Plant and Refinery workers in Louisiana and throughout the United States continue to be seriously injured and killed as a result of plant explosions and other industrial accidents during the first half of 2017.
Louisiana Explosions Claim Four Lives
Louisiana has seen three serious explosions in the first two months of 2017 alone.
On February 8th, a plant explosion at the Packaging Corporation of America (PCA) facility in DeRidder took the lives of three workers and injured seven. The blast occurred while contractors performed welding on a tank during a facility shut down. Several of those injured in the PCA plant explosion sustained chemical burns after coming into contact with turpentine.
Just one day later, a pipeline explosion and fire at the Phillips 66 Station in Paradis, Louisiana killed one worker and severely injured two others. The Paradis pipeline explosion occurred while workers were cleaning a section of the pipeline, and produced a blowtorch-like fire rising 40 feet in the air. One of the injured was transferred to a burn unit. The body of the deceased worker was not recovered until February 13th.
Our Plant Explosion attorneys were recently hired by one of the two workers who were severely injured during the Phillips 66 explosion in Paradise. The lawsuit is currently pending in Harris County District Court.
Click here to read Ryan Zehl’s interview with the Houma Times regarding the Paradis explosion.
Deadly Plant Explosions Reported in Missouri, Wisconsin & Florida
On April 3rd, a massive steam explosion at the Loy Lang Box Company in St. Louis, Missouri killed one worker and three members of the public. The blast caused a 2,000 LB steel vessel to launch into the air and fly several hundred feet before landing on a nearby company.
One of the year’s deadliest plant explosions took five lives at a Didion Milling Company facility in Cambria, Wisconsin. Eleven employees were taken to area hospitals. While the cause of the May 31st Wisconsin plant explosion is still to be determined, records from the U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) indicate that the facility was cited in 2011 for failing to take adequate precautions against dust explosions.
On June 29th, the Big Bend Power Station explosion in Apollo Beach, Florida killed four people and injured several contractors. Workers at the coal-powered facility were attempting to unclog a tank containing molten slag. The slag – which can reach temperatures as high as 1,000 degrees – surged from the tank, falling on those below.
A plant explosion at the same location on June 26, 1997, nearly 10 years earlier, severely burned and injured workers several Big Bend workers. OSHA was also investigating the plant in connection with safety hazards discovered in May 2017, just weeks before this latest explosion.
Industrial Explosions Occurring at an Alarming Rate in Plants and Refineries Across the Country
The Paradis, Louisiana pipeline explosion wasn’t the only industrial accident this year involving Phillips 66. On February 10th, an acid leak at the Phillips 66 Ferndale refinery near Bellingham, Washington, sent seven workers to the hospital. The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries has since fined Phillips $6,300 each for six “serious” violations, including a failure to “implement safe work practices for the control of hazards for the employees”.
On February 18th, 36 firefighters responded to a fire at the former ExxonMobil refinery in Torrance, California. The incident occurred on the two-year anniversary of a massive refinery explosion that injured four workers at the same facility in February 2015. The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health issued 19 citations related to the Exxon Torrance refinery explosion and fined ExxonMobil more than $556,000.
In May, OSHA fined ExxonMobil $165,000 related to a Baton Rouge refinery explosion that critically injured four workers last November.
Contact Our Undefeated Plant & Refinery Explosion Lawyers for a Free Consultation at 1-888-603-3636 or by Clicking Here
In addition to being Undefeated, our Plant and Refinery Explosion Lawyers have won over $1 Billion and recovered some of the largest settlements and verdicts in history on behalf of industrial workers and their families throughout Texas, Louisiana and the United States.
This success has provided our clients with the financial independence to care for themselves and their families for the rest of their lives, while allowing our firm to devote whatever resources are necessary to fighting the largest companies and legal teams in the world.
If you or a loved one were injured or tragically killed in a plant, pipeline or refinery explosion, it’s important that you take steps to protect yourself and your family before the company and its teams of lawyers restricts you to workers’ compensation benefits and prevents you from recovering the damages you deserve.
Our lawyers will answer your questions, explain your rights, and make sure you have the information needed to make the best decision for you and your family going forward.
All consultations are free, and because we work exclusively on a contingency fee, you won’t pay us anything unless we win your case.
Call 1-888-603-3636 or Click Here to send us a confidential email through our Contact Us form.