Pipeline Explosion Lawsuit

Filing a pipeline explosion lawsuit will help your family get the justice and compensation you deserve.

The U.S. natural gas pipeline network spans 2.5 million miles and provides natural gas to more than 177 million people who use it in their homes and businesses to provide heat, cook, and dry clothes.

Gas companies are responsible for keeping the public safe by properly maintaining and operating their gas lines. Some of the most serious gas explosions in the U.S. happen when there is a pipeline failure, leak, or safety violation.

Our team of gas line explosion lawyers represents people who suffered serious burn injuries or died in pipeline explosions across the country. In one recent case, we won a $45 million recovery for a man who was severely burned in a house explosion caused by a ruptured gas line. Our client’s burn settlement amount helped him and his family get justice for what happened to them and secure money for their future.

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Lawsuits Uncover Common Causes of Pipeline Explosions

Pritzker Hageman is one of the few law firms in the country with experience representing burn victims and their families in pipeline explosion lawsuits. We have sued powerful Fortune 500 companies and won hundreds of millions of dollars for our clients.

“These explosions create instant zones of death. Natural gas companies are complicit in every failure”, says pipeline accident lawyer Eric Hageman.

When a pipeline explodes, the impact is catastrophic. Pipeline explosions can cause serious burn injuries, death, and significant property damage.  Some pipeline explosions are so massive they show up as a false weather front. The leading causes of pipeline explosions in the U.S. include the following.

    1. Excavation damage
      Damage to pipelines during excavation work (which includes the removal of dirt, rock, or any other object from the ground) is a major cause of natural gas leaks, which can lead to an explosion. Even minor damage such as a dent, scrape, or puncture can cause the damaged pie to fail sometime in the future. Every state has a “One Call” law that requires businesses and individuals to call 811 before digging into the ground. This allows gas companies to locate and mark where their gas lines and equipment are buried in the ground. If a contract worker is performing the excavation work, it is their responsibility to call before they dig. Explosions from excavation damage can happen when an excavator fails to make a one call notification or when a gas line is mismarked, as in a 2018 pipeline explosion in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, when a contractor failed to properly mark a natural gas line that was struck and caused a deadly explosion.
    2. Operation errors
      When a technician fails to properly install, maintain, or repair a pipeline, gas leaks can occur that ultimately lead to an explosion. Gas companies have the responsibility to properly train their workers to follow safety regulations. Examples of operation errors that may lead to a pipeline explosion include:

      • Leaving the wrong valve open
      • Overfilling a tank
      • Over pressuring a piece of equipment
      • Mismarking a line
      • Failing to follow proper procedures
      • Using improper equipment or techniques for a repair

      This happened in 2018 when a series of fires and explosions in the Merrimack Valley of Massachusetts killed one person and injured at least 12 others due to faulty work that resulted in excessive pressure in natural gas lines owned by Columbia Gas.

    3. Failure to report gas line leaks 
      Explosions due to gas line leaks are an ongoing problem in the U.S. Catastrophic explosions can happen when gas companies fail to respond to reports of a gas leak. In some cases, people may not even smell gas in time to report a leak before an explosion happens. Since natural gas is odorless and colorless, regulations require that an odorant be added to give natural gas a recognizable “rotten egg” smell. Failure on the part of a gas company to add the odorant can prevent someone from being able to report a leak before an explosion.Some cities have started to require gas companies to report leaks in real-time. After a gas line leak explosion caused the death of a young girl,  Dallas lawmakers drafted pipeline safety reform legislation to improve the public notification process. Our pipeline accident lawyers have appeared on CBS News to call for a better system of reporting gas line leaks to protect families from deadly explosions.
    4. damaged pipes at gas explosion site

      NTSB photo of damaged pipelines near the site of a deadly natural gas explosion.

      Pipe corrosion
      More than half of the pipelines in the U.S. are more than 50 years old. As older pipes start to deteriorate due to environmental conditions, leaks or ruptures can occur. In 2011, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Association (PHMSA) issued a call to action for pipeline operators to replace aging gas pipelines. A recent investigation by our legal team found a concerning lack of progress in replacing unsafe and outdated pipes. According to data from PHMSA, corrosion has caused 15-20% of all significant pipeline incidents where death, injury, or extensive property damage has occurred. Our burn injury lawyers represented a man who suffered serious burn injuries when the Texas Eastern pipeline in Pennsylvania exploded due to corrosion in 2016.