A man who was injured in the Colonial Gas Pipeline explosion on October 31 has died. It is the second fatality associated with the incident that occurred while a nine-member contract crew was working to replace a damaged section of pipeline in Shelby County, AL.
Weeks before the explosion, a pipeline rupture occurred causing a massive gas leak. The contract crew was called in to replace the damaged section. While they were working, a track hoe, used for excavation, hit the pipeline. It is not clear how the leaked fuel was ignited, but an explosion occurred killing one man and injuring four others. The injured crew members were admitted to UAB’s Trauma Burn Intensive Care Unit in Birmingham.
A worker who is injured in an explosion can face a long road to recovery. Treatment of burns is often a lengthy, painful process that can be complicated by infection or the trauma of other explosion injuries such as brain or organ damage, blast lung, heart or liver damage, crush injuries, blunt force trauma injuries and damage to the eyes or ears. The explosion attorneys at Pritzker Hageman help people get compensation for medical bills, lost wages and pain and suffering. Recently, they secured a $10 million settlement for a client who was badly burned in an explosion.
The Shelby County explosion set off wildfires that burned more than 30 acres of land. The fire at the site burned for days
Based in Alpharetta, GA, Colonial Pipeline Co. operates a network of over 5,000 miles of underground gas pipelines. Since 2010, Colonial Pipeline has had 128 pipleline leaks, according to a report by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The Shelby County spill, which leaked 252,000 gallons of gas before it was discovered, was the company’s largest leak in 20 years. The cause of that leak was never determined.
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