[StBernard] Murphy Oil spill class-action hearing Jan. 12

[Westley Annis]

Murphy Oil spill class-action hearing Jan. 12

HOUSTON (Dow Jones/AP) - Attorneys in the litigation over Murphy Oil
Company's spill in Meraux are gearing up for a Jan. 12 federal hearing in
New Orleans that will determine whether the cases qualify for class-action
status. 

Judge Eldon Fallon has scheduled a two-day hearing on a series of lawsuits
that assert Murphy was negligent in causing a massive oil spill in Saint
Bernard Parish in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Murphy has said the
spill, which came from a storage tank that was rocked by flooding, was the
result of an "act of God.'' 

Much of the hearing is likely to focus on determining how many homes were
harmed by the spill. So far 64 named plaintiffs have stepped forward to join
the suit against Murphy. Plaintiffs attorneys said in a September filing
that the spill may have harmed more than 160,000 properties. 

A federal health consultation released December ninth concluded that
one-thousand-800 properties were ``visually determined'' to be affected by
the spill. The EPA classified 114 properties as having a "heavy'' level of
oiling, 286 properties as medium and the rest have a "light level of
oiling'' only. 

In an effort to narrow the potential scope of a lawsuit, Murphy has been
settling with some residents.