Premises Description

Shell Oil Company (the U.S. subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell; today Shell USA, Inc.; founded in the U.S. 1912; headquartered Houston TX) was through the 20th century one of the principal U.S. integrated oil majors. Shell operated through the asbestos era U.S. refining and petrochemical sites including:

  • Deer Park Complex (Deer Park TX) — flagship Houston-area refinery and chemical plant (the refinery was sold to Pemex 2021; chemical plant remains Shell)
  • Norco Refinery (Norco LA) — major Mississippi River refinery and chemical plant
  • Wood River Refinery (Roxana IL) — Mid-Continent refinery (sold to WRB Refining/Phillips 66 2007)
  • Anacortes Refinery (Anacortes WA) — Pacific Northwest (sold to Tesoro 1998)
  • Martinez Refinery (Martinez CA) — Bay Area refinery (sold to Tesoro 2000)
  • Wilmington Refinery (Wilmington CA) — Los Angeles Basin refinery (sold to Tesoro 2007)
  • Geismar LA — chemical plant
  • Mobile AL, Bayport TX, Garyville LA — additional petrochemical operations

The Shell Deer Park TX and Shell Wood River IL complexes are among the most heavily-litigated U.S. refinery premises defendants given their scale and continuous asbestos-era operations.

Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that Shell Oil Company — as premises owner of its U.S. refining and petrochemical operations — exposed its refinery operator workforce (OCAW/USW representation) and contractor pipefitters, insulators, boilermakers, and trade workers to extensive asbestos.

Shell Oil Company has been named as a Premises Defendant in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation.

Workers Exposed

  • OCAW / USW refinery operators at Shell refineries
  • Refinery pipefitters (UA Local members) — including UA Local 211 Houston at Deer Park, UA Local 198 Baton Rouge / UA Local 60 New Orleans at Norco, UA Local 60 St. Louis at Wood River
  • Insulators (HFIAW Local members) on Shell construction and turnaround crews
  • Refinery boilermakers (IBB Local members) at Shell refineries
  • Construction-trade workforces on Shell EPC projects

If You Worked at a Shell Refinery or Petrochemical Plant

If you worked at a Shell Oil Company refinery or petrochemical plant during the asbestos era — including at Deer Park TX, Norco LA, Wood River IL, Anacortes WA, Martinez CA, Wilmington CA, or any other Shell site — as a Shell employee or as a dispatched contractor trade worker — and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, lung cancer, or another asbestos-related illness, you may have legal rights.

Free, confidential case evaluation: Speak with O’Brien Law Firm — (314) 936-2956