HOUSTON – A Colorado couple is suing two Houston area-based petroleum companies over an explosion in their subdivision last April, per recent Harris County District Court records.
Firestone, Colo., residents Eliu and Mouy Sanchez filed a lawsuit against Noble Energy, Inc. and Anardarko Petroleum Corp. on Dec. 14 in the Harris County 61st District Court.
The suit asserts the Apr. 17 blast which leveled a residence near that of the plaintiffs in the Oak Meadows subdivision in the Denver-area suburb was caused by a leak in a flow line attached to the Coors V6-14-Ji well allegedly owned by either Noble or Anardarko.
According to the complaint, the defendants improperly abandoned the flow line, as well as failed to cap it in accordance to industry standards. Fire investigators described the gas involved in the incident as refined and non-odorized, the original petition adds.
Court documents state that the non-odorized gas “would prevent those who may be affected from being alerted to the presence of the gas,” which causes the complainants to “live in fear of another explosion.”
The couple, which has a family, says they enjoyed their home prior to the blast and have personally witnessed the subsequent investigations. They purportedly received a notice from CGRS, Inc., of nearby Fort Collins, Colo., informing them that soil vapor samples taken from their property after the explosion tested positive for the presence of ethane and propane, two of the main constituents of natural gas.
Consequently, the plaintiffs seek unspecified monetary damages and a jury trial.
Attorney Jason C. Webster of The Webster Law Firm in Houston serves as their lead counsel.
Harris County 61st District Court Case No. 2017-82869