LUFKIN, Texas - Nearly 200 Angelina County property owners and a major oil company have reached a settlement in a property damage and wrongful death lawsuit filed six years ago over alleged complications caused by a 70-year-old
leaky pipeline running through Lufkin.
"We've settled the case," said Kirk Mathis, an attorney for Chandler Law
Offices, which filed the suit.
Property owners alleged in 2002 that Chevron Pipeline Company failed to fix a crude oil pipeline that allegedly leaked for years, causing property damage and in some cases severe health complications for residents, including a rare form of leukemia. Mathis said a large majority of the owners who filed suit had alleged property damages. Only a few had made allegations of health complications or even death as a result of the pipeline, he said.
The amount Chevron paid out to each owner is not being publicly disclosed, nor are any details about the suit, which are part of a confidentiality agreement signed by all parties involved in the settlement.
While the agreement with Chevron was reached at the end of last year, Mathis said he is in the process of drafting up a court motion to have the case formally dismissed.
Chevron Pipeline Company spokesman Mickey Driver said he could not comment on the settlement agreement. Chevron Pipeline, a wholly owned subsidiary of Chevron Corp., is headquartered in Houston.
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