A federal grand jury indicted two companies on involuntary manslaughter charges and three people face charges in a deadly 2012 explosion on an oil production platform in the Gulf of Mexico, the Justice Department announced today.
As The Associated Press reports, the explosion and fire started during welding work on a platform owned by Black Elk Energy Offshore Operations, killing three workers and injuring several others. In lawsuits and a federal report, the company and its contractors have been accused of failing to follow proper safety practices and rushing work. Black Elk is currently in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.
Black Elk Energy and one of its contractors, Grand Isle Shipyards, were charged with three counts of involuntary manslaughter, as well as eight charges involving federal safety practices under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act and one violation of the Clean Water Act.
Another contractor, Wood Group PSN, and three workers were charged with violating OCSLA and the Clean Water Act. The workers charged are Don Moss, 46, of Groves, Texas; Curtis Dantin, 50, of Cut Off; and Christopher Srubar, 40, of Destrehan.
“Workers lives can depend on their employer’s faithfulness to the law, not least of all those working in oil and gas production where safety must be a paramount concern,” Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division says in a statement provided to The Associated Press.
The explosion occurred a day after BP agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges over the deadly 2010 rig explosion that killed 11 workers and spawned its massive oil spill in the Gulf.
