Illinois Federal Court Dismisses Benzene Contamination Suit with Prejudice in Wake of Settlement

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. –– An Illinois federal court has signed a judgment dismissing a benzene contamination lawsuit with prejudice in light of the “global settlement reached in this case.”

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois signed the judgment on Feb. 23, nearly two years after a settlement agreement was reached.

In the lawsuit, the Village of Roxana, Ill., asserted that one of Shell Oil Co.’s refineries leaked petroleum byproducts, including benzene, into the town’s soil and groundwater. The town argued that Shell and other defendants violated the nuisance ordinance and has incurred “exorbitant fines” …