By Sherry Koonce

The News staff writer

A lawsuit filed in district court by a Beaumont attorney is charging that something stinks in Port Arthur, and that a local refinery should be stopped from emitting foul odors that disrupt the lives of nearby residents.

Filed in Jefferson County Friday, the petition would prohibit Port Arthur’s Valero Energy Corp., formerly Premcor, from emitting odors that drift into nearby residents’ yards. A date has not yet been set, but the case will be heard in the 60th District Court by Judge Gary Sanderson.

“The lawsuit is an attempt to restore the city. I don’t blame anything bad in Port Arthur on the smell, but I guarantee you until the smell has eliminated investors and developers,” said attorney Tom Pearson, who specializes in environmental cases. “I believe it is the environment that is keeping Port Arthur from being revitalized.”

The latest amended petition is part of a ongoing lawsuit originally filed in October 2004 against several chemical companies including Motiva Enterprises, BASF Fina Petrochemicals and Total Petrochemicals.

The latest petition was filed after Valero’s crude oil refinery released hydrogen sulfide and volatile organic compounds into the atmosphere on July 28 and Aug. 5, 2007. Those chemicals produced extremely offensive odors and physical discomfort, the lawsuit alleges.

According to The News archives, at the time of the discharge 38 people living nearby went to the hospital in ambulances for treatment of symptoms such as itchy and watery eyes, nausea and diarrhea.

“On June 28, they had a horrible accident out there and have been having horrible accidents fairly lately,” Pearson said.

Hundreds of claims from those incidents have been settled, Bill Day, Valero director of media relations said in a telephone interview Wednesday.

Day said the July 28 incident occurred because of a breakdown in equipment. Incidents of that type are rare, he said.

Since then, the company has completed the repair process, and settled claims from nearby residents.

“In July we had a pretty significant outreach to the community, we let them know we would take care of the problem,” Day said.

Day said it was rare for people to file lawsuits against Valero, especially a case like this one.