Oil firm escapes heavy penalties in Beverly Hills cancer case

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=455854

Oil firm escapes heavy penalties in Beverly Hills cancer case
By Andew Gumbel in Los Angeles
22 October 2003


An oil company accused of contributing to a cancer cluster among former students of Beverly Hills High School, the training ground for some of Hollywood's most glamorous names, has escaped with a small fine and a promise to monitor toxic emissions from its drilling facility on the campus more carefully.

The settlement, reached with government air pollution regulators, clears the way for Venoco Inc of Santa Barbara to resume full operations at the high school, an oil-rich site in the middle of Los Angeles.

It also puts a dent in the effort by Erin Brockovich, the environmental crusader made famous by the eponymous film starring Julia Roberts, to sue Venoco and the city of Beverly Hills for negligence and wrongful death on behalf of 428 plaintiffs, more than half of them diagnosed with cancer.

One of the mothers involved in the case denounced the settlement as a "small slap on the wrist" for Venoco.

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Ok maybe I don't want to go to school there :bounce:

I can't even believe what I'm reading cause I had no clue about this.
"Drilling for oil @ Bev Hills High? :wtf:

Aren't there People with the right kind of connections there to make them Pay? :grr:

If you vote for Republicans, you're not creating a consumer-friendly environment. Democrats, you at least stand a chance if you pressure them.