Texas Personal Injury Lawyers – Jim Adler & Associates – Blog

Gas Tank Explosion Lawyers

Industrial explosions hit like bombs, killing in nanoseconds. The worst blast in U.S. history happened 40 miles south of Houston in 1947 when a ship chartered by the U.S. government that was loaded with ammonium nitrate blew up at a dock in Texas City. A second ship loaded with the chemical also exploded. (pictures)

Hundreds Died in Disaster      

The blasts killed 581 and injured hundreds. They knocked people 10 miles away in Galveston to their knees. Windows 40 miles north in Houston shattered. The blast was felt in Louisiana, 250 miles from the explosion site. Victims filed the first class action lawsuit in history against the United States government. But the courts held that it was not liable for the disaster.   

Lawyers Win Millions For Victims, Benefit Public  

Today, as lawyers win large wrongful death settlements and injury settlements for victims, they are also reaping big benefits for the general public. David Michaels, a professor at George Washington University’s School of Public Health who heads its Project on Scientific Knowledge and Public Policy, says the huge settlements show “the power of litigation” to force safe practices on factories. He says the massive 2005 BP explosion and fire in Texas City ( video) that killed 15, Injured 180 and damaged property a quarter of a mile away is a case in point.

OSHA Fines Not Enough 

OSHA fined British Petroleum $21 million after the explosion. But a company with annual revenues of more than $22 billion can easily shrug off such amounts, Michaels says. The refinery, one of the largest in the United States, had been cited for numerous safety violations in the years leading up to the 2005 explosion, but made few, if any, improvements. Now after setting aside $1.6 billion to settle victim lawsuits, it has finally allocated $1 billion to make safety improvements to the plant.