Home to some of the largest refineries and petrochemical plants in the United States, it’s rare to find someone in Texas or Louisiana who doesn’t have a friend or family member who’s worked in a plant or refinery. Unfortunately, as these plants and refineries grow older and their equipment more outdated, it’s becoming even more rare to find someone who can’t name at least one major refinery or pipeline explosion in the past 5 years.
The following are just a few recent examples:
- Motiva Explosion in Convent, Louisiana
- Sunoco Logistics Explosion in Nederland, Texas
- Williams Pipeline Explosion in Gibson, Louisiana
- BP Texas City Refinery Explosion
Although the refineries are continually improving technology designed to increase output and production, the same doesn’t hold true when it comes to safety. Between the BP Texas City refinery explosion in 2005, which killed 15 workers, to the Williams Geismar explosion in 2013, which killed 2 workers, oil refinery explosions are still an all too common occurrence. Some estimates show that at least 58 people have died in oil refinery explosions and related incidents since 2005 alone. A video of the 2009 Silver Eagle oil refinery explosion shows the devastation that refinery explosion can cause.
Refinery Explosions are Expected to Increase as Refineries get Older
The Marathon refinery in Garyville, Louisiana is the youngest (i.e., most newly constructed) refinery in the United States with major downstream capacity. It was built in 1977.
As plants and refineries across the United States continue to age, explosions are expected to increase. Just last year, for example, the Chemical Safety Board identified outdated maintenance procedures and old equipment as the primary causes of the Exxon Mobil Refinery Explosion in Torrance, California.
In March 2015, U.S. Congressmen Ted Lieu urged the Chemical Safety Board (CSB) to implement additional safety measures to prevent the increasing incidence of plant and refinery explosions across the United States:
This is the third time a significant accident has happened at this refinery . . . This is a national problem because refinery accidents have occurred with much greater frequency in the United States than in other parts of the world, such as Europe. . . Swiss Re, a business re-insurer, has determined that the U.S. has three to four times the accident rate of the better-regulatated European refinery industry.
Unfortunately, however, the CSB has yet to take action, leaving the thousands of workers who work at Refineries, Plants and Pipelines across the country at potential risk of another catastrophic (and preventable) explosion.
The laws that are being passed overlook worker safety and simply create additional mechanisms for Plant and Refinery Owners and Operators to attempt to shield themselves from responsibility. These lax safety regulations, combined with outdate equipment and efforts to increase profits at refineries by cutting costs, will only lead to an increasing incidence of the tragic and preventable disasters.
Undefeated and Billions Won for Plant and Refinery Workers Across the United States
In the past 5 years alone, our Plant and Refinery Explosion Attorneys have successfully represented over 1,000 refinery and pipeline workers and won Billions in connection with the most catastrophic explosions in recent history.
Just recently, for example, our Plant Explosion Lawyers successfully defeated a plant owner’s attempt to limit our clients’ recoveries by claiming that they were barred from recovering damages by Workers’ Compensation laws, resulting in a $100 million settlement for our clients.
Our experience has not only distinguished our Explosion Lawyers as leaders in catastrophic workplace explosion cases, but has provided our lawyers with the resources, skills and knowledge needed to take on the largest oil and gas and petrochemical companies in the world—and win.
After a serious pipeline or refinery explosion, the owners have one goal: to reduce their liability by reducing the amount of money they have to pay to the injured workers and their families.
With the help of their teams of lawyers, the Company will assert every possible defense in an effort to avoid responsibility. This often begins with claiming that the workers and their families are barred from recovering damages in a civil lawsuit by state workers’ compensation laws.
Our extensive experience, combined with our thorough investigations and aggressive trial preparations, have enabled our Refinery Explosion Lawyers to consistently defeat the largest refinery and pipeline owners and operators in the United States. We do this by refusing to accept inadequate settlement offers, vigorously opposing efforts to limit our clients’ recoveries, and devoting whatever resources are necessary to ensuring that our clients and their families are fully compensated for all their injuries and losses.