Tag Archives: incident

BP faced with $10 billion lawsuit over Texas City toxic release

Just as BP began celebrating a proclaimed success in its Gulf of Mexico catastrophe, the company now finds itself in the woeful position of facing a $10 billion lawsuit over a 40-day toxic chemical release in Texas City, Texas earlier this year. A $10 billion class action lawsuit was filed Tuesday on behalf of 2,000 claimants against oil behemoth BP after the company engaged in a 40-day upset during April and May that released at least 538,000 pounds of known toxins into the Texas City skies. The event began just two weeks before the company became very well-known over its Deepwater Horizon incident in the Gulf of Mexico. Tony Buzbee, a Texas attorney who also represents Gulf coast residents impacted by the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster, filed the suit on Tuesday for his clients seeking compensation for “health effects including all symptoms associated with acute benzene exposure,” according to The Telegraph( http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/7925565/BP-hit-… ). As reported earlier by Digital Journal( http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/294675 ), the toxic leak, or upset, occurred at BP’s Texas City refinery from April 6 to May 16, releasing hundreds of thousands of pounds of toxins into the air, including benzene, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxides. In a ProPublica( http://www.propublica.org/article/bp-texas-refinery-had-huge-toxic-release-just-… ) report of the incident, company officials were aware of the situation, underestimated its severity, and kept the plant in production to allay the chance of investors’ worries. It notes “the company’s corporate culture favors production and profit margins over safety and the environment. The 40-day release echoes in several notable ways the runaway spill in the Gulf. BP officials initially underestimated the problem and took steps in the days leading up to the incident to reduce costs and keep the refinery online.” Buzbee, already involved in legal action against BP as he represents 15 Deepwater Horizon rig workers, dozens of fisherman, dock workers, and restaurants – all impacted by the Gulf of Mexico debacle – is a prominent Houston lawyer with a solid record in winning settlements from oil companies, Mother Jones reports( http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2010/06/rigs-fire-i-told-you-was-gonna-happen ). The lawsuit over the Texas City incident alleges “tens of thousands of individuals were injured and had his or her long-term health put in jeopardy after being exposed to extremely high levels of Benzene and other toxic chemicals while working at the BP Texas City Refinery or by simply living or working in Texas City,” according to Yahoo News( http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20100803/bs_yblog_upshot/bp-faces-10-billio… ). The lawyer is seeking “punitive damages against BP in excess of $10 billion.” added by: toyotabedzrock

Attorney for Danielle Staub to Seek Assault Charges Against RHONJ Cast Members

You’ve gotta love reality TV. On Monday night, Bravo aired an epic fight between Danielle Staub and Teresa Giudice. It eventually resulted in Jacqueline Laurita’s 19-year-old daughter (Ashley Holmes) ripping out the former’s weave. This confrontation actually took place in November, however, as it was documented at the time and Holmes was forced by the court to pay a $189 fine. Case closed, right? Wrong says Staub’s lawyer, Paul Giblin. Speaking to Hollywood Life, he said of the incident :

Dave Chappelle Deemed ‘Safety Risk’ on Private Jet

Filed under: Dave Chappelle A private jet carrying comedian Dave Chappelle made an emergency landing in Pittsburgh last night because the pilot couldn’t handle Chappelle’s erratic behavior, TMZ has learned. A source extremely familiar with the incident tells TMZ Chappelle boarded a… Read more

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Dave Chappelle Deemed ‘Safety Risk’ on Private Jet

Jennifer Rovero and Paris Hilton

Jennifer Rovero, 31, from New York, was sentenced to a fine of 1,000 rand ($130) or 30 days imprisonment, De Beer said. A publicist for Hilton said the incident was a “misunderstanding.” A court in South Africa has dropped a marijuana-smoking case against Paris Hilton. The socialite appeared late Friday in a FIFA World Cup courtroom after being arrested on suspicion of possession of marijuana at a quarterfinal match between Brazil and the Netherlands. The authorities dropped the charges agai

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Jennifer Rovero and Paris Hilton

An interesting but ostentatious article that bashes "New Atheism", and promotes Agnosticism.

Let's get one thing straight: Agnosticism is not some kind of weak-tea atheism. Agnosticism is not atheism or theism. It is radical skepticism, doubt in the possibility of certainty, opposition to the unwarranted certainties that atheism and theism offer. Agnostics have mostly been depicted as doubters of religious belief, but recently, with the rise of the “New Atheism”—the high-profile denunciations of religion in best-sellers from scientists such as Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett, and polemicists, such as my colleague Christopher Hitchens—I believe it's important to define a distinct identity for agnosticism, to hold it apart from the certitudes of both theism and atheism. http://www.slate.com/id/2258484/ added by: atomiclegion

Sheriff’s Deputy Arrested For Rape

Bay county sheriff's investigators have arrested one of their own, charging him with the rape of a woman in Panama City Beach. Twenty-seven year old Benjamin Logue was arrested yesterday and charged with 1-count of sexual battery. Twenty seven year old Benjamin Logue is no longer a Bay County Sheriff's deputy. He was fired Tuesday after his colleagues arrested him for rape. Investigators say the incident happened on June 9th, while Logue was on-duty. He saw a woman walking down the side of highway 98 in the Philips inlet area. McKeithen says Logue approached the woman, and told her to get into his patrol car. Authorities say Logue then drove to a wooded area, and force the woman to have sex. Sheriff's investigators didn't find out about the incident until this past Monday, when an acquaintance of the woman came forward. The alleged victim was hesitant to report the attack, which doesn't surprise bay county sheriff frank McKeithen. “The person that they are supposed to trust has just violated them and it would be kind of hard going to a person wearing the same uniform that they are wearing”, said Sheriff McKeithen. When confronted by investigators, Logue supposedly admitted to having sex with the woman, but he claims it was consensual. “There are certain ethical boundaries that are written and there are also some ethical boundaries that are not written. The ethical boundaries that are written certainly have been violated by deputy Logue and in law enforcement we have some unwritten codes of ethics that we believe also have been violated”, said McKeithen During the course of their investigation, sheriff's investigators say they learned of a second possible victim (a little more @ link) added by: Omnomynous

Bam Margera’s Alleged Assailant To Stand Trial

Elizabeth Ray, 59, is accused of beating Margera with a pipe outside his Pennsylvania nightclub. By Gil Kaufman Bam Margera Photo: Frazer Harrison/ Getty Images The 59-year-old woman accused of assaulting “Viva La Bam” star Bam Margera outside a suburban Philadelphia nightclub he owns on June 12 has been held over for trial. According to the Philadelphia Daily News , a district court judge ruled on Thursday that Elizabeth Ray would be held for trial on aggravated assault and related counts. Ray, who has said she’s innocent in the case, lives near the Note, a club Margera, 30, owns in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Margera was allegedly assaulted by Ray with a bat-like object following a noise complaint at the Note earlier this month. Ray was arrested and charged with one count of aggravated assault, two counts of simple assault and two counts of reckless endangerment; she posted $10,000 bail shortly after her arrest. Margera said that he was waiting for a ride home around 2 a.m. when he got into a verbal altercation with Ray and that he was walking away after he thought the argument ended and then collapsed to the ground, suffering a concussion and a large cut to his head after being struck. According to the News, a woman who was with Margera said she saw Ray holding a long, pipe-like object. Pal Tammy Palumbo told the paper that after Margera tumbled to the ground she cradled his head in her lap as Ray began yelling at her. With Margera unconscious and bleeding, Palumbo claimed that Ray threatened, “I’ll hit him again and I’ll make sure I kill him next time.” In a court appearance on Thursday, Margera claimed he exited the club to smoke a cigarette after closing time and Palumbo followed him to a back alley next to Ray’s property. “She yelled, ‘Get off my sidewalk’ to me,” Palumbo testified. “I didn’t even know I was standing in front of someone’s house.” At the time of the incident, Ray professed her innocence to the Daily News, claiming that Margera used racial slurs during their initial argument about the noise. “He called me the n-word,” she said. “I’m innocent, and he’s a jackass, just like his movies.” During testimony, Margera said he got into a shouting match with Ray after she berated Palumbo, the latest in a series of verbal altercations between him and his alleged assailant. “It was kind of a shouting match,” he said. “I was so busy yelling I didn’t hear what she was saying.” Margera denied that he used a racial slur during the argument. Ray’s home shares a wall with Margera’s bar and she often complained about noise from the establishment; to compensate, Margera told the judge that he had his bar manager pay one month’s rent for Ray when the pub opened last year. The complaints continued, however, apparently boiling over into the incident that caused Margera to miss out on a recent shoot for a climactic scene in the upcoming “Jackass 3-D” movie .

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Bam Margera’s Alleged Assailant To Stand Trial

Jeremy London Insists Kidnapping Happened

With speculation growing about his alleged abduction at gunpoint and forced drug use in Palm Springs, Calif., a week and a half ago, Jeremy London wants to set the record straight: It happened, and it was a complete and utter nightmare. In a statement to Radar Online , the Party of Five star recounts the night: “First of all, I want to say [the incident] actually happened. It was one of the worst days of my life.” “I thought I was going to die. Thank God I made it out alive.” The Jeremy London kidnapping account continues: “I had a gun put to my head. I had my family threatened. We’re currently working closely with the Palm Springs Police Department to get the rest of the guys. There’s one guy in custody.” “There’s two more out there.” Jeremy London says he’s lucky to be alive . A recovering drug addict, London had been embroiled in a custody battle with his ex-wife Melissa over their son Lyric, 3. But the spouses have apparently reconciled – Melissa was actually with Jeremy in the initial stages of the kidnapping. London says his mother, his brother Jason and his brother’s girlfriend are spreading “outrageous lies” about the incident and added that he has not spoken to them in months, and has sent legal threats to his family to stop talking to the press. Reached for comment Monday, Jason said , “I’m glad my brother’s okay, but I have serious questions about what transpired. His health is our #1 concern.” Asked if there was any reason to doubt London’s version of events, Palm Springs Police spokeswoman Melissa Desmarais said: “No, not at this point. Our investigators had enough information to arrest a suspect and the investigation is ongoing.” The suspect, Brandon Adams, has already been charged by officials with kidnapping, robbery, possession of stolen property, vehicle theft and carjacking. London, 37 opened up earlier this year about his struggle to stay sober and his financial troubles. We wish him the best getting through this ordeal now.

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Jeremy London Insists Kidnapping Happened

David Brown picture (Dallas Police Chief David Brown son)

David Brown Jr., 27, the son of Dallas Police Chief David Brown, who just took office in May, was today identified as the alleged shooter in the incident, which broke out at an apartment complex in Lancaster, 15 miles south of Dallas. Lancaster Police Chief Keith Humphrey said Sunday that Officer Craig Shaw and other police answered a “shooting in progress” call around 6 p.m. There was an exchange of gunfire, he said, and Shaw was killed. “Officers responded to the apartment complex and start

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David Brown picture (Dallas Police Chief David Brown son)

Jeremy London Kidnapped, Forced to Smoke Dope

While attempting to change a flat tire in Palm Springs, former Party of Five star Jeremy London was kidnapped by two men who forced the former drug-addicted actor to smoke crack cocaine (or amphetamines, London wasn’t certain) and distribute liquor in a gang area of the town — all while being held at gunpoint. Radar reports that two men were charged Wednesday over the incident, which lasted five hours before London escaped. [ Radar ]

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Jeremy London Kidnapped, Forced to Smoke Dope