The U.S. is expected to pass Russia as the world’s top oil producer next year. Missouri is nowhere near the top of the list of oil producing states (it’s ranked number 29), but has been on an upward trend over the past few years. And with increasing oil production comes the potential for accidents.
In 2005, an explosion at a Texas Oil refinery killed 15 and injured another 150. Missouri hasn’t seen that scale of oil refinery-related accident, but on Dec. 1, an explosion at the Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Co. facility in Hughesville, Missouri was an example of the type of mishaps that occur in oil producing areas. No injuries were reported, but the explosion did force the company to shut down gas to the gas pipeline, and authorities were forced to evacuate a five-mile radius around the installation.
Employees of an oil company (or any other company, for that matter) are often stuck with workers’ compensation when it comes to financial recovery their injuries, but homeowners, residents and other injuries in an industrial accident have a wider variety of remedies at their disposal. BP’s Deep Water Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 was an extreme example of the type of damage that can be done to homeowners and businesses by an irresponsible corporation, but industrial accidents come in all shapes and sizes, and even the smallest industrial mishap can wreak havoc on a community and its members.
If your family has been affected by an industrial accident, you’ll need the counsel of a Missouri personal injury attorney to navigate the legal system and receive fair compensation for your injuries. A St. Louis accident attorney should be the first resource you consult when a business’s negligence has hurt you and your family.