What Type of Contamination Do Oil Companies Cause?

Oil and gas companies can cause air, land and water pollution with their operations, which involve drilling rigs, wells, compressor stations and pipelines. For instance, oilfield operations may tarnish property by leaving numerous ruts, trenches, slush pits and mud pits. Oil, gas and waste can also harm vegetation and local wildlife. One of the most serious forms of property contamination occurs when harmful metals, salts, hydrocarbons and toxic waste from oil and gas drilling impacts a region's water supplies, including aquifers, wells, rivers, creeks and lakes.

If an oil or gas corporation has been negligence in their cleanup of a property, it can scar the landscape, contaminate water which poses serious health risks to the occupants, and leave behind equipment that can also pose a danger to the people living on the property. Chemicals can be left behind which, when it comes into contact with a person, could cause them to become ill. Waste that is left behind can even sterilize the soil which prevents future vegetation. Oil companies need to be held responsible for their negligent actions that put potential harm or caused actual harm to the occupants of the property.

The primary goal of any property contamination lawsuit is to restore the land – and the people who own and inhabit it – to the condition enjoyed before these reckless and negligent corporations fouled the property. This involves determining a remediation, or cleanup plan, that features input from industry and environmental experts. A lawyer will also attempt to make sure that oil companies are prevented from repeating the same errors that caused the contamination the first time. Oil and gas contamination can range from moderate to severe, but in its most extreme case it can cause serious illness and injury to the occupants of the property as well as diminish their property value significantly.