Shell (LSE:RDSA) Spill Cleanup: Lawsuit Pending

A government order was outlined and given to Royal Dutch Shell oil (LSE:RDSA) for the beginning of the huge oil cleanup of Carousel Track. Bill Dehart, a resident said that pools of aging oil are under the ground in his neighborhood. Many of the residents are wondering how the gobs of oil will be able to be cleaned up without having to level homes, driveways, and streets.There has been a class action lawsuit filed and is pending on behalf of the residents of Carson.

The water board is responsible for making sure Shell meets their deadline of September 15th to submit the work plan. According to the order given to Shell, the environmental plan is to clean the top layer of soil of the 50 acre site. Sam Unger, interim executive officer of Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board said, " We're looking at removing the top 10 feet of soil across the entire property, but all areas of the property may not need to be removed."

The law firm representing the residents, Girardi and Keese, said that the cleanup order is extremely vague and they worry that the oil contamination is too widespread to be fixed. Firm attorney Tom Girardi said, "The order is a little confusing because the whole Carousel Track is cement. Some of the cement is maybe even holding back some of the discharge of the oil. The only way you can adhere to the order is to tear everything down and go down about 30 ft. and take up all the contaminated soil."

Dave McKinney, Shell's spokesman said, "Quite a few properties have no contamination. The key to this is testing all the properties." Another cleanup order will be issued most likely once the testing is done said Unger.