Parties Disputed Cause Of Fatal Explosion Of Oil Pipeline
On Nov. 9, 2004, plaintiffs’ decedent, Tae A.M. Im, a 47-year-old engineering foreman for Mountain Cascade Inc. (MCI), a Livermore-based pipeline engineering company, was working with his digging crew along South Broadway, between Newell Avenue and Rudgear Road in Walnut Creek. The crew was backhoe trenching for the placement of a water pipeline in a narrow strip between the street and adjacent sound walls. As Im’s crew dug the trench, the backhoe punctured an underground petroleum fuel line causing an explosion. Im and four workers perished, while several others sustained significant burn injuries.Claiming wrongful death, Im’s widow and adult children sued several companies involved in the trenching project, including Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, Houston, the company that owned the punctured petroleum fuel line, and Comforce Technical Services, Mesa, Ariz., the company it used to inspect its jet fuel lines. The other named defendants were East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD), Oakland; Camp, Dresser & McKee, Cambridge, Mass. and Carollo Engineers, Phoenix, Ariz.
Plaintiffs’ counsel claimed that Kinder Morgan was responsible for the fatal accident because it had not properly marked its underground petroleum fuel line prior to the trenching even though it knew that the project was going to be problematic. Counsel asserted that the trenching was going to be difficult for two reasons: first, the strip between the street and the sound walls was narrow, allowing for little space between the fuel line and the water pipe that was being installed; second, there had been a number of protected heritage oak trees along the strip, and Kinder Morgan knew that its petroleum fuel line in the area ran in a zigzag fashion so as not to disrupt the trees. At the time of the accident, some of the trees were no longer present, leading to confusion as to where the fuel line actually ran.
Plaintiffs’ counsel asserted that Kinder Morgan’s failure to properly identify and flag its petroleum fuel line amounted to gross negligence. Counsel contended that Comforce Technical Services, Kinder Morgan’s inspection contractor, was liable for negligent inspection.
In addition, plaintiffs’ counsel sued EBMUD, the public entity that owned and operated the water pipeline under construction, as well as the two engineering firms responsible for designing the water pipe line project, Carollo Engineers and Camp, Dresser & McKee. Plaintiffs’ counsel contended that those three defendants had knowledge of the problematic nature of the project but failed to safely address the location of the fuel line during the design of the project. Plaintiffs’ counsel maintained that it was Camp, Dresser & McKee’s and Carollo Engineers’ joint responsibility to ensure that the trenching was going to progress safely by marking obstructions posed by other utilities on the construction plan. Counsel argued that their failure to properly indicate the obstructions on the trenching plans constituted negligence. Furthermore, counsel argued, EBMUD was essentially liable for the negligence of the two firms to which it outsourced the design and installation of the water pipe line.
All the defendants filed cross complaints against Im’s employer, MCI, the construction contractor responsible for the trenching. The defendants alleged that the construction plan’s notes, drawings and other documents identified the fuel line, and that pursuant to the contract, MCUI had the responsibility for verifying the location of the fuel line prior to digging. The defendants also claimed that Im’s negligence caused the explosion since he was the trenching foreman with access to the plans at the time of the explosion.
Also, Kinder Morgan contended that the contractors were responsible for avoiding its petroleum fuel lines. Kinder Morgan’s counsel maintained that the company and its agent, Comforce Technical Services, had provided EBMUD with sufficient mapping of its fuel lines and it also had marked the area with yellow flags and paint prior to the commencement of the trenching project. Furthermore, counsel argued, EBMUD had fired its original contractor for the project because it was taking too long to locate the fuel line, replacing it with MCI, which accelerated the endeavor. Kinder Morgan maintained that MCI was responsible for hand-digging the area to locate the petroleum fuel line prior to trenching.
Counsel for EBMUD, Carollo Engineers and Camp, Dresser & McKee asserted that the three defendants provided Im and his employer, MCI, with all of the necessary maps and plans that identified where Kinder Morgan’s petroleum fuel line was located. Thus, the defendants asserted that Im and MCI were comparatively liable for the accident because they didn’t believe the engineering plans and chose to dig with a large hydraulic excavator where the plans showed the fuel line to be located. Camp, Dreesser and McKee added that Carollo Engineers was the engineer of record for the portion of fuel line where the accident occurred.
Im’s wife and two adult children who sought to recover $1.6 million in future wage loss damages, $220,000 in loss of household services damages and unspecified damages for the loss of comfort, care and society of a loved one.
The parties agreed to a universal settlement whereby Kinder Morgan, EBMUD, Camp, Dresser & McKee, Comforce Technical Services and Carollo Engineers combined to pay the Ims $10,650,000. Counsel for Camp, Dresser & McKee indicated that the company paid $250,000 to settle the Im’s claim and maintained indemnity actions to recover the payment.
All settlement money paid by EBMUD was provided by MCI’s insurance carrier per its role as EBMUD’s contractor.