MAKKAH – The 20-year-long legal battle by a Saudi woman against Jeddah Mayoralty over a benzene station in her neighborhood has been crowned with success when the Jeddah administrative court ordered to shut down the station and revoke its license to operate. The court, under the Board of Grievances in Jeddah region, issued its verdict after endorsing Umm Muhammad's arguments that the gasoline pump poses health risks and dangers to the safety of the local residents, Makkah Arabic daily reported. The court's verdict was based on the reports of the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment (PME) and the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) that ratified the claims of the woman that the water tank at her home was contaminated due to oil leakage from the station. PME, which took samples from the water tank at the woman's house, came to the conclusion in its report that the water contained ethylbenzene and octane compounds while SFDA discovered fuel odor in the water. Umm Muhammad said that the local residents found that water in their household tanks was contaminated because of the oil leakage two decades ago. “I decided to lodge a lawsuit against the mayoralty for its negligence and lack of concern for ensuring residents' safety. The court issued verdict in my favor by revoking the station's license,” she said. The administrative court issued its preliminary verdict one year ago but the mayoralty appealed against it. After the rejection of the appeal, the court issued its final verdict, in which it turned down the mayoralty's claims. During the hearing, the mayoralty produced reports from Saudi Aramco and Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO), stating that water tanks in the neighborhood of the benzene station were free from contamination. Officials of the mayoralty told the court that the mayoralty approached Saudi Aramco and some engineering offices with a demand to collect water samples from the plaintiff's tank and put to laboratory tests. It was found in the tests that the water tank was not contaminated with any oil content, they pointed out. On the other hand, the woman presented reports of PME and SFDA to support her claims.
