Lawsuit is filed over fatal gas rig explosion
The widow of one of the five oil field workers killed in a January drilling explosion near Quinton has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in Pittsburg County District Court against the drilling company and the well’s owner.
Parker Waldridge, 60, of Crescent died Jan. 22 when an uncontrolled release of natural gas during a drilling operation ignited into an explosion on the rig. The lawsuit said the tragedy is the “deadliest oil field disaster” since the Deepwater Horizon blowout and explosion off the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.
“Not unlike that disaster, this tragedy was preventable had safety been properly managed and controlled during these rotary drilling operations,” the lawsuit claims, alleging negligence and reckless conduct.
The 10-page petition said the gas rig “is believed” to have had three individual blowout preventers that could be opened or closed from the rig floor or on the ground to “shut-in” the well and stop escaping fluids. Typically when a well begins to flow in an “uncontrolled manner” there are warning signs a crew must recognize.
The suit says it’s “unclear” why the blowout preventers remained open when there were indications that an uncontrolled flow began to happen. There were “several failed attempts” to shut-in the well after the gas was escaping.
The defendants are Patterson-UTI Drilling Co. LLC; Patterson-UTI Energy Inc.; Red Mountain Operating LLC; and Red Mountain Energy LLC. Patterson-UTI released a statement that its practice is to not comment on pending litigation.
“We remain committed to preventing an accident like this from happening again, and those affected remain in our thoughts and prayers,” according to Patterson-UTI. The Tulsa World has reached out to Red Mountain for comment as well.
Waldridge is described as a well-site consultant who would report the well’s progress to Red Mountain. He spent a “substantial amount of his time” in a trailer on site, rather than in the “doghouse,” which is an operations room atop the rig floor. The others who died in the doghouse were: Roger Cunningham, 55, of Seminole; Josh Ray, 35, of Fort Worth, Texas; Cody Risk, 26, of Wellington, Colorado; and Matt Smith, 29, of McAlester.
“Tragically, all five men were burned to death,” the lawsuit states. “The resulting fire was so intense that authorities had to rely on dental records in order to confirm the identities of Mr. Waldridge and these four other men.”
The lawsuit accuses Red Mountain and Patterson of negligence, reckless conduct and wrongful death, seeking in excess of $75,000.
The suit alleges the defendants failed to properly train, instruct and supervise their employees. It also pointed to Patterson-UTI’s history of safety violations and workplace fatalities and laid blame on Red Mountain for failing to hire a “competent” drilling contractor to safely perform operations.