Family of worker killed in Deer Park gas leak sues Pemex’s U.S. business partners – Houston Public Media

PEMEX

The family of Jason Scott, a man killed last week during a gas leak at Pemex’s Deer Park industrial plant, filed a lawsuit Monday against the facility’s operators.

The wrongful death lawsuit alleges that Deer Park Refining Limited Partnership, PMI Services North America Inc. and Shell USA are responsible for Scott’s death. Mexico-based oil company Pemex is not directly named as a defendant in the lawsuit, but the three defendants are U.S.-based business partners operating at the Deer Park facility in some capacity, according to the demand

The lawsuit claims the defendants committed “gross and negligent acts” that resulted in Scott’s death and injuries to others. The filing specifically claims 22 different acts of negligence in the case, ranging from allegedly violating safety rules to failing to control hazards. The suit seeks $1 million in monetary relief, the minimum amount necessary to establish jurisdiction.

“(Scott) sustained fatal injuries and suffered pain and suffering while succumbing to the toxic gas,” the lawsuit states. “His wife, children and parents have been irreparably deprived of their beloved family as a result of the defendants’ conduct.”

The release of hydrogen sulfide occurred around 4:40 p.m. on October 10. The incident caused two deaths and 35 injuries, according to a statement released by Pemex shortly after the incident. 13 of the 35 injured people were being treated at Houston-area hospitals. Deer Park was under a shelter-in-place order for three hours.

The family’s attorney, Kurt Arnold, said in a statement that chemical plants in general need to be more tightly regulated to prevent incidents like the one in Deer Park.

“There is no excuse for these deadly chemical plant disasters,” he said. “As the industry matures and technology improves, chemical plants should be safer, but they are becoming more dangerous. These companies are reducing safety at the expense of workers and their families.”

This most recent filing follows another lawsuit by three allegedly injured workers. The three workers claim in their lawsuit that they suffered exposure to hydrogen sulfide.

The leak is still under investigation and the exact cause of the incident is unknown at this time.

“They were working on a flange of some kind, so we don’t know if it was some kind of manual error, again, that’s going to be part of our investigation, so frankly, I don’t want to get into it too much because all of that. it’s still preliminary,” Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said during a press conference after the incident.

Hydrogen sulfide is a colorless gas that smells like eggs. According to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, exposure to high levels of the chemical can affect the respiratory and neurological systems.