Houston Mass Tort & Environmental Attorney

Mass tort litigation arises when a single act of corporate negligence — a chemical spill, a toxic landfill, a defective product — injures dozens, hundreds, or thousands of people. These cases are massive in scope and complexity, involving scientific evidence, environmental testing, epidemiological data, and corporate documents that span decades. Very few attorneys have the experience to handle them.

David Mestemaker has represented more than 1,000 clients in mass tort cases. Toxic landfills that contaminated neighborhoods. Chemical plant explosions that exposed workers and residents to carcinogens. Industrial fires that released hazardous materials into the air. Leaking underground storage tanks that poisoned groundwater. This is not theoretical — it is 37 years of work.

Environmental Contamination Cases

Houston and the Texas Gulf Coast have a long history of environmental contamination. Industrial facilities, petrochemical plants, and waste disposal operations have contaminated soil, groundwater, and air across communities that were never warned about the risks. Residents develop cancers, respiratory diseases, neurological conditions, and birth defects — and only learn the cause years or decades later.

David has handled cases involving benzene and volatile organic compound (VOC) contamination, heavy metal exposure from industrial runoff, hydrogen sulfide releases from oil and gas operations, and contamination from improperly closed waste sites. Each case requires environmental testing, expert testimony, and a thorough understanding of the science connecting the contamination to the injuries.

Industrial Disasters

When a refinery explodes or a chemical plant has an uncontrolled release, the impact reaches far beyond the facility fence line. Workers inside the plant suffer blast injuries, burns, and chemical exposure. Nearby residents breathe contaminated air and may need to evacuate. The long-term health effects can take years to manifest.

David has litigated cases arising from some of the most significant industrial disasters along the Texas Gulf Coast. He knows how to coordinate with environmental scientists, toxicologists, and medical experts to build cases that prove causation and quantify damages at scale.

How Mass Tort Cases Work

Mass tort cases are different from class actions. In a class action, one representative plaintiff litigates on behalf of everyone, and the outcome applies uniformly. In a mass tort, each plaintiff maintains their own individual case with their own specific injuries and damages. The cases may be coordinated for efficiency — sharing discovery, expert reports, and pretrial rulings — but each person's claim is valued individually.

This distinction matters because injuries in mass tort cases are rarely uniform. One person may develop cancer from toxic exposure while another develops respiratory disease. Individual case valuation ensures that each plaintiff is compensated for their actual harm, not a one-size-fits-all settlement.

Houston's Environmental History

Houston sits at the center of the largest petrochemical complex in North America. The Houston Ship Channel hosts more than 200 industrial facilities within a 50-mile corridor. Harris County has more facilities reporting toxic releases to the EPA's Toxics Release Inventory than any other county in the United States.

In March 2019, the Intercontinental Terminals Company (ITC) tank farm in Deer Park caught fire, sending black smoke across the Ship Channel for days. The fire burned through tanks containing naphtha and xylene. Benzene levels in surrounding neighborhoods spiked. Deer Park ISD closed schools. Fire suppression runoff contaminated the San Jacinto River.

The San Jacinto River Waste Pits in Channelview contained paper mill waste with dioxins dumped from the 1960s through 1970s. The EPA added the site to the Superfund National Priorities List in 2008. During Hurricane Harvey in 2017, storm surge displaced the protective cap, re-exposing contaminated sediment. Dioxins cause cancer, immune damage, and reproductive harm at extraordinarily low concentrations.

The Brio Superfund site in Friendswood saw multiple chemical companies dispose of copper and petrochemical waste from the 1950s through 1980s. Vinyl chloride contaminated groundwater. Residents of the Southbend subdivision reported elevated cancer rates, birth defects, and neurological problems.

The Fifth Ward and Kashmere Gardens communities discovered in 2020 that a former creosote wood-treatment site had contaminated soil and groundwater with cancer-causing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. These communities — predominantly Black and Latino — have borne the disproportionate burden of Houston's industrial economy. Environmental litigation is often the only mechanism that forces accountability.

Types of Toxic Exposure and Health Effects

David's biology education makes him effective at proving causation — the link between a chemical, a dose, and a disease. Toxic exposure cases depend on this connection.

Benzene exposure causes bone marrow damage and is a known cause of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), myelodysplastic syndrome, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and aplastic anemia. The International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies benzene as a Group 1 carcinogen. Refinery workers, chemical plant employees, and communities near facilities with benzene releases are at highest risk.

Asbestos fibers lodge in lung lining, causing mesothelioma, asbestosis, and lung cancer with latency periods of 20 to 50 years. A Ship Channel construction worker exposed in the 1980s may not develop mesothelioma until 2025 or later.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) including toluene, xylene, TCE, and PERC cause liver damage, kidney damage, CNS damage, and cancer at chronic exposure levels. TCE was classified as a known human carcinogen by the EPA in 2011.

Heavy metals cause distinct injury patterns. Lead causes neurological damage (especially in children). Mercury damages the CNS and kidneys. Arsenic causes skin, lung, bladder, kidney, and liver cancer. Hexavalent chromium causes lung and nasal cancer.

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) — the rotten-egg gas common in oil and gas operations — causes respiratory irritation at low levels, loss of consciousness at high levels ("knockdown"), and death within minutes at extreme concentrations. H2S releases are common along the Texas Gulf Coast.

Proving Causation in Environmental Cases

Causation is the hardest element. You must prove that the specific exposure to the specific chemical caused the specific disease. Defense attorneys attack every link.

General causation — whether the substance can cause the disease — is established through epidemiological studies. Texas courts follow the Robinson (1996) and Havner (1997) framework, requiring scientific evidence to be reliable and relevant before presentation to a jury.

Specific causation requires evidence of the dose and duration, the biological mechanism, a differential diagnosis ruling out other causes, and expert testimony connecting the specific exposure to the diagnosis. Environmental testing — soil samples, groundwater analysis, air monitoring — is often required to establish the dose.

Latency periods create unique challenges. Cancers from toxic exposure may not appear for years or decades. Defense counsel argues intervening time and other risk factors break the causal chain. Rigorous expert testimony and thorough exposure history reconstruction are essential.

Environmental testing is time-sensitive. Contamination migrates, chemicals degrade, and evidence that exists today may be diluted tomorrow. David works with environmental engineers and hydrogeologists to document contamination before evidence disappears.

The Legal Framework for Environmental Claims

The Texas Water Code (Chapter 26) prohibits unauthorized discharges and provides for civil penalties. The Texas Solid Waste Disposal Act (Health & Safety Code Chapter 361) regulates hazardous waste. The Texas Clean Air Act (Chapter 382) governs air emissions. Violations of these statutes are powerful evidence of negligence.

At the federal level, CERCLA (Superfund) establishes strict, joint and several liability for cleanup of contaminated sites. CERCLA does not provide a direct personal injury right of action, but the site investigations and EPA findings are invaluable evidence in tort cases.

RCRA governs hazardous waste from cradle to grave and allows citizen suits for injunctive relief. While it does not provide money damages, it can force cleanup and generate evidence supporting a parallel tort claim.

The two-year statute of limitations under CPRC 16.003 applies, but the discovery rule may delay the start when the injury was inherently undiscoverable. For diseases with long latency periods, the rule recognizes that a plaintiff cannot file for an injury that has not yet manifested. Prompt legal consultation when symptoms appear preserves the claim.

Community Impact and Property Damage

Contamination destroys property values — homes near contaminated sites can lose 20 to 50 percent of value, sometimes becoming unsellable. Claims include remediation costs, relocation expenses, loss of use, and stigma damages that persist even after cleanup.

Community health studies by TDSHS or ATSDR can corroborate individual claims. An elevated cancer rate in a neighborhood, correlated with proximity to contamination, is compelling evidence.

Some damages can be assessed community-wide (property values), while others require individual assessment (medical conditions). David's experience with over 1,000 mass tort clients allows him to manage both simultaneously.

What to Do If You Suspect Contamination

Document symptoms with dates. Note unusual smells, visible pollution, water changes, or health problems. Take photos and videos.

Get a medical evaluation and tell your doctor about possible exposure. Ask for relevant screening tests. Keep all records.

Consider independent environmental testing of water, soil, and indoor air. Chain-of-custody protocols ensure results are court-admissible.

Report concerns to TCEQ (888-777-3186) and keep the confirmation. File with EPA Region 6 in Dallas for federal enforcement.

Contact an attorney before talking to the company responsible. Their "community assistance" overtures often come with waivers that limit your rights. David offers a free consultation to evaluate potential contamination cases.