B.P. Explosions

On March 23, 2005, in Texas City, Texas, one of the deadliest industrial accidents in the history of the United States occurred. On the day of the tragedy, explosions at the BP-Texas City Refinery killed fifteen refinery workers and injured hundreds of other individuals, including refinery workers as well as many average citizens who were in the vicinity of the blast site. According to the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (C.S.B), at approximately 1:20 p.m. on March 23, 2005, “a series of explosions occurred at the BP Texas City refinery during the restarting of a hydrocarbon isomerization unit. Fifteen workers were killed and 180 others were injured. Many of the victims were in or around work trailers located near an atmospheric vent stack. The explosions occurred when a distillation tower flooded with hydrocarbons and was over pressurized, causing a geyser-like release from the vent stack.”

Texas City is a city in Galveston County, within the Houston metropolitan area. The British Petroleum (B.P.)-Texas City Refinery is B.P.’s largest refinery worldwide and the third largest refinery in the United States. The refinery has a crude capacity of about 460,000 barrels per day. The BP-Texas City Refinery is capable of producing about 10 million gallons per day of gasoline. The refinery makes about 2.5% of all the gasoline sold in the United States and includes 29 oil refining units and four chemical units spread over a 1,200 acre site. The explosions destroyed buildings and vehicles, and sent a plume of thick, black smoke hundreds of feet into the air. The explosions and fire left a lot of destruction and debris, including a row of vehicles destroyed by flames, as well as buildings blown apart and leveled. Residents of Texas City and surrounding communities verified that the explosions rattled homes and shattered windows as far as five miles away from the blast site. The explosions caused massive destruction and damage to both the 1,200 acre B.P.-Texas City Refinery, but also to the surrounding Texas City community. There was significant property damage, and there were many physical injuries which occurred outside the “fence line” of the BP-Texas City Refinery. Besides the fifteen deaths and the injuries that were caused at the refinery itself, a great deal of outside property was damaged and many individuals outside the refinery sustained physical injuries. It is important to realize that this industrial accident produced an area of destruction far beyond the confines of the BP-Texas City Refinery. The entire Texas City community was devastated by the accident. Many citizens sustained physical injuries, property was damaged and/or destroyed, businesses were negatively impacted, and the economy as a whole has continued to suffer.

Though some of our clients, were working “onsite” at the B.P. facility during the explosions, many of our clients were just outside the B.P. “fence line”, yet situated in close proximity in Texas City. All of our clients were within 2.5 miles of the “blast site” at the B.P.-Texas City Refinery, which was near the corner of 5th Ave. and Grant Ave. This is significant, because there tended to be greater damage closer to the blast site, though the explosions rattled homes and shattered windows as far as five miles away from the blast site. The March 23, 2005 explosions had the effects of an earthquake. The ground shifted due the severity of the blasts. Water and sewer lines were impacted in Texas City, which evidences how much sub-surface movement occurred. Cracks formed on sidewalks, and on walls. In addition, properties became “racked” in that all the seals between construction joints were shifted, causing properties to no longer stand straight up and down. Many of our clients own businesses on a commercial boulevard which borders the B.P.-Texas City Refinery. Due to the explosions, their buildings were severely damaged, their businesses were negatively impacted. Meanwhile, the majority of our clients also many suffered physical injuries, such as hearing loss, and many have been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (P.T.S.D.).

Since the day of the tragedy, abundant evidence has surfaced regarding B.P.’s negligence and how B.P.’s negligence contributed to the accident. According to the former area director of Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Raymond Skinner, in his 17-page report, “gross negligence and indifference to safety contributed to the fatal explosion at a BP refinery in Texas City in 2005.” As you know, that report was prepared by Mr. Skinner for injured workers and families of those killed at the BP-Texas City Refinery on the day in question. The report was prepared by Mr. Skinner was part of their civil cases against BP and filed in State District Judge Susan Criss' Galveston Court. Mr. Skinner has stated that, "It is my firm belief that clear and convincing evidence establishes not only that BP’s negligence was the cause of the March 23, 2005, explosion and fire which killed 15 and injured hundreds more, but BP’s gross negligence as well.” Mr. Skinner’s report coupled with the Baker Panel conclusion in its January 2007 report that "BP has not provided effective process safety leadership and has not adequately established process safety as a core value across all five of its US refineries" provides substantial evidence that BP was indeed guilty of gross negligence in relation to the March 23, 2005 explosions. In addition, B.P. is facing a federal investigation into possible criminal environmental and safety violations at its Texas City Refinery.

The sad truth that has emerged is that B.P.’s own business culture encouraged the company to place a higher priority on profits over the health and welfare of its own workers and Texas City residents. D. Miller & Associates, PLLC filed legal petitions on behalf of our clients in March 2007 in State District Judge Susan Criss' Galveston, Texas Court, where all of the B.P. litigation has been consolidated for efficiency. These cases are currently in the “discovery” or “information sharing” stage of phase of the litigation process. We, along with our litigation partners on the case, currently represent 26 clients, including two companies, due to the BP-Texas City Refinery accident. We represent clients with personal injury claims as well as clients with property damage claims. The vast majority of our clients have both personal injury and property damage claims, since many own properties that were in close proximity to the “blast site” at the B.P.-Texas City Refinery. The cases we have brought to litigation against B.P. involve a total of 20 pieces of real property that are in very close proximity to the 1200 acre BP-Texas City Refinery, in that the vast majority of our clients’ properties “face” or “border” the massive B.P.-Texas City Refinery complex. As with our other mass tort cases at our law firm, we now seek to make our clients on this case entirely whole. Currently, our cases against B.P. are in litigation in a Galveston County Court, having partnered with two other law firms. We are confident that litigation will lead to the legal remedies that we are striving for on behalf of our clients. We seek to obtain justice for our clients that were injured due to the tragedy in Texas City. Yet, in a Mass Tort case such as this one, a larger goal emerges. We are seeking, through our actions within the justice system, to send a message to potential defendants such as British Petroleum.

Companies such as B.P., especially in the petrochemical industry, must receive a clear and unequivocal message from society that taking actions to ensure that safety is maximized is both the right thing and that there are significant financial and legal ramifications for not maximizing safety. Otherwise, facilities such as the BP-Texas City Refinery will simply remain “ticking time bombs” with the potential to cause widespread death and destruction at any given time. Communities that are home to such massive industrial complexes deserve better from their corporate citizens, since citizens’ lives depend on the safe operation of such facilities which house tens of thousands of pounds highly flammable, combustible contaminants. The B.P. tragedy should teach us certain important lessons. There must be substantial governmental and regulatory oversight of petrochemical plants such as the B.P.-Texas City Refinery, since we cannot rely solely on the companies themselves to take all reasonable and necessary safety measures at these inherently dangerous facilities. Overall, our shared society must come to the conclusion that the extra effort, time, and expenses associated with greater safety measures at facilities such as the B.P.-Texas City Refinery represent a small price to pay relative to the enormous costs associated with safety failures and industrial accidents. Especially at a time when the United States requires more refineries to be built to keep up with our demand for energy, refineries are being pushed to maintain peak production levels. Such an environment only increases the need for increased safety efforts. Ideally, the tragedy of the explosions at the B.P.-Texas City Refinery on March 23, 2005, will produce sweeping changes that will lead both government and industry to take initiatives that will prevent such accidents from occurring in the future.