Huntington Beach Oil Spill Effects on Children Class Action

Like a number of recent class actions, this one sets responsibility for the Huntington Beach Oil Spill on three companies: Amplify Energy Corporation, Beta Operating Company, LLC, and Sam Pedro Bay Pipeline Company. Because they did not prevent the pipeline rupture or stop the oil from escaping promptly, the complaint alleges, children are being affected mentally and physically by the oil spill.

The class for this action is individuals who, as of October 1, 2021, were under the age of 18 and who lived within twenty miles of the coastline between Seaport Street in Huntington Beach, California and the San Juan Creek in Dana Point, California.

The oil spill took place on October 1 and 2, 2021. On October 3, the Orange County Health Care Agency put out a health advisory for people in the area who had been exposed to oil contaminants, noting that the “effects of oil spills on humans may be direct and indirect,” and can happen via both skin contact or inhalation.

The complaint alleges, “Much of the resulting damage is out of sight but will continue for years, and the impact on children is particularly significant.”

Most of the contentions about children in the complaint comes from a study done by Jaishree Beedasy, of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University’s Earth Institute. It was related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on the Gulf Coast.

The complaint alleges, “[T]hree out of five parents reported that their child had experienced physical health symptoms and nearly one third reported that their child had mental health issues after the oil spill. The findings also show that ‘the impacts of the oil spill on children’s health appear to persist years after the disaster[.]’”

It also quotes from Science News, reporting on the same study, to say that disasters disproportionately harm “vulnerable populations,” such as children, because “their coping and cognitive capabilities are still developing… A growing body of evidence demonstrates that disasters are associated with severe and long-lasting health impacts for children.”

The complaint also claims, “The survey found that physical health problems were 4.5 times more common in children who had been directly exposed to oil… Children with indirect exposure to oil through their parents were also much more likely to have physical health issues.” Physical health issues were also significantly more likely to occur in households that had lost income or jobs because of the oil spill. The complaint alleges that the study found similar problems with mental health.

The complaint alleges that the companies could have prevented the spill or shut down the pipeline quickly: The companies “should have automatically shut down the pipeline immediately following the rupture. … Indeed, if the pipeline contained industry-standard safety alarms property set to measure a drop in pressure and/or a change in the flow rate of oil, the pipeline should have shut down soon after the rupture.”

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Environmental
Tags: Children/Minors, Environmental Damage, Environmental Pollution, Your Health