For the third time in less than a year, BP agreed to settle another Sugar Creek case.

Terms of the deal are still being discussed, according to a joint statement released Monday by the parties. The final amount will remain confidential.

The statement said attorneys for BP and the plaintiff, Paul Hedrick, opted to settle “in order to avoid protracted and costly litigation.”

The case was scheduled to start a four-week trial on Oct. 1.

Hedrick, 56, sued the company in April 2005, 25 years after he was diagnosed with lymphoma he claimed was the result of pollutants from the former Amoco oil refinery near his Sugar Creek home. The site is now owned by BP.

For all but one year of his life, Hedrick lived by the refinery site, according to his lawsuit.

Hedrick charged that employees of the refinery intentionally discharged hazardous pollutants, including benzene.

The lawsuit also claimed that Amoco performed tests that showed chemical pollutants were present in the groundwater, air and soil in the neighborhoods around the facility.

In January 1980, Hedrick learned he had lymphoma. He underwent radiation and surgical treatments at Kansas University Medical Center and his is still monitored.

Hedrick’s case was one of 32 brought against BP by current and former Sugar Creek residents. They are represented by Lon Walters of The Walters Law Firm.

Only one of the cases has been decided by a jury. In 2005, a Jackson County jury awarded $13.3 million to the husband of Nancy Ryan, who died from cancer she alleged was caused by the refinery’s pollutants. The jury also determined he was entitled to punitive damages. A confidential settlement was reached before the punitive damage phase of the trial.

Since that verdict, Hedrick’s case and two others have settled in the month before they were scheduled for trial.

In addition to Hedrick’s agreement, Walters reached confidential settlements with BP for Sean Reed in June and for Justin Detel in October.

Reed, 26, lived in a home near the refinery for the first five years of his life, according to his lawsuit. In June 1985, he was diagnosed with lymphoma and leukemia.

Detel, 21, a lifelong resident of Sugar Creek, was diagnosed with lymphoma 10 years ago and developed a tumor in his throat that made it difficult for him swallow.

Walters still has approximately 28 Sugar Creek cases remaining.

The case of Richard and Barbara Behymer is on the docket for trial on March 31 before Jackson County Circuit Judge Marco Roldan in Independence.

Earlier this month, Roldan granted a plaintiffs’ motion to expedite the trial to March because of the health of Barbara Behymer, the lone surviving plaintiff.

Barbara Behymer was born in Sugar Creek in 1935 and the couple lived near the facility from 1956 to 1965.

Richard Behymer died in 2002 at the age of 71 as a result of multiple myeloma, according to the lawsuit. Barbara Behymer also has a blood disorder and is currently being treated by a hematologist.

The refinery site is being redeveloped and still houses a petroleum marketing and distribution terminal. According to the statement from the settlement, an agency for the United State Department of Health and Human Services concluded that the site does not pose a health risk.