Attorney Tony Buzbee of Houston filed a lawsuit on Wednesday, requesting over $1 million in compensation for those hurt in a fatal hydrogen sulfide leak at a Pemex facility in Deer Park last year.
In October, the industrial plant experienced a chemical spill that resulted in two fatalities and numerous injuries. According to officials following the release, at least 13 of the 35 individuals hurt in the event were sent to local hospitals.
The lawsuit was filed on Wednesday and claims that plaintiffs John Phares, Josue Garcia, Billy Ortiz, and Rodolfo Perez saw employees collapse and faint from oxygen deprivation while fleeing the leak.
According to the initial legal petition, hydrogen sulfide seriously impairs the human body’s respiratory and circulatory systems. Roberto, Rodrigo, and Noe, the plaintiffs, were there when this occurred. They saw other workers collapse and faint from oxygen deprivation as they fled.
Alarming concentrations of hydrogen sulfide beyond 100 parts per million were measured by each of their own H2S detectors. As they fled to the refinery’s muster site, the plaintiffs eventually collided with several pieces of equipment. The lawsuit claims that all three men sustained serious orthopedic and exposure-related ailments.
According to a U.S. Chemical Safety Board inquiry, two contract workers opened the wrong flange, which caused the leak. When the Repcon workers partially opened the flanged connection on the wrong pipeline, the discharge was initiated. An investigative update in November said that the maintenance was to be done on a separate, isolated piping portion approximately five feet away.
RELATED: Safety board claims that an improperly opened flange caused a deadly chemical leak in Deer Park.
In relation to the chemical release, two additional lawsuits have been filed. In October, three additional victims of the incident sued the facility’s owner and operator for $1 million. A few days later, a wrongful death lawsuit was brought by the family of a worker who was killed in the spill, claiming egregious negligence.
In a press statement last year, CSB Chairperson Steve Owens stated that hydrogen sulfide is a very hazardous material that can cause fatalities and severe injuries even at low quantities. Two workers lost their lives as a result of this hazardous situation, which also seriously endangered other workers and the local people.
