Environmental Law Matters

Property owners in the town of Roxana, Illinois, a small village on the Mississippi River across from St. Louis, filed suit against Shell Oil Company and ConocoPhillips. The property owners alleged that a refinery owned by Shell and later ConocoPhillips leaked benzene and other petroleum-based contaminants into the groundwater under their homes. The property owners sought the lost value in their homes as a result of the groundwater contamination. The Illinois District Court Judge certified the property owners as a class under Rule 23, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. On appeal ...