$______ CONFIDENTIAL RECOVERY - MEDICAL MALPRACTICE - ORGAN DONATION COORDINATION NEGLIGENCE - DEATH AS RESULT OF DEFENDANTS' NEGLIGENCE IN DISCLOSING DONOR ORGAN INFECTED WITH PARASITE - WRONGFUL DEATH OF 73-YEAR-OLD DONOR RECIPIENT.

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Featured Cases

$15,000,000 RECOVERY – TOXIC TORT – ENVIRONMENTAL LAW – MTBE LEAKED

FROM UNDERGROUND STORAGE CONTAINERS AT GAS STATIONS, RESULTING IN

DECADES OF SOIL AND GROUNDWATER CONTAMINATION.

District County, RI

In this action, the Rhode Island Attorney General

sued several of the nation’s largest gasoline

refinery companies over alleged pollution of soil

and groundwater with a gasoline additive. The

defendants denied the accusation. The state has

resolved claims against 3 such parties with a

settlement.

Methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE) is a gasoline additive

used by companies including the defendants Shell,

Sunoco, and CITGO in their gasoline. The plaintiff

State of Rhode Island asserted that MTBE leaked from

underground storage containers at gas stations, re-

sulting in decades of soil and groundwater contami-

nation. Its presence in drinking water has been shown

to pose serious health risks, and it is considered a

probable carcinogen for humans. MTBE was banned

in Rhode Island in 2007, but allegedly continued in

use throughout the state.

In September 2012, the state of Rhode Island filed suit

in the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island

against defendant gas refinery companies including

Shell, Sunoco, and CITGO, as well as British Petroleum

(BP),Chevron,ExxonMobil,Valero,andIrving.Thede-

fendants were accused of having promoted, mar-

keted, distributed, supplied, and sold gasoline and

other petroleum products containing MTBE with full

knowledge of the potential contamination of Rhode

Island’s ground water, as well as the associated

threats to public health. The plaintiff state sought re-

covery of damages, as well as injunctive relief.

The State of Rhode Island’s claims against Shell,

Sunoco, and CITGO were resolved with a settlement

for $15 million. The consent judgment stipulates the

distribution and use of the settlement by the Rhode Is-

land Department of Environmental Management

(DEM) to be used for emergency response and ongo-

ing MTBE contamination remediation efforts. Litigation

against the remaining companies is ongoing.

REFERENCE

State of Rhode Island vs. Atlantic Richfield Company,

et al. Case no. 1:17-cv-00204-WES-PAS, 04-11-22.

Attorney for plaintiff: Alison B. Hoffman of Rhode

Island Office of the Attorney General in Providence,

RI.

COMMENTARY

This settlement marks the latest in the state’s litigation against oil

companies involved in the sale and distribution of MTBE. In 2012,

plaintiff reached a $7 million settlement with Exxon Mobile for the

2001 MTBE contamination of ground water in Pascoag, Rhode Is-

land. The contamination resulted in the shutdown of the town’s only

well, leaving residents without a supply of water. In that matter, the

State of Rhode Island alleged that MTBE levels measured in the

aquifer exceeded 1,000 times the approved drinking water limit.

The State has also successfully resolved claims against Hess, Total

Petrochemicals & Refining USA, Inc. (TPRI), Marathon, and Conoco,

for a combined amount of $2.13 million. The state has recovered a

total of $17 million in these actions, including this recent settlement.

$6,000,000 CONFIDENTIAL RECOVERY – MEDICAL MALPRACTICE – ORGAN

DONATION COORDINATION NEGLIGENCE – DEATH AS RESULT OF DEFENDANTS’

NEGLIGENCE IN DISCLOSING DONOR ORGAN INFECTED WITH PARASITE –

WRONGFUL DEATH OF 73-YEAR-OLD DONOR RECIPIENT.

Withheld County, MA

In this medical malpractice matter, the plaintiff

alleged that the defendant organ donor

coordinator and company were negligent in

failing to notify the decedent and his medical

team that the lung that had been supplied for

transplant was from an individual who was later

determined to be positive for a parasitic infection.

The failure to warn resulted in the decedent’s

untimely death. The defendant denied the

allegations and maintained that it was not

negligent.

The 73-year-old decedent was the recipient of a lung

from a portion of the world where there was an en-

demic parasitic infection named Strongyloids. The de-

cedent agreed to accept the donor lung on the

condition that he and would receive follow-up care

2

Volume 37, Issue 10, May 2022

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