BP 'settles' cases linked to fatal oil blast

British energy firm BP is settling a pair of court cases stemming from a deadly explosion at its Texas City oil refinery two years ago, a lawyer for the two workers said tonight.

The settlement was announced by Brent Coon, lawyer for two contract workers, Clarence Kindard and E.J. Godeaux, who were among the more than 170 people injured in the March 2005 blast that also killed 15 others.

No terms were released. BP didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment.

Jury selection in the workers’ civil lawsuits had been set for next week in a state district court in Galveston, Texas. They would have been the first cases connected to the blast to go to trial.

The company has said it has settled the majority of the more than 1,000 claims filed against it since the blast.

BP’s outgoing chief executive, Lord John Browne, had been scheduled to be deposed about the case earlier today in London although that deposition was delayed.

Mr Coon had said he wanted to depose Lord Browne because he believed Brown had unique knowledge about budget cuts and other company decisions that contributed to equipment failures at the plant and caused the explosion at BP’s largest US refinery. BP argued unsuccessfully in a Texas appeals court that Browne had no such unique knowledge.

The Texas City explosion occurred when part of a unit which boosts the level of octane in gasoline overfilled with highly flammable liquid hydrocarbons. A geyser-like release of flammable liquid and vapour 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 south-east of Houston.

The unit had a history of problems and was not hooked up to a flare system that burns off vapour and could have prevented or minimised the accident, according to the US hazard investigation board, one of several agencies looking into the blast.

The CSB also found that BP fostered bad management at the plant and that internal documents showed budget cuts caused a progressive deterioration of safety at the refinery.