Oil giant British Petroleum (BP) is once again the subject of a lawsuit in the state of Texas. However, this time the legal action is unrelated to the recent oil spill and instead focused on the alleged wrongful death of a six-month-old boy.

On August 19, Sharon Champion of Hitchcock, Texas, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against BP in Galveston County. The lawsuit alleges that her six-month-old son, Julius Provost, died as a result of pneumonia-related symptoms that were exacerbated by his exposure to roughly 500,000 pounds of chemicals released by a BP refinery between April 6 and May 16.

According to the complaint, Julius was looked after by an aunt, who lives roughly a mile from BP's Texas City refinery, while Sharon Champion worked. After the chemical exposure/leak, which is alleged to have been caused by a faulty hydrogen compressor, he developed a variety of pneumonia-related symptoms, including a severe cough, mucus in his eyes and a runny nose.

The compliant goes on to state that physicians at three separate hospitals were unable to identify Julius' illness or properly treat him, and he subsequently died as a result of his condition. The Medical Examiner's Office in Galveston County officially ruled his cause of death as undetermined.

Susan Champion is seeking $10 billion in damages in her wrongful death lawsuit. 

It is worth noting that this same incident has already spawned a class action lawsuit against BP. Brought by both Texas City residents who lived in the vicinity of the BP refinery and thousands of BP employees, the lawsuit accuses the company of failing to report the leak due to concerns over financial losses.

In addition, the Attorney General of Texas, Greg Abbott, is also pursuing legal action against BP over the purported chemical leak.

Stay tuned for further developments in this Texas case ...

Related Resources:
  
• Woman Blames Infant Death on BP Chemical Leak (The Southeast Texas Record)