Clairton explosion brings lawsuits
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Litigation stemming from the July 14 explosion at U.S. Steel Corp.'s Clairton coke works is heating up amid finger-pointing by injured employees trying to assess blame for the blast.
One U.S. Steel employee this week sued Power Piping Co., an Etna-based contractor that was performing maintenance at the time of the explosion. That followed a similar suit against the company filed last month by another U.S. Steel worker. And a lawyer representing three Power Piping employees said he was preparing a suit against U.S. Steel.
The explosion that injured 20 people took place in an area of the sprawling coke works known as "B Battery."
Power Piping employees were busy trying to shut down the flow of volatile coke gas in order to clean out a piece of equipment called a pre-heater that had become clogged with a waxy condensate from naphthalene, according to a source close to the investigation.
The suits against Power Piping allege that the company and its workers created unsafe conditions during a procedure to block the gas flow.
The first suit against Power Piping was filed last month by Jeffrey Novak, identified in the paperwork as a U.S. Steel employee, and his wife, Sherri, of Perryopolis. They alleged negligence and loss of consortium.
Penny Singo of Dunbar, also a U.S. Steel worker, on Thursday sued Power Piping, alleging negligence.
A federal investigation of the explosion remains under way by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
However, in a document filed Friday in the Novak case arguing that punitive damages should not apply, Mark L. Reilly, the attorney representing Power Piping, wrote, "Although unfortunate, this was an industrial accident in a volatile environment. If negligence is proven against this defendant it was not as a result of any evil motive on the part of the defendant."
First Published October 16, 2010 12:00 am
