Oil Field Accident Results in Severe Injuries
Winkler County, Texas: On August 13, 2014, Oscar Quiroz was working for Joe’s Roustabout Well Service as an operator at the Silver Hill Energy Partners’ LLC DK Boyd Well #3-1 (RRC #220264). Oscar was instructed by the company man George Chapman to check the release line. As Oscar approached the line, a Halliburton employee opened a valve which was preventing well pressure from flowing down the release line. This action by Halliburton caused the release line to strike Oscar, knocking him unconscious and backward about twenty feet.
Cullen Moore and David Rumley of Wigington Rumley Dunn & Blair, LLP prosecuted a lawsuit against Halliburton, Silver Hill and George Chapman on behalf of Mr. Quiroz, contending that Halliburton breached well-established oil field standards and their own written policies to secure pressure lines. Despite his testimony to the contrary, Mr. Moore and Mr. Rumley argued that George Chapman’s responsibilities included more than just sitting in his truck for $800 per day, and he should have never sent Mr. Quiroz to check a flow-back tank, and when he did send Mr. Quiroz into that area he should have certainly not allowed Halliburton to release the pressure into the flow line. Silver Hill claimed they were just the property owner and owed no responsibilities to Mr. Quiroz. However, Mr. Moore and Mr. Rumley uncovered evidence that it was Silver Hills’ employees that drafted the well plan that demonstrated the need for more than one connection to the tank, and it was their employee that accepted the tank for delivery to the location with only one connection. Halliburton testified they did not tie down the flow line because the tank did not have the appropriate connections for their piping.
Oscar Quiroz suffered severe, permanent, and disabling injuries as the result of the failure to secure the release line and suddenly allowing well pressure to escape down that unsecured line. He underwent surgery and was unable to work at his lucrative oil field job. He sought to recover damages for his medical expenses both past and future, physical impairment, disfigurement and the physical pain and mental anguish he suffered in this traumatic incident. This case settled for a confidential sum.