An east Texas family is mourning the loss of a husband and father who was killed at a chemical plant in Houston two months ago.
It was normal for Garrick Newell to be away from his wife, daughter, and step-daughter for weeks at a time while he was working, according to his family's attorneys, Scott Armstrong and Mo Aziz. But in February, 28-year-old Newell left his home in east Texas and never went back. Newell was killed at a chemical plant in Houston two months ago.
Newell was working as a contractor at TPC Group's facility in southeast Houston on Feb. 7. Attorneys for Newell's surviving family members said he was called in to help remove a bellhead from a boilermaker, which is a cap on the piece of equipment.
In the lawsuit filed at the end of February, attorneys for Newell's widow and children call the operation he performed 'unsafe' and say it was performed at the 'specific direction and control of TPC Group.''Nothing happens at these plants without the authority and permission of the owner, of the operator,' Armstrong said. The attorneys also allege in the suit that the company failed to 'properly maintain equipment,' leading to the deadly incident.
The day before Thanksgiving in 2019, there were three explosions at the TPC facility in Port Neches, including one that was captured by an ABC13 photographer on the scene. Fires at the facility burned for more than a month, according to a report by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board.
In the CSB's analysis, they determined the company failed to identify problem areas where the dangerous substance involved in the explosion might build up and did not have an 'effective' safety management system in place related to interruptions in procedures. ABC13 reached out to TPC with a list of questions and they told us they don't comment on pending litigation and they have not filed anything in court in response to the lawsuit.
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