cover image Shell Game: One Family's Long Battle Against Big Oil

Shell Game: One Family's Long Battle Against Big Oil

Michael Veron, . . Lyons, $24.95 (272pp) ISBN 978-1-59921-033-9

Legal narratives pitting the hero against a malicious corporation are not in short supply, but trial lawyer Veron adds an environmental twist as he describes nine years fighting Shell Oil over decades of pollution on his family's Louisiana farm. By 1991, after his family had made a comfortable income for 62 years off the royalties from the discovery of oil on his great-grandfather's property, the land was covered with discarded equipment and poisoned with chemicals and buried toxic waste. Spurred by a cousin who wondered why the company wasn't vacating the property and cleaning it up as required by the lease, Veron spent more than a year trying to persuade Shell to fulfill its contract and pay damages, before he filed suit. Veron delivers a blow-by-blow account of the trial, quoting testimony liberally, often stepping back to discuss his and his opponent's tactics and to explain the law. An accomplished novelist (The Caddie ), Veron uses his considerable skill to portray Shell's lawyers (incompetent), the judge (inexperienced and hostile) and witnesses (his are devastating). Readers won't be surprised that he wins a huge settlement. Less biased accounts such as A Civil Action tell a more realistic and equally fascinating story, but this simpler good-versus-evil tale is a cracking good read. (Apr.)