A ⚓Rhode Island federal judge ruled in May 2025 that Conservation Law Foundation can pursue broad discovery of Shell's internal climate change documents in their lawsuit over the Providence Terminal's failure to prepare for climate impacts. The decision marks the first time a private fossil fuel company will need to answer fully for its knowledge of climate change risks in court discovery proceedings.

DBDarrèll Brown, Vice President of CLF ⚓Rhode Island, has led the legal fight against Shell's Providence Terminal, which sits at sea level on filled land in the 🌲Washington Park neighborhood. The facility spans heavily industrialized Allens Avenue with the Providence River on one side and a diverse working-class community on the other, making it extremely vulnerable to storm surge and flooding.

CKChris Kilian, Vice President of Strategic Litigation at CLF, warned that 'Shell's facility is an accident waiting to happen' and that 'one severe storm could result in the terminal spilling toxic chemicals into the Providence River and surrounding communities.' The lawsuit contends Shell violated Clean Water Act permit conditions and hazardous waste law by failing to climate-proof the facility.

Federal District JWJudge William Smith refused Shell's motion to dismiss in September 2020, allowing the case to proceed toward discovery and trial. During virtual hearings, Judge Smith characterized the situation as one where 'a bomb is going to go off, just don't know when,' referencing the inevitable severe weather events that climate change makes more frequent and intense.

Shell's Providence Terminal already shows dangerous vulnerabilities to current weather conditions that will worsen with climate change. CLF evidence includes photos from December 2022 showing contaminated areas of the facility flooded during a storm, demonstrating how the terminal cannot handle weather events that are becoming more common and severe.

The terminal stores oil, ethanol, and toxic chemicals at a location that would flood with just a Category 1 storm surge, far less severe than the Category 4 hurricanes increasingly moving into northern Atlantic waters due to warming oceans. Hurricane Harvey's 2017 impact on Houston petrochemical facilities released thousands of barrels of oil and an estimated one million pounds of hazardous pollutants, providing a preview of Providence's risks.

CLF's climate adaptation lawsuit represents a new legal strategy focusing on infrastructure preparedness rather than traditional emissions-based climate litigation. The case advances beyond seeking damages for past emissions to demanding that fossil fuel companies prepare their facilities for climate impacts their products cause.

Shell has systematically refused to answer discovery questions about high-level parent company officials and has hidden climate evidence despite court orders. The company's pattern of concealment extends to avoiding disclosure about corporate decision-making processes regarding climate risk assessment and facility hardening against extreme weather.