Ala. Federal Court Remands Benzene Suit, Says Claims Not Completely Preempted by Clean Air Act

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. –– An Alabama federal court has remanded a benzene exposure suit, rejecting the defendant’s stance that the Clean Air Act completely preempts the plaintiff’s claims.

In the March 23 order, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama wrote that the plaintiff’s common law causes of action are not completely preempted by the Act and, as a result, the federal court did not have federal question jurisdiction.

Plaintiff Joel T. Morrison IV contended that he was exposed to benzene emissions while working as a mail carrier in the area surrounding coke ovens at Drummond Co.’s coke …