Lawsuit filed in Gulf oil rig blast

GALVESTON — Three crewmen aboard the Deepwater Horizon described injuries they suffered during an explosion that killed 11 workers in a lawsuit filed in Galveston on Tuesday.

The lawsuit, filed in Galveston County Court No. 3 by Houston attorney Kurt B. Arnold, names BP, Halliburton and Cameron International among the defendants.

The lawsuit claims Halliburton’s failures related to cementing the well contributed to the explosion. Halliburton, however, claims its work was consistent with normal oil field practices.

The heirs of Aaron Dale Burkeen, one of the crewmen killed in the April 20 explosion 41 miles off Louisiana’s coast, is among the plaintiffs, including Louisiana residents Joshua Kritzer, Bill Johnson and Nick Watson.

Hours In Lifeboat

Johnson, a deck pusher for Transocean, claims he was rocked by an explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon, a drilling rig built in 2001 and owned by Transocean.

Johnson claims he suffered smoke inhalation as he rushed to put his crew in lifeboats.

Once the men pushed off, the company refused to take them ashore for help, the lawsuit claims.

“Instead, the company made the decision to keep these men there for over 10 hours alongside the blazing rig as the men stared at the rig, knowing their friends were on it,” the lawsuit claims.

Ceiling Collapses

Kritzer, who worked for Offshore Cleaning Systems, was blown more than 30 feet down a hallway, and the ceiling collapsed on him, causing him to lose consciousness, the lawsuit claims. He suffered a closed head injury and post traumatic distress, the lawsuit claims.

Watson worked for Transocean for three years as a roustabout and suffered smoke inhalation and distress, the lawsuit claims.

“He was on deck when suddenly the mud came out of the hole at alarming speeds,” the lawsuit claims.

Plaintiff Rhonda Burkeen, of Mississippi, was married to Aaron Burkeen, who worked as a crane operator for Transocean.

Second Blast Blamed In Death

Before the explosion, Aaron Burkeen relieved a worker for dinner. He tried to escape down the stairs. A second explosion is believed to have caused his death, the lawsuit claims.

The Deepwater Horizon was leased by BP for $500,000 a day, and the total lease contract was worth more than $544 million, the lawsuit states.

Before the April 20 incident, there were other fires, collisions and oil spills associated with the rig, the lawsuit claims.

The lawsuit blames the “tragedy” on a failure of the rig’s well-control system. Cameron supplied much of the rig’s inadequate, defective blowout prevention equipment, the lawsuit claims.

Halliburton was in charge of cementing the well but failed to safely do its job, contributing to the explosion, the lawsuit claims. Halliburton’s faulty cementing work was linked to an August 2009 blowout on another rig off the Australian coast, the lawsuit claims.

‘Premature’ To Speculate On Cause

Halliburton contends it performed cementing work with the Deepwater Horizon in accordance with the well design 20 hours before the incident, company spokeswoman Cathy Mann said.

Well operations had not yet reached the point requiring the placement of the final cement plug, which would enable the planned, temporary abandonment of the well, including a potential relief well. The work is consistent with normal oil field practice, Mann said.

“It is premature and irresponsible to speculate on any specific causal issues,” Mann said.

Transocean declined to comment on the nature of the lawsuit but said it remains centered on meeting the needs of its workers’ relatives and in providing support to BP and the unified command, company spokesman Michael Geczi said.

Attempts to reach BP and Cameron International for comment were unsuccessful.

Request For Jury Trial

The lawsuit accuses the defendants of failing to properly supervise the crew, train employees and provide adequate safety equipment and medical treatment. It also claims the defendants failed to conduct a proper search and rescue mission and required the plaintiffs to work in unsafe conditions.

The lawsuit seeks a jury trial but doesn’t list a specific damage amount sought.

The explosion is expected to be the worst man-made environmental disaster in U.S. history, eclipsing the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, the lawsuit claims. Estimates place the Deep Horizon well spill at 200,000 gallons a day.