BP Poisoned Neighbors in Toxin Release, Texas Jury Told

BP Plc (BP/) deliberately exposed neighbors of a Texas refinery to tons of cancer-causing gases for weeks without warning in 2010, a lawyer told a Texas jury. The lawsuits by four residents are the first of almost 48,000 toxic-exposure claims to come to trial. The plaintiffs seek as much as $200,000 each in actual damages, plus $10 billion in punitive damages which, they said in court papers, they would donate to charity. “Profits over the environment, profits over safety, profits over people, that’s what this case is about,” Tony Buzbee, the residents’ lead attorney, told the state-court jury in Galveston during opening statements today. The trial is expected to last five weeks. BP intentionally vented at least 500,000 pounds (227,000 kilograms) of toxic chemicals, including benzene, from a faulty refinery unit in Texas City to a flare the company knew was incapable of destroying the toxins, Buzbee said in an interview before the trial.