines, Inc. of negligence.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of 77-year-old Claude Oulman of Butte, who remains hospitalized following the Jan. 8 crash along an icy stretch of Interstate 90 near Clinton.
An initial investigation by Montana Highway Patrol estimated the bus was traveling at 65 to 70 miles an hour when it slipped off the highway and rolled onto its side.
The lawsuit - filed Tuesday in state district court in Yellowstone County - alleges the driver was rushing to stay on schedule and reach his next destination in Missoula.
"He was pressured to stay on schedule, and that's the reason he was driving 65-miles an hour on a skating rink," said Christopher Edwards, one of Oulman's attorneys.
The speed limit where the crash took place is 75 mph, but Montana law requires motorists to travel at a speed that is safe for the conditions. There were multiple other crashes Jan. 8 along the same stretch of interstate, including a tractor-trailer rollover.
Edwards said his client suffered severe injuries including numerous broken bones and was in a coma following the crash. The lawsuit also names Oulman's wife, Callie, as a plaintiff. She was not a passenger.
Rimrock took over the Billings-to-Missoula route from Cincinnati-based Greyhound last year. The lawsuit calls Rimrock a Greyhound contractor.
Rimrock Stages vice president and minority owner Eric Forseth said he had not yet seen the lawsuit. He said the investigation into the accident was pending and that he was not aware of any citations or charges being issued against the company or the driver.
"'We're taking care of all the bills and we're taking care of all the passengers personal effects and replacing everything that's broken," Forseth said.
Forseth added that Rimrock is not a direct contractor for Greyhound, although the companies share ticketing services.
A spokeswoman for Greyhound did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press seeking comment.
The bus was headed west from Billings to Missoula at the time the crash, which occurred about 18 miles southeast of Missoula shortly after 7 a.m.
Those suffering the worst injuries appeared to have been ejected when the bus slid on its side and bounced, breaking out the windows on the driver's side. Three people were pinned under the bus and authorities said the driver was among those seriously injured.
A representative of the American Bus Association speaking on behalf of Rimrock Stages said after the accident that the bus was operated by a veteran driver who joined the company last spring.
To view the original story, please see The Billings Gazette
]]>A Butte justice of the peace facing a torrent of felony drug charges has picked up a prominent Montana lawyer to help in his defense.
Billings attorney Cliff Edwards told The Montana Standard Tuesday that he has agreed to defend Bob Lee against the dozens of charges accusing him of illegally obtaining prescription drugs in two counties. Edwards said he chose to represent Lee because he's known him a long time and considers him a friend.
"I have great respect for Judge Lee," Edwards said. "I consider Bobby a friend and an honorable man, and I'm going to get to work on his case."
State prosecutors filed 12 counts of fraudulently obtaining dangerous drugs against Bob Lee Friday in Anaconda-Deer Lodge County, and filed 22 more Monday in Jefferson County.
Edwards said he couldn't comment on the charges because he hasn't had time to review them.
Lee was suspended with pay on Monday from his position as Butte justice of the peace, according to Edwards.
Calls to the Montana Judicial Standards Commission Tuesday to confirm Lee's status weren't returned by deadline.
County Attorney Eileen Joyce said she hadn't received official word about Lee's status as of Tuesday afternoon. She said that she is concerned about finding a substitute to fill Lee's position if he is suspended or resigns.
If Lee is suspended with pay, Joyce said they will have to determine if the county has enough money budgeted to fund a temporary replacement.
"I don't know if we have the ability to pay two people for the same job," Joyce said.
Butte-Silver Bow County has two justices of the peace who each earn about $66,000 annually.
Lee is scheduled to make an initial appearance on the 12 charges in Anaconda district court at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 8.
Edwards is known for appearing in court sporting a cowboy hat and neatly pressed blue jeans. He's also known for taking high-profile cases and winning.
In 2007, Edwards represented 15 retired Montana Power Co. employees in a major civil case tried in Butte. This case ended with a $17.4 million jury award for the employees and $4 million in punitive damages against the former power company.
To view the original story, please see The Montana Standard
]]>MISSOULA - Doug Taylor remembers somebody saying a heartfelt "Oh Jesus" just as the Rimrock Stages bus careened into the median on Interstate 90 early Sunday morning.
As the bus slid out of control, bounced onto its side, turned upright again and rolled onto its side for a second time, the 51-year-old Texan remembers two odd sensations: There was hair-splitting screaming and a deep, underwater-like silence.
"At times like this, you hear everything seems like it goes in slow motion, but there was no slow motion," said Taylor, who is recovering at St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula.
"I'm a NASCAR fan, and if you have seen a crash, it was kind of like that. You hear that crunching and horrifying grinding sound, and at the same time it seems like dead silence.
"You can hear all the individual sounds coming out of a veil of silence; you could hear them all - distinguishable and separate, but all together," he said. "It was really freaky."
Taylor had just awakened shortly after 7 a.m. as the bus neared Missoula. He began his journey in Williston, N.D., where he dropped off a big rig for a customer and boarded the bus for Olympia, Wash., to pick up a truck to drive to Arizona for another customer before heading home to Austin.
Sitting in the fourth seat behind the driver, Taylor had a sense that all the other 33 passengers were asleep.
"It was real nice and quiet," Taylor said. "And the driver seemed to be doing a good job."
Around mile marker 120 near Clinton, the interstate had become an ice-skating rink. Hitting black ice, the bus went flying.
"It felt like the bus started sliding on the front right wheel," Taylor said, "and then you got a feeling that the bus driver is not in control anymore. You could feel the bus tip and bounce back up and then it fell back down and it felt like it was going to tip over onto the roof, but it never made it that far."
Inside, bodies slammed into one another as people cried and screamed. Taylor had one hand jammed between the seats ahead of him and the other hand gripping the overhead compartment.
The desperate grab for security prevented Taylor from being thrown out the window and from possibly being pinned under the bus. Some weren't so lucky - two passengers died. Everyone on board was injured.
"There was a lot of crying and I remember a lady in the back behind me - I don't know who she was - but she was hollering for someone and that person wasn't answering," Taylor said.
Someone's foot caromed off Taylor's head, as another person bounced off him and scrambled out of the bus through a safety hatch in the roof.
Taylor took the same exit out, despite severe, bloody cuts to his left arm. Only at the hospital would he know the full extent of his injuries: five broken ribs, a puncture to his lung, a partially collapsed lung and a series of ugly gashes to his left arm that would need staples and stitches.
When he climbed down from the bus and took in the scene around him, it looked like a war zone.
"That's when things got kind of surreal. It looked like something you would see on TV from a Baghdad scene. People were knocked down everywhere, people's baggage was everywhere and pieces of the bus were up on the road," he said.
During the wreck, Taylor was knocked out of his shoes. Standing in the cold and icy morning, he found a blanket to wrap around his bleeding arm. A fellow passenger - a stranger - found him a sweatshirt to wrap around his uncovered feet.
Passengers tried to help one another as they waited for help.
"If you ride the bus line a lot like I do, you hear general discontent of people," he said. "To have something like this, those differences get put aside and everyone is like 'What can we do to help you.'"
Twenty-one of the injured were loaded onto a Clinton School bus and were taken to Community Medical Center. The most seriously hurt, including Taylor, were taken by ambulance and helicopter to St. Patrick Hospital.
On Monday, Taylor was grateful to be alive. He had already convinced one nurse to buy him his favorite snack, Zingers, and a six-pack of Coca-Cola. Another hospital employee was working to find him a pair of reading glasses with the right prescription.
"This is not exactly how I was planning my bus change in Missoula," Taylor said. "But everyone at the hospital has been outstanding - even those who have to inflict pain."
In the chaos of the accident he's lost his clothes, his laptop computer, his phone and his backpack, which essentially serves as his office for his truck delivery business. Nobody seems to know what happened to all the luggage and personal belongings on the bus.
"I haven't heard from the bus company - not a word. To be honest with you, that's one of the things that is irritating me. You would have thought in the 36 or 48 hours (since the wreck happened) they would have come by and seen those of us still in the hospital. But I haven't heard from them - not a peep."
Taylor is concerned about how long it will take for him to heal and be back at his job. He hopes Rimrock Stages will step forward and make everything all right again, and pay for the damages.
Just getting back to his home in Austin to recuperate will be a challenge.
"It will be rough getting back on a bus," Taylor said. "Whether Rimrock pays for it or not, I know it's going to be an airplane ticket home. I'll fight with Rimrock about it later as to who will pay for it."
For the full article, please visit The Billings Gazette.
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