Wise County, Texas – Deep in the heart of the Barnett Shale drilling area a single family successfully sued Aruba Petroleum over emissions that were adversely affecting their family. A jury awarded the family $2.9 million and other lawsuits from families claiming health issues are in the works.
The Parr family claims to have suffered rashes, nosebleeds, ringing ears, and nausea stemming from the company’s operations. Over the period of February 2010 through July 2011, the family filed 13 complaints with the regulatory agency with oversight in these matters, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).
Over the last several years, the TCEQ has received 77 other formal complaints from Wise County residents. Besides the jury award, Aruba Petroleum was also found guilty of creating the emissions problem that has become troublesome for the Parr family. In other words, the emissions at issue were intentionally created. As per the directory of Maryland’s Environmental Law Program, the real problem is a lack of government oversight. The presumption here is that businesses will inherently act irresponsibly in regards to the environment and that it requires government regulation to keep them in check. Regardless of how one comes down on the politics of government regulation, Aruba Petroleum has behaved so as to give all oil companies a bad name.
Attorney Tomas Ramirez, who represents the other families suing Aruba Petroleum, is eager to move forward with their cases. He rightly said the recent jury award to the Parr family is a “watershed” for other similar cases.