The discharge of toxic chemicals, dangerous pesticides, and hazardous materials into the environment can have a devastating effect on the health, livelihood, and property values of those in the vicinity. In the case of large scale oil spills, tens of thousands of persons living hundreds of miles away can be affected.

Attorney Annika K. Martin Discusses BP Oil Spill Settlement Claims

Environmental pollution may occur over an extended period — such as the slow leakage of industrial pollutants into groundwater supplies used by communities for drinking water — or swiftly and catastrophically from oil spills, transportation carrier accidents, and disasters at coal plants, refineries, and other industrial facilities.

Obtaining compensation for environmental damage

Lieff Cabraser possesses the expertise and financial resources to thoroughly investigate environmental cases and hold the defendants accountable. We have successfully prosecuted cases against many of the world’s most powerful corporations, obtaining compensation for families and property owners harmed by toxic environmental exposures.

Lieff Cabraser served on the Plaintiffs Executive Committee and as Co-Chair of the Law and Briefing Committee in litigation brought by our firm and co-counsel on behalf of local residents over the February 3, 2023 derailment and toxic spill in East Palestine, a small, rural community in northeast Ohio. The tragedy made national news when a Norfolk Southern train carrying highly toxic chemicals, including vinyl chloride, derailed in East Palestine. In late 2024, the court granted final approval to a $600 million settlement of the litigation, the lagest settlement for a railroad disaster in U.S. history.

On October 2, 2024, Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, Grant & Eisenhofer, Jenner Law, and Georgia counsel Holzer & Holzer filed a federal class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia in Atlanta against Bio-Lab Inc. and Kik Custom Products, Inc. over the September 29, 2024 chemical fire and toxic plume release in Conyers, Georgia, on behalf of certain named individual local residents and business owners as well as a class of all others similarly affected by the Bio-Lab environmental disaster.

“Like the East Palestine train derailment, this incident caused a massive toxic release into the community that should have never occurred,” said Lieff Cabraser partner Mark P. Chalos, who represents the plaintiffs in the action and who has represented plaintiffs in toxic exposure cases for many years. “Bio-Lab and Kik failed in their responsibilities to the community both before, during, and after the fire and toxic release. We look forward to getting the justice for our Conyers clients in federal court.”

Other notable successes include the Exxon Valdez Oil Disaster, in which we served as co-counsel for thousands of fishermen, landowners, and others whose livelihoods were gravely harmed when the Exxon Valdez ran aground in March 1989, spilling 11 million gallons of oil into Prince William Sound, Alaska, and killing tens of thousands of wild creatures and fouling 1,300 miles of beaches and surface waters.

We represented individuals, property owners, and business owners in litigation against BP (formerly British Petroleum) and the other companies involved in drilling at and the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010. A settlement with BP, which was announced in March 2012, requires BP to fully satisfy all qualified claims with no cap on the amount BP will pay.

Lieff Cabraser’s Cases in Environmental Law