Additional plaintiffs, defendants join Marathon emission suit

GALVESTON - A lawsuit blaming Marathon Petroleum LP for "an 11-hour long" emission event in June was amended.

The suit, which was filed a week after the alleged June 7 event, was revised to include more plaintiffs as well as new defendants namely Servpro Holding Co. Inc., Servpro Industries Inc. and Laser Marine Services Inc.

In the original petition, Tiki Island residents Russell Craig Hudeck and Renea Diamond explain that Marathon's Texas City refinery refinery released various toxic chemicals into the air and caused its operations to shut down in the early morning hours of June 7.

It is believed that a pipe sheared apart at the refinery’s fluid catalytic cracking unit, prompting the “uncontrollable” release of slurry, gasoline and other petrochemical products.

The purported release damaged the plaintiffs’ property as well as “unwittingly exposed them to these chemicals as they went about their daily business,” assertions echoed by the additional claimants.

Marathon failed to warn the complainants or the Tiki Island community that there was an ongoing emission event, they argue.

The amended petition states that Marathon summoned and dispatched representatives from Servpro and Laser Marine Services into the surrounding communities, but they "failed to properly inspect properties and assess damage and/or worsened the condition of properties through improper cleaning techniques."

It insists that the respondents' actions "have continued to exacerbate the damages suffered by residents of these communities."

Marathon formally refuted the suit on July 17.

Case No. 13-CV-788