Daughter Sues BP To Learn Why Her Parents Died

The Guardian has a moving article about Eva Rowe, the daughter of James and Linda Rowe who died in the March 23, 2005 BP Texas City refinery explosion. Rowe has refused to settle with BP and is suing the company to find out the truth behind why her parents are dead.

James, 48, and Linda, 47, left a daughter, Eva, who believes safety failures at the huge BP plant in Texas contributed to the death of her parents. Her decision to launch a lawsuit against one of the world's most powerful corporations has led to the 22-year-old being compared to Erin Brockovich, the suburban mother who secured the largest settlement ever paid in a direct-action lawsuit in American history. But Eva has already turned down the offer of a compensation settlement by BP, claiming that only the scrutiny of a trial will ensure the world knows how and why her mother and father died.

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Amid intense media interest, Rowe will allege that her mother and father died because failures in safety measures led to the explosion in March 2005 that killed 15 people and injured 170. In particular, she believes that cost-cutting may have compromised safety, a charge also denied by the oil company.

'BP's desire to save money killed my mum and dad,' she said in a Radio 4 documentary last week. 'To me, that is wrong. They could have not cut their costs so many years ago and fixed things and kept up their maintenance and they didn't. My parents are dead because of that.'

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