Natural Gas Industry Injuries: Are You Feeling The Impact?
At Bordas & Bordas, we have shared the interest of many in the Ohio Valley about the continuing development of the natural gas industry. We acknowledge and recognize the potential benefits of this drilling to our citizens in terms of jobs and economic growth. We are hopeful that those jobs and the benefits of that growth will stay in our community as much as possible.
By the same token, our community has the right to demand of the powerful interests involved that they conduct their operations safely, with an acknowledgement that nothing should be more important than the health of the workers at the job site and the long-term consequences of their activities on our environment. Our children and grandchildren will be breathing the air and drinking the water here in the Ohio Valley long after these companies have gone home.
Explosions and other incidents are a serious problem. The U.S. Department of Transportation, Pipeline & Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, PHMSA, has compiled some staggering statistics regarding pipeline incidents in the United States. As PHMSA states, there have been 968 serious pipeline incidents in the United States over the last 10 years resulting in 367 fatalities, 1,462 serious injuries, and over $700 million in property damage.
West Virginia is not immune from the dangers of these incidents. Many of us are familiar with the dramatic Sissonville explosion in December of last year.
The deaths of two workers in April of this year at the Tyler County Eureka Hunter Pipeline, and the July explosions at a Doddridge County fracking site are also recent examples, but they are far from the only examples.
At Bordas & Bordas, we have a significant amount of experience representing individuals harmed through these types of explosions in industrial and residential settings. Like many other types of cases, the early intervention of an experienced attorney is critical. Evidence has to be preserved and analyzed. Often, expert witnesses and investigators need to be obtained immediately. A variety of federal and state agencies may also be involved and gaining access to the investigative reports of these agencies is very important.
We have the right expert contacts and are experienced in collecting the relevant information and obtaining answers for our clients. If the facts warrant, we will aggressively fight for justice for the victims of these explosions.
The results in a legal case depend on a variety of factors, many of which are unique to each case. Prior results by this firm or any other do not guarantee future results. Case results presented here are illustrations of the type of work done by Bordas & Bordas and not a guarantee that any prospective case will yield any particular amount.