Defense Verdict in Property Damages Case
On January 7, 2008, following one of the longest jury trials ever held in Kansas, jurors in a class action property damage lawsuit returned a verdict in favor of defendants BP Corp. North America, Inc., BP America Inc., BP Products North America Inc., Atlantic Richfield Company and BP America Production Company. The litigation concerned a former Amoco oil refinery that operated in Neodesha, Kansas from 1897 until it was dismantled in 1970. Defendants had been conducting a cleanup of the site. Plaintiffs included the City of Neodesha, the local school district, several local businesses, and residents. The plaintiffs claimed that most of the town overlies groundwater contamination from the refinery consisting of petroleum hydrocarbons and metals such as arsenic, lead and mercury. Plaintiffs’ claims included breach of contract and fraud as well as typical property tort claims. Property valuation experts were: Dr. Louis Wilde, LECG, for the defendants and Dr. John A. Kilpatrick, Greenfield Advisors, for the plaintiffs.
