South Carolina Injury Lawyer Blog

Recently your South Carolina construction accident attorneys came across an interesting decision in the Supreme Court of the State of Washington. The case concerns a catastrophic tank failure at Spokane's sewage treatment plant. The failure happened in May 2004 when three workers were doing their best to prevent overflowing septic sludge from running into the Spokane River. After the digester tank collapsed one of the maintenance workers fell into the sewage sludge and drowned. The trial judge in this case noted that the worker "arguably suffered one of the most disgusting and terrible deaths imaginable."

The two other workers suffered serious on the job injuries when the digester tank overfilled and collapsed. One of the workers was thrown from the top of the dome shape digester tank and suffered a fractured pelvis, fractured tibia, fractured ribs, serious back and spine injuries including compression fractures of vertebrae, and sludge aspiration (action of drawing in fluid) causing a permanent reduction in lung capacity by 20%. The other worker, who was on the ground at the time of dome's collapse, suffered serious knee and back injuries after being knocked over by a wave of cascading sewage sludge.

The deceased worker's family and the two injured in the industrial accident sued CH2M Hill Inc. for negligence. CH2M is a corporation from Florida and the engineering firm hired by the City of Spokane as a consultant for the plant's improvement project. Under the Industrial Insurance Act, the City of Spokane was immune from the suit, despite being the employer of the deceased worker and the two others injured in the accident. The judge in the bench trial ruled in favor of the plaintiffs (killed worker's family and injured workers) the Court of Appeals certified the case to the Supreme Court of the State of Washington.

Continue reading "Industrial Accident at Water Treatment Plant Makes it to State Supreme Court, Construction Accident at Same Facility in the Meantime" »

In a post from earlier this month, the Charleston workers' compensation attorneys mentioned National Workers Memorial Day, a day of observance to remember workers who have lost their lives due to on the job accidents and injuries. National Workers Memorial Day is April 28, and in large part the reason for this particular date is because of a major construction accident that occurred on April 27, 1978, known as the Willow Island Disaster.

Yesterday afternoon an employee of Howell and Christmas, LLC came across some information regarding the Disaster, and realized his grandfather worked at a nearby chemical plant just downstream the Ohio River from the Monongahela Power Plant at Willow Island, the location of the cataclysmic construction accident. Having this connection to the Disaster, the employee contacted his grandfather to get a firsthand account of what happened that unfortunate day in April 1978, in an effort to better understand the ramifications of such an incident. Also, while the facts of the Willow Island Disaster can be easily found on the Internet, it is far more authentic and profound to hear of historical events from those close to them.

What follows is the text of an email from Mr. John T. Fries (pronounced "freeze"), a native West Virginian and Damn Fine Grandfather. "I spent 42 years working at the chemical plant next door to the Monongahela Power Plant at Willow Island. The name of the company I worked for was American Cyanamid Company. The power plant accident happened one day while I was taking inventory which meant I moved through-out our plant. I saw helicopters hovering over the power plant so we knew something had happened. Of course we found out when we got home. Our plant was on the downriver side of the power plant so we did not pass it going to and from work. In fact, I think we found out about it shortly after the accident happened--news travels fast, especially news of the magnitude this accident was. As I remember 50 some people were killed. As it turned out, short cuts were taken which caused the scaffolding to give way. "

Continue reading "South Carolina on the Job Accident Lawyers Take a Step Back in Time to the Worst Construction Accident in U.S. History" »