An accident that killed three workers at the construction site of a large liquefied natural gas project in Port Arthur, Texas, has prompted at least two lawsuits against multiple companies, including San Diego-based energy company Sempra and one of its subsidiaries.
Just before 2 a.m. on April 29, “some type of mishap occurred that caused the scaffolding to give way” at the Port Arthur LNG facility, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, sending workers plummeting to the ground.
Two men were declared dead at the scene and a third later died at the hospital. The justice of the peace in nearby Beaumont, Texas, told a local television station the men fell 65 to 85 feet. Two others were treated and released with minor injuries.
A law firm in Beaumont filed a wrongful death lawsuit of more than $1 million on behalf of one of the workers killed. Among those listed in the petition are ConocoPhillips, Bechtel and Sempra Infrastructure, the Houston-based subsidiary of Sempra.
Separately, a firm based in Houston has filed suit representing the families of the two others who died, plus one of the injured workers, against parent company Sempra and other defendants.
Port Arthur LNG is a $13 billion t venture between Sempra Infrastructure and ConocoPhillips to take natural gas, liquefy it and place it onto specially designed cargo ships that export the gas to destinations around the world.
According to Port Arthur LNG’s website, the first production unit — called a “train” — is expected to be completed in 2027, with the second train operational the following year. Phase 1 of the project expects to have nameplate capacity of 13 million metric tons per year.
The employees involved in the incident worked for Bechtel, the engineering and construction company contracted to build the Port Arthur LNG facility.
“I’d like to take a moment to acknowledge the safety incident that occurred last week at the Port Arthur facility, which has resulted in the loss of three Bechtel employees,” Sempra’s Chief Financial Officer Karen Sedgwick said Thursday morning on the company’s first-quarter conference call. “Our deepest condolences go out to the families and colleagues affected by this incident.”
As for questions from the Union-Tribune regarding the lawsuits and if any instances of serious accidents have ever occurred at construction sites of its LNG facilities, a Sempra media representative referred all inquiries to Bechtel, who has not responded.
In a message sent to employees the day after the incident, Bechtel’s two top executives said, “No words are adequate to express how deeply the loss of three of our colleagues is felt.”
Bechtel is “cooperating fully with OSHA and local officials” on an investigation, the message said, and the company is also conducting “our own comprehensive internal review to understand how this happened.”
The note said all construction work at Port Arthur LNG has been suspended.
“These men are out there trying to work in the middle of the night, doing a very tough job to take care of the bills and pay for their families … This should not have happened,” Cade Bernsen, attorney for the family of one of the men who died, told Beaumont television station KFDM.
Sempra has become a significant player in the international market for liquefied natural gas, or LNG.
In addition to its project in Port Arthur, the Fortune 500 company is a major partner in the $10.5 billion Cameron LNG facility on the coast of Louisiana. It opened in August 2020 and has plans to expand capacity to as much as 21.7 million metric tons per year.
Sempra is also adding an export component to an existing LNG terminal near Ensenada, Mexico, called Energía Costa Azul. Sedgwick on Thursday’s earnings call said the $2 billion project is 92% complete. It’s expected to be finished by spring of 2026.
Markets in many countries are keen to replace coal in their power systems with natural gas, which burns cleaner. But environmental groups have long opposed LNG, saying exporting natural gas extends the world’s reliance on fossil fuels.
