British Petroleum Refinery

Texas City Explosion 2005 BRITISH PETROLEUM REFINERY When the explosion happens: March 23, 2005 Where the explosion happens: BP Amoco Texas City

GENERAL INFORMATION JUDGE: Hon. Susan Criss COURT/COUNTY: 212th District Court Galveston County, Texas STYLE: Arenazas, et al. vs. BP Products North America, et al. TYPE OF CASE: Refinery Explosion-Personal Injury DATE OF ACCIDENT: 03/23/2005 LOCATION: BP Texas City - Plant Explosion DURATION OF TRIAL: 8 weeks FINAL DISPOSITION: Settled State District Judge Susan Criss set 50 cases each for trials on Sept. 2 and Oct. 20 and the remaining 61 on Dec. 1.

PLAINTIFFS’ FIRMS [Attorneys of complainant] BRENT COON AND ASSOCIATES Brent Coon Eric Newell Arthur Gonzalez Byron Buchanan Jennifer O’Brien Joseph Gourrier HEARD ROBINS CLOUD & LUBEL Lance Lubel Justin Goodman (Plaintiffs Pinder & Palton) KAHN & HARRISON, LLP Brooks Harrison (Plaintiffs Pinder & Palton) THE SHEENA LAW FIRM Danny Sheena (Plaintiffs Garcia and E. Huerta) MORENO BECERRA & CASILLAS Danilo Becerra (Plaintiffs Campbell, Cano, R. Huerta, Peralta, Salinas, & Verduzco) DEFENDANTS’ FIRMS [Attorneys of BP company]

FULBRIGHT & JAWORSKI Otway Denny Steve Fernelius Katherine MacKillop Ed Patterson Graig Alvarez MCLEOD ALEXANDER POWELL & APFFEL James Galbraith David Salyer Anthony Brown THE KRIST LAW FIRM, P.C. Ronald D. Krist TEKELL, BOOK & MATTHEWS, LLP Kenneth L. Tekell, Sr. Kenneth Tekell, Jr.

OTHER PERSONS INVOLVED: Lord John Browne of Madingley- [accused] former CEO of British Petroleum at the time of the Texas City explosion was recently forced to give a deposition to attorney Brent Coon of Brent Coon and Associates, by the Texas Supreme Court. - who resigned in May amid controversy over his admission that he lied to a British court about how he met his former companion. Jim Galbraith - BP's attorney John Manzoni – [accused] chief executive of BP’s refining and marketing business. Brent Coon of Brent Coon & Associates Brent W. Coon - Plaintiffs' attorney - who represented the four plaintiffs in the case and has managed the vast-blast-related litigation. Edward Mallett- Ms. Rowe’s attorney Eva Rowe – a 21 – year old complainant on BP’s Case Miguel Arezanas Elizabeth Ramon David G. Crow Juanita G. Crow Plaintiffs (complainant) The other plaintiffs (complainant) were Scott Kilbert, 48, of Bellville; Rolando Bocardo, 41, of Baytown; and Nara and David Wilson, both 44, of Santa Fe. PLAINTIFF INFORMATION

Esteban Huerta, 57 Pipefitter for J.E. Merit. Luis Garcia was his helper on 03/23/05. Luis Garcia, 26 Pipefitter Helper for J.E. Merit. Supporting witness: Rubi Garcia (spouse) Aulvey Campbell, 60 Scaffold builder. Miken Specialties, LLD. Supporting witness:Vera Campbell, 57 Accountant/Cashier. The Space Trader. Juan D. Cano, 41 Superintendent for Miken Specialties, LLD. Felicitas Cano, 39 Clerical/Shipping and Receiving Roberto C. Huerta, 35 Miken Specialties LLD, Asbestos Abator. Supporting witness: Angela Huerta, 34 Housewife/ Student Donaciano Peralta, 34 Gulf Coast Gunite, Craftsman/Sanblaster, Welder, Nozzle Man. Supporting witness: Tania Peralta, 32 HISD/ Trerancy Clerk Cristobal Salinas, 38 ISI Specialties, Inc, Foreman on a Scaffold crew. Jose Luis Verduzco, 50, Miken Specialties LLD, Crew Leader Charles “Randy” Pinder, 50, BP, I&E Electrician Supporting witness: Debbie Pinder (former spouse) Olivia Palton, 42, Lone Star Staffing/Pasadena Tank Corp. BP EXECUTIVES AND EMPLOYEES

(in order of trial appearance) (Accused Persons) John Manzoni Vice President of Refining And Marketing BP International Headquarters London Keith Casey Current Plant Manager, BP Texas City Wilhelm Bonse-Geuking Former CEO Veba-Real Germany Author of the Management Accountability Report BP, London Don Parus Plant Manager at BP Texas City on 03/23/05 Paul Maslin Vice President of Technology Former Plant Manager of BP in Coryton BP Refining - BP Products, London Joseph Runfola IE Technician BP Products North America – Texas City Robert Nall Sales Manager of Ventech Process Equipment And manager of Ventech Appraisal Services Ross Pillari Past President BP Products North America, Inc HSE - Naperville, Illinois 60563 Watson DuPont BP Products North America Inc. Texas City, Texas 77590 Ruben Herrera Former TCEQ Permit Engineer Current Air Quality Engineer – BP Texas City Texas City, Texas 77590

Sam Gregson BP Property Tax Department, BP America Kathy Spletter, ASA Accredited Appraiser, Consultant Hired by BP Texas City to reduce the property tax appraisals at BP Texas City, Texas 77590 Bobbie S. Detmar BP Products Computer Technician on ISOM Texas City, Texas 77590 Raymond Hawkins ISOM Supervisor, BP Products Texas City, Texas 77590 Michael Hoffman Vice President Refining, London Pat Gower Former VP, BP North America Chicago, Illinois Lisa Coley Chemical Engineer, BP Products Martin Risinger Supervisor, BP Products Texas City, Texas 77590 Walt Wundrow Capital Planning & Investments, BP Products Texas City, Texas 77590 Robert Smith Manager, BP Products Texas City, Texas 77590 Robert “Bob” Malone Chairman & President of BP America, Inc. Houston, Texas John McLemore

Fire Chief, BP Texas City, Texas 77590 David Pierpoline BP Cedar Bayou Plant Manager Baytown, Texas Geoffrey Gioja Consultant, Partner in the Telos Group Austin, Texas LIABILITY - Testifying Experts Mike Sawyer Process Safety Engineer Houston, Texas Jim Tarr Air permitting specialist Chemical & Environmental Engineering Los Angeles, California

SUMMARY OF THE CASE Plaintiffs were employed by various independent contractors working in and immediately around the British Petroleum Refinery in Texas City. One of the units at the facility was engaged in a startup. An upset in the process resulted in the discharge of approximately 50,000 gallons of flammable hydrocarbons. The ensuing explosion and fireball destroyed the unit, causing a blast wave that broke windows in homes located miles away from the refinery. The blast killed numerous workers and injured thousands. The court consolidated all claims in trial groups. This trial group involved claims of Post Traumatic Stress Disorders, hearing loss, head trauma and a variety of physical injuries. Plaintiffs asserted that long term budget cuts at the refinery compromised the condition of the plant and that BP repeatedly ignored requests for funds to repair the many problems resulting from long term undercapitalization of the plant. At trial, BP admitted liability and acknowledged the general poor condition of the facility but maintained that operator errors caused the explosion, not management budget cuts. BP also contested the extent of Plaintiffs injuries and casual relationship to the explosion. Plaintiffs maintained that BP executives’ knowingly and intentionally falsified government reporting requirements, misrepresented the

nature of the unit operations, overworked and understaffed unit operators to the point of fatigue, and was fully aware of many problems with the unit in question so as to mandate the unit stay down. This included defective level indicators, broken alarm systems, leaky pumps, and grossly outdated operating systems and equipment on the unit in question, which was originally built in the 1950’s. Numerous office workers were killed or injured while working in temporary trailers located adjacent to the unit, in violation of BP’s own facility sitting guidelines. The unit was also started in violation of internal standing operating procedures and in violation of process safety critical integrity requirements.

The explosion resulted in numerous internal, external and government investigations, including the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB), the Occupational Safety and Health Agency (OSHA), and the Department of Justice (DOJ). BP ultimately was fined for over 300 willful safety violations by OSHA and pled guilty to felony criminal violations in a plea agreement with the DOJ. Numerous executives, including the plant manager, the US President and Vice President of BP North America, the International Refining Managers for BP, PLC in London, and the CEO of BP, PLC, Lord John Browne of Madingly, ultimately resigned.

Trial Notes 1. Trial lasted two months. 2. Six Plaintiffs settled during defense case in chief at week seven. 3. Of the 5 trial groups set by the Court, this was only case of approximately 4000 claimants that proceeded to defense case in chief. 4. One Plaintiff, Charles Pinder, was a BP employee and joined Plaintiff, Olivia Palton, in a claim against BP subsidiary, formerly changed with maintaining the Isomerization Unit. 5. At trial, BP business unit leader Keith Casey admitted that the Defendant of Justice Plea Agreement involved a stipulation that BP knowingly violated federal environmental regulations which caused the explosion and agreed to pay a fine of 50 million dollars. 6. OSHA found 296 willful and egregious violations of safety regulations and fined BP in excess of 20 million dollars, the highest amount in the history of the department.

7. Walt Wundrow, BP’s auditing director, admitted that budget cuts contributed to the explosion, a point that defendant officially denied through the trial. 8. An internal affairs investigation initiated from London Headquarters recommended termination of the plant manager of Texas City. The Vice President of BP North America, as well as the Vice President of refining and marketing at BP, PLC in London and the Hoffman. Four of the five subsequently resigned. 9. The high profile CEO of BP, PLC, Lord John Browne of Madingly,resigned in the middle of the litigation amidst controversy associated with the Texas City explosion, the BP Alaskan Pipeline Rupture, price fixing allegations and perjury admissions associated to his testimony in unrelated proceedings in London. 10. Numerous BP witnesses admitted to numerous known operational deficiencies subject to regulatory violations and penalties prior to the explosion. 11. BP’s Texas City facility had a long history of the highest casualty rate in the workforce, with 23 other facilities in the preceding three decades. 12. Three more fatalities have occurred since the explosion in spite of BP efforts to improve safety and working conditions. 13. Former secretary of state James Baker led a “blue ribbon” panel investigation into the safety culture within BP’s refineries as part of the OSHA agreement and confirmed major deficiencies is their safety culture at all of their U.S. operations. 14. Since the explosion, the petrochemical industry has made the efforts to remove temporary buildings from areas near operating units. 15. The explosion resulted in several Congressional inquiries and testimony by victims. OSHA was authorized to hire a significant number of process safety inspectors to beef up petrochemical facility inspections. 16. The tragedy and results of the investigations were extensively covered in the media, and concluded features on 60 minutes, BBC, National Geographic and thousands of articles in journals and newsprint internationally.

*References: http://www.texascityexplosion.com/site/texas_city_quotes - BP Texas city explosion http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5144224.html - BP explosion trial ends early with 4 settlements. KRISTEN HAYS Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle. Sept. 18, 2007, 1:49PM http://www.qtm.neu.edu.vn:31/Assets/The%20Explosion%20At%20Texas%20City.pdf - story