Louisiana Explosion and Fire Injury Attorneys

Hard-working men and women throughout Louisiana come to work every day at factories, chemical plants, oil refineries, and other industrial plants. Their industry is the foundation of many of the things we take for granted, but all too often, their safety and their lives are taken for granted by plant owners and their employers. They’re pushed to cut corners, take unneeded risks, and worse, just to save the company a few dollars.

Over our many years of legal practice, Gordon McKernan’s personal injury attorneys in Louisiana have helped plenty of people suffering from plant explosion and fire accident injuries find their just compensation. We refuse to sit idly by while the industrious plant workers of our state are endangered by corporate greed and negligence.

If you’ve been injured in any sort of plant explosion, call our personal injury attorneys at 888.501.7888 for a FREE legal consultation about your legal rights. We’re committed to your health and getting you the compensation you need to heal. We can help you file a workers’ compensation claim and other legal paperwork, negotiate on your behalf, and even argue for you in court.

Statute of Limitation Changes in Louisiana:

Recent changes in Louisiana law have extended the statute of limitations for personal injury claims occurring on or after July 1, 2024, from one year to two years. Any injuries that occurred before July 1, 2024 will still have a 1-year statute of limitation. Learn more about Louisiana’s New Statute of Limitations here.

• 1-year for injuries sustained before July 1, 2024.
• 2-years for injuries suffered after July 1, 2024.

The statute of limitations is a legal deadline that sets a time frame for filing a lawsuit. In Louisiana, this is known as the “prescriptive period,” which determines how long you have to take legal action against the responsible party after an injury occurs.

Louisiana-Based Industrial Plants

Louisiana is home to dozens of industrial plants, from BASF and Exxon-Mobil near Baton Rouge to Honeywell in Geismar (where a worker recently died due to negligence), Dow Chemical in New Iberia, and more. These plants create thousands of jobs across the state, generate billions in profits and taxes, and serve as one of Louisiana’s biggest economic engines.

While much of the country has experienced an outsourcing of manufacturing jobs, Louisiana’s bounty of natural resources has kept many of its plant jobs local. Some of the most common manufacturing and heavy industry jobs in Louisiana include

• Oil and gas drilling, refining, field machinery and repair, and exploration
• Industrial machinery manufacture
• Petrochemicals manufacture
• Agriculture
• Timber industry

Because these plants are for-profit operations, they have a responsibility to their shareholders to grow profits year-over-year. When business is good, this might not be an issue, but during economic downturns and other slowdowns, management may try to cut corners where possible. Tragically, in many instances it’s the safety of plant workers that suffers, and severe, often life-threatening, industrial accidents occur.

Plant Explosions in Louisiana

Industrial plants can be extremely dangerous: heavy equipment hangs over workers’ heads or moves quickly near their workstations; caustic chemicals churn, splash, and sometimes spill; and proper PPE is not always available, even though it should be. In thankfully rare instances, conditions in a plant collide in an explosive tragedy that rocks the very foundations of the business.

One such explosion happened recently in Westlake, LA. The Westlake Chemical Explosion injured at least six people working at the southwest Louisiana plant and frightened many in the community. The Westlake explosion was caused by an empty tank of ethylene dichloride, a common chemical in household cleaners. While the fire was extinguished quickly and there were relatively few injuries, this plant explosion serves as a reminder of how dangerous plant work can be. Just a few months ago, in February, several plant workers were injured in Garyville at the Marathon refinery too.

A few months before that explosion, another Westlake Chemical plant, this time along La. 108 and La. 27 in Sulphur, also exploded, leaving six injured. This industrial accident harmed three contractors who were working to turnaround the facility, which means their personal injury claims against Westlake Chemical will be much more complex. If they haven’t yet, they should hire an experienced plant explosion attorney as soon as possible to begin the process of finding compensation for their hospital stays, injuries, and other costs.

Other Dangers of Louisiana Industrial Plants

Of course, explosions and industrial fires aren’t the only dangers lurking around Louisiana’s manufacturing and processing facilities. Due to the proximity of these plants to many in our state, Louisianans tend to be much more likely to get cancer than the average American.

While the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has required companies to reduce their pollution in “cancer alley,” the new plants being built will negate any environmental gains seen from the new regulations.

Because pollution frequently impacts whole communities, lawsuits seeking remuneration for the injuries borne from industry are usually mass tort, or class action lawsuits. In these suits, a small group of people represent many, sometimes thousands, of plaintiffs, in order to save on court costs and related fees. If you’ve been injured through long-term exposure to the harmful environment around a plant, call an experienced personal injury lawyer to see if your claim can be rolled into a larger mass tort case.

Have You Been Injured? Get a Plant Explosion Attorney Now!

If you or a loved one is working in a plant that explodes, you need an experienced Louisiana explosion lawyer to help you hold the owners and your bosses accountable. Our team here at Gordon McKernan Injury Attorneys has 679+ years of combined legal experience as Louisiana explosion injury lawyers, and we’ve helped win over $3 Billion for our clients.

If your loved one has suffered a wrongful death due to a plant explosion, our sincerest condolences go out to you and your family in this trying time. We can help you find closure for their death, and help you hold the plant accountable for their negligence.

Call our knowledgeable explosion accident lawyers at 888.501.7888 today for a free and confidential consultation about your case. We see our employees as our own family, so you can trust that we’ll get you the help you need. If we don’t win your case, you won’t owe us a dime. That’s the G Guarantee!