A worker purportedly injured in Valero Energy’s Monday-night refinery explosion in Port Arthur has sued the San San Antonio-based oil-and-gas company, alleging it failed to properly maintain its equipment, Reuters reports.
The claim, filed in Jefferson County District Court in East Texas, seeks more than $1 million in damages, according to Reuters. Plaintiff Jonathan Jaimes said in the filing that he received injuries to his back, neck and spine in the blast and now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Valero officials had no comment to Reuters on the suit. However, in an earlier statement to Reuters it said all employees had been accounted for following the explosion.
Jaimes was inside the Port Arthur refinery when a diesel hydrotreater blew up, shaking homes as far as 11 miles from the facility, one of 14 refinery operations Valero runs in North America and the UK.
“This was not an unavoidable accident — it was the result of gross negligence and a flagrant disregard for worker safety,” Kyle Findley, an attorney at Arnold & Itkin, which is representing Jaimes, told Reuters via email.
“Valero had awareness of the risks at this facility and chose to ignore them,” the attorney added. “When a company shows that kind of disregard for the safety of its workers and the surrounding community, it must be held accountable.”
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