U.S.

First Trial In Deadly BP Explosion

September 5, 2007 / 10:22 AM EDT / CBS/AP

It was the deadliest petrochemical industry accident in more than a decade, killing 15 people and injuring more than 170 others. The force of the blast shattered windows and walls miles away.

Now nearly 2½ years after an explosion ripped through BP PLC's Texas City plant, a jury was set to hear evidence in the first trial stemming from the accident.

Opening statements were set for Wednesday in the trial of five lawsuits filed by four injured contract workers and the estate of fifth contract worker whose suicide is being blamed by his attorneys on emotional trauma from the blast. About 1,350 of the thousands of lawsuits filed since the accident have been settled.

The 12-person panel of eight women and four men was chosen on Tuesday after three days of jury selection. Four alternates were also chosen for a trial that could last two months.

BP attorneys told potential jurors the company has never denied responsibility for the March 2005 accident but that the blast was not the result of gross negligence. Attorneys for the plaintiffs said BP placed profits over safety at the refinery.

The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, one of several agencies that probed the accident, found BP fostered bad management at the plant and that cost-cutting moves by BP were factors in the explosion.

An internal report by BP released in May said there was a culture at the plant that seemed to ignore risk, tolerated noncompliance and accepted incompetence.

A three-month investigation of the explosion by found a failure by BP to protect the health and safety of its own workers. 60 Minutes also found evidence that BP ignored warning after warning that something terrible could happen at Texas City.

Originally seven lawsuits were to be tried, but two were settled before jury selection began.

The plaintiffs in the five lawsuits are:

The 6- and 11-year-old sons of Rene Cardona Sr., 26, from Baytown, a contract worker for engineering and construction company Contech Control Services who committed suicide six weeks after the blast. One lawsuit was filed on behalf of the sons.

Nara and David Wilson, both 44, from Santa Fe, Texas. The couple, who filed separate suits, worked for mechanical contracting company Altair Strickland.

Scott Kilbert, 48, from Bellville, an instrumentation supervisor for construction company JE Merit.

Rolando Bocardo, 41, from Baytown, an instrument fitter for JE Merit.

Attorneys for the Wilsons, Kilbert and Bocardo said their clients have suffered a variety of injuries, including back problems, hearing loss and post traumatic stress disorder.

The blast has cost the company at least $2 billion in compensation payouts, repairs and lost profit.

The Texas City explosion occurred when part of the plant's isomerization unit, which boosts the level of octane in gasoline, overfilled with highly flammable liquid hydrocarbons. A geyser-like release of flammable liquid and vapor ignited as the unit started up.

Alarms and gauges that should have warned of the overfilling equipment failed to work at the plant about 40 miles southeast of Houston.