The family of one of three Bechtel employees who died as a result of an April 29 accident on an LNG project in Port Arthur, Texas has accused the contractor of violating a state court judge’s order not to change the project site in the days after the accident while investigations continued. 

Bechtel’s attorneys were in touch with the family lawyers about the contractor’s intention to remove the rigging of a crane working on the project, but the family lawyers claimed the company should have waited.

As a result of the accident, three site workers fell an estimated 65 to 85 ft in “a tank jump-form system incident” after a layer of scaffolding connected to a concrete tank failed. The tank is being built at a Port Arthur LNG export terminal for San Diego-based Sempra Infrastructure.

In its motion in state court in Jefferson County, lawyers for the family of Reginald Magee released several new photos of the site that had not been made public. The May 5 motion included images of a crane that the family’s lawyers claimed in a lawsuit against Bechtel could have played a role in the tragedy.

In one photo, a mobile crane has positioned its boom over the tank forming system and work surface where a crew was at work. The work surface apparently gave way at one end suddenly, sending the workers into a free fall.

Until this motion was filed, only television news images of the tilting forming system work surface were available. The motion with the photos was posted on the internet by TV station Fox 4 in Beaumont, Texas.

The crane, used to build the tank at the Port Arthur terminal, was rigged with a spreader bar and lines dangling downward. It isn’t clear exactly what the crane was supporting in the form-jumping operation.

The Magee family attorney accused Bechtel of taking down the crane’s rigging without what the lawyer claims was adequate notification or court approval, in violation of a previously issued restraining order. 

How the contractor replied to the motion and its accusation isn’t clear. Bechtel officials could not immediately be reached for comment, and neither could the Magee family attorney. ENR so far has not reviewed the rest of the lawsuit docket or another related lawsuit against the same defendants in state court in Harris County.

Spreader bar and cables above tank forming system work surface, with notes in red made by Bechtel’s attorney indicating to plaintiff’s attorney and court where a cut will be made as spreader bar and cables and rigging were removed. Source: Texas court filing.

In the court filing, photos of the accident site showed new views of the work platform and crane before and after the rigging was removed.

Felix Jose Lopez, 42, and Felipe Mendez, 25, were pronounced dead at the scene. Magee, 41, was taken to a local hospital where he died from his injuries.

Two other injured workers involved in the accident were treated and are expected to make a full recovery, authorities said. 

Bechtel photo showing the rigging and spreader bar still attached to the crane. Source: Texas court filing.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating.

“Not all employees landed on the ground. Two of them were able to stay up, but all sustained injuries,” said Capt. Crystal Holmes of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, which also is investigating the accident. 

Bechtel, which is working under an EPC contract, said, in a statement soon after the accident that it is cooperating fully with local authorities as investigations continue and the company carries out “our own internal review.”

“No words are adequate to express how deeply the loss of three of our colleagues is felt,” said Bechtel Chairman and CEO Brendan Bechtel and COO Craig Albert in a note to all employees about the accident.

Bechtel paused work briefly at the project and on similar tank work at two other projects, but it did not identify their names or locations.