Lawsuit: Poor information about pipeline led to fatal blast
ATLANTA (AP) — A federal lawsuit accuses a major pipeline company based in Georgia of failing to tell work crews where a major underground pipeline was located before they ruptured the line, touching off a deadly explosion in Alabama.
The workers were trying to make repairs after a Colonial Pipeline Co. line leaked gasoline southwest of Birmingham, Alabama, and was shut down in 2016, threatening U.S. gasoline supplies.
The estate of Anthony Willingham, an Alabama worker who died in the blast, filed a federal lawsuit this week against Colonial Pipeline and a partner company.
Willingham and others weren't given adequate information about the depth and location of the pipeline before they dug into the ground to make repairs, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit also said Colonial's project inspector failed to appear at the site, located in a rural area that caught fire following the explosion. Crew worked for days to extinguish the blaze.
Colonial Pipeline, with headquarters in metro Atlanta, did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday.
The lawsuit was filed just weeks after Colonial Pipeline sued an Alabama contractor over another incident that threatened U.S. gasoline supplies within weeks of the deadly blast.
The pipeline operator contends in a lawsuit filed in August that faulty work by the Birmingham-based Ceco Pipeline Services caused a crack that spilled at least a quarter-million gallons of gasoline in rural Shelby County in 2016.
The lawsuit said Colonial Pipeline transports an average of 100 million gallons (378 million liters) of refined petroleum products daily through a system that includes more than 5,500 miles (8,850 kilometers) of pipeline.
Related News
Related News
- Phillips 66 to Shut LA Oil Refinery, Ending Major Gasoline Output Amid Supply Concerns
- FERC Sides with Williams in Texas-Louisiana Pipeline Dispute with Energy Transfer
- U.S. Appeals Court Blocks Kinder Morgan’s Tennessee Pipeline Permits
- ConocoPhillips Eyes Sale of $1 Billion Permian Assets Amid Marathon Acquisition
- Valero Considers All Options, Including Sale, for California Refineries Amid Regulatory Pressure
- U.S. Appeals Court Blocks Kinder Morgan’s Tennessee Pipeline Permits
- Malaysia’s Oil Exports to China Surge Amid Broader Import Decline
- U.S. LNG Export Growth Faces Uncertainty as Trump’s Tariff Proposal Looms, Analysts Say
- Marathon Oil to Lay Off Over 500 Texas Workers Ahead of ConocoPhillips Merger
- Valero Considers All Options, Including Sale, for California Refineries Amid Regulatory Pressure
Comments