NORTHVALE, N.J.—A lawsuit was filed Dec. 5 against a Northvale gas station alleging it caused the death of 7-year-old Vivienne Knopp—who died two years ago from a rare form of cancer after a months-long public battle against the disease.
The lawsuit claims Shell Oil Co. and the station’s owner, Tappan Realty, are responsible for her death due to contaminants that allegedly leached into the Knopp family’s garden from a leaking underground gasoline storage tank, according to the Superior Court filing.
“Through the negligence, failure to maintain, failure to warn, and/or other improper and illegal acts of defendants, dangerous chemical and environmental contaminants, including MTBE, Benzene and others, leaked from an underground storage tank and otherwise escaped from defendant’s property and leached onto plaintiff’s property causing damage thereto,” states the lawsuit, filed Dec. 5 by Sekas Law Group, Englewood Cliffs.
Attorney Nicholas G. Sekas represents John Knopp on behalf of the estate of Vivienne Knopp, a minor.
Sekas told Northern Valley Press Dec. 11 that state Department of Environmental Protection findings indicated a contaminated plume impacting properties near the gas station and said the plaintiff planned to hire an environmental consultant to map the extent of the plume.
Sekas said pre-trial “discovery” will occur before a trial date is likely to be set. He criticized NJDEP for not adequately warning affected homeowners of contaminants emanating from the site.
The suit was not signed by Knopp’s ex-wife, Giulia, who is mentioned on p. 3 of the suit as his “ex-wife.”
The suit alleges both Shell Oil Co. and Tappan Realty violated New Jersey’s Spill Compensation and Control Act, by allowing contamination to occur off-site, and which requires responsible parties to pay for cleanup and damages.
In addition, the suit charges that the underground gasoline leak caused hazardous and dangerous chemicals to leach onto the Knopp property and surrounding properties, and was responsible for Vivienne’s rare cancer known as diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma.
‘Alert the community’
“There are many complicated aspects to Mr. Knopp’s lawsuit and he is not simply seeking to profit off of Vivienne’s death. Instead, by bringing this suit, Mr. Knopp hopes to alert the community of the dangers of the neighborhood contamination caused by the “Shell” gas station to prevent future harm to others,” said Sekas Law Group in a statement released Dec. 11.
“Mr. Knopp and his family realizes that money alone will not bring his daughter back, but may prevent companies like Shell from acting recklessly and irresponsibly in the future and may provide lifesaving research to help save other children, like his beloved daughter and angel, Vivienne, from such a dreadful disease,” said the statement.
She died on Dec. 5, 2017 after an eight-month battle against the highly-aggressive cancer, mostly found in children.
Northern Valley Press reported on Vivienne’s highly public effort to battle against the rare cancer.
‘A direct…result’
John Knopp, Vivienne’s father, claims in the lawsuit that Vivienne’s cancer was “a direct and proximate result of consuming tainted food” or “being exposed to dangerous and hazardous chemicals…caused by defendant’s actions.”
The area near the Tappan Road Shell station is mostly residential and the Knopp home sits about 500 feet away from the service station.
The suit charges defendants with wrongful death, conspiracy, negligence and demands punitive damages and a jury trial.
The gas station is on the NJDEP’s list of contaminated sites, which lists thousands of sites statewide.
Following Vivienne’s April 2017 diagnosis, support poured in from Northvale’s community with area mayors, sports teams, and dignitaries speaking out and recording messages of hope and encouragement.
Two Facebook pages were begun, including “Voices for Vivienne” and “Fight for Vivienne” to generate support and raise funds for her battle.
Messages of support were left by professional athletes, news anchors, film and TV stars, and professional athletes.
In addition, a GoFundMe page was started then by resident Thomas Panarese and raised over $130,000 to help cover medical expenses.
Moreover, local businesses and organizations held fundraising efforts to help cover extensive medical expenses related to Vivienne’s rare cancer.
