Galveston, Texas – BP PLC settled on Thursday the last remaining death-related lawsuit from the 2005 Texas City refinery blast that killed 15, wounded more than 170 and brought vast criticism to the oil company for lax safety measures at the facility.
Just as jury selection was beginning in what would have been the first civil case from the explosion to go to trial, a woman whose parents had been killed in the blast, and who had expressed eagerness to go to court, settled.
Eva Rowe, 22, walked away with an undisclosed amount, but the settlement also called for London-based BP to continue to release documents related to the case and to donate millions to schools and medical facilities, including one where victims were treated after the March 2005 explosion.
Leading up to the trial, Rowe steadfastly contended the case was more about focusing attention on the blast so such an accident would not happen again. Her parents, 48-year-old James Rowe and 47-year-old Linda Rowe of Hornbeck, La., were two of the 15 killed.
Brent Coon, Eva Rowe’s attorney, said the settlement will still let the public know what caused the blast and educate the petrochemical industry about preventing such accidents.
“She’s making peace with BP because although she lost both her mother and her father, she has tried very hard to reach a better good for herself, one that helps her get closure and a better good for the community,” Coon said.
The donations, which could total $38 million, include $1 million for the school system in Hornbeck, where Linda Rowe was a teacher’s aide. A burn unit at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, which treated 23 victims of the blast, will get $12.5 million.
“I’m very satisfied with the outcome to be able to help so many people in the community and make a difference for long- term things,” Eva Rowe said. “I didn’t want my parents to be forgotten. I know that they won’t.”
The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board has said internal BP documents show that budget cuts from 1998 through 2000 caused a progressive deterioration of safety at the refinery.
