Page 14 - nov-dec 2019

Warnings and the Bulk Supplier

Defense

By Mark Dreyer

n October 6, 2005, an explosion at a farm in Oswego County, New York, injured nine people
who were living in a two-story concrete bunkhouse In a subsequent lawsuit, they alleged
that the explosion occurred when one of the plaintiffs attempted to light a propane fueled
Ostove Propane had been delivered to the farm approximately two weeks earlier by a local
retailer The plaintiffs suffered very serious injuries including burns, broken bones, and internal injuries
One of the plaintiffs was rendered a paraplegic

A thorough origin and cause
investigation could not be
completed for a number of
reasons. Public officials who
investigated shortly after the
accident were not able to
identify the source of any leak
inside the residence, nor were
they able to determine wheth-
er any of the gas appliances
malfunctioned It was also
impossible to trace individual
deliveries of gas to the resi-
dence because the retailer’s
records did not identify which
of the three service tanks at
Aftermath of the explosion the residence received each
delivery or the quantity of gas
delivered to any particular tank No gas samples were drawn shortly after the accident for odorization
testing Finally, the amount of destruction caused by the explosion made it impracticable for anyone to
test any remaining gas lines for leaks, much less attempt to recreate the piping configuration.

Lawsuits against property owner, retailer, propane suppliers, terminals, and equipment
manufacturers

The nine injured workers filed several lawsuits against different groups of defendants, including
one suit against all suppliers in the chain of propane distribution, which included various terminals, up-
stream suppliers, and midstream wholesalers Our clients included two upstream suppliers

Plaintiffs’ central themes: odorization; warnings regarding gas detectors; warnings regarding the
odor of propane and what to do if you smell gas; Spanish language warning materials

14 Alabama Propane Gas Association | November / December 2019