Judge Orders BP to Preserve Evidence In Workers’ Benzene Exposure Lawsuit

HOUSTON—A federal judge in Texas Aug. 9 ordered BP Products North America Inc. and other parties in a potential class action brought by workers and neighbors to preserve evidence regarding the alleged release of benzene and other toxic chemicals into the atmosphere by BP’s Texas City oil refinery (Fontenot v. BP Prods. N. Am. Inc.).

A potential class action filed Aug. 3 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas alleges that more than 2,200 workers at the oil refinery as well as thousands of residents of Texas City were exposed to 17,000 pounds of ...