Liquefied natural gas facilities are among the largest and most complex industrial projects operating along the Gulf Coast and elsewhere in the United States. These facilities receive natural gas, process and cool it into a liquid, store enormous quantities of LNG, and transfer the product for transportation. Many LNG export terminals also include pipelines, compressor systems, storage tanks, marine loading facilities, electrical infrastructure, and extensive networks of process equipment.
That complexity creates a wide range of potential hazards for the workers who construct, operate, maintain, expand, and repair LNG facilities. An LNG plant accident may involve a fire or explosion, a cryogenic release, pressurized equipment, electrical energy, heavy machinery, falls, chemical exposure, or failures during maintenance and commissioning work. Serious incidents may also affect contractors, truck drivers, maritime workers, and others whose jobs bring them onto or around an LNG facility.
When a serious injury occurs, an LNG plant accident lawyer may need to examine not only the immediate cause of the incident, but also the relationships between the facility owner, operator, contractors, subcontractors, and equipment manufacturers involved in the work.
What Is an LNG Facility?
LNG is natural gas that has been cooled to an extremely low temperature so that it changes from a gas into a liquid. In liquid form, natural gas occupies far less volume, making it practical to store and transport in large quantities.
An LNG export facility may contain multiple processing areas and systems. Natural gas must first reach the facility, often through pipelines. It then moves through treatment and liquefaction equipment before entering large storage tanks. Pumps and piping systems eventually move the LNG toward marine loading facilities, where it can be transferred to specialized LNG carriers.
Supporting those operations requires substantially more infrastructure. LNG plants may contain compressors, pumps, pressure vessels, valves, electrical equipment, substations, control systems, emergency shutdown systems, fire protection equipment, pipe racks, utility systems, roads, docks, cranes, and other heavy industrial equipment.
Each component introduces its own hazards. More importantly, an LNG facility depends on these systems working together. A failure involving one piece of equipment can sometimes affect other parts of the process.
Fires and Explosions at LNG Facilities
Fire is one of the most recognizable dangers associated with natural gas operations. Natural gas escaping from equipment or piping can create a dangerous condition when it reaches an ignition source.
Depending on the circumstances, an LNG-related incident may involve a pool fire, vapor ignition, equipment fire, or flash fire. Workers located close to an ignition event may have little opportunity to escape.
Potential ignition sources at a large industrial facility can include electrical equipment, hot surfaces, welding and cutting, vehicles, tools, and other work occurring nearby. This makes coordination particularly important when maintenance or construction activities take place around operating process equipment.
Hot work can present additional concerns because welding, cutting, grinding, and similar activities can introduce sparks or heat into areas where flammable materials may be present. Proper planning and use of a hot work permit can be an important part of controlling that risk.
Workers caught in LNG-related fires may suffer severe burn injuries, respiratory injuries, blast trauma, fractures, or other life-changing harm. An LNG plant accident attorney investigating a serious fire or explosion may need to determine where the release originated, what ignition source was present, and whether earlier warnings or equipment problems were ignored.
Cryogenic LNG Releases Can Cause Severe Injuries
LNG presents risks that are different from ordinary natural gas because it is stored at cryogenic temperatures. Contact with LNG or extremely cold equipment can cause significant tissue damage.
A sudden release can expose workers to the liquid itself or to surfaces that have become dangerously cold. Cryogenic conditions can also affect materials and equipment. Certain materials may become brittle when exposed to extreme cold, creating concerns involving piping, valves, connections, and containment systems.
A significant release may therefore create several dangers at once. Workers may face direct cold exposure while also confronting a rapidly developing vapor cloud or another hazardous condition.
These incidents illustrate why LNG safety cannot focus solely on preventing fires. Preventing loss of containment in the first place is equally important.
Vapor Releases and Inhalation Hazards
A natural gas release does not have to ignite to create danger.
As LNG warms, it returns to a gaseous state. A substantial release can create an atmosphere that displaces breathable air in certain conditions or exposes workers to other substances associated with industrial operations.
LNG facilities may also use or contain various chemicals as part of treatment, refrigeration, maintenance, cleaning, and other plant processes. Depending on the substance and concentration, workers may suffer chemical inhalation injuries or other forms of toxic exposure.
Exposure incidents can be especially dangerous when they occur in enclosed or poorly ventilated areas. Workers performing maintenance or entering process equipment may face additional hazards if the atmosphere has not been properly tested, isolated, or ventilated.
A lawyer handling an LNG facility accident may need to review atmospheric testing records, work permits, ventilation procedures, and monitoring data to determine whether the exposure should have been prevented.
High-Pressure Equipment and Process Systems
LNG facilities depend heavily on pressurized systems.
Pipelines, compressors, pumps, valves, flanges, pressure vessels, and other equipment may operate under conditions capable of releasing substantial stored energy. When a component fails, workers can be struck by equipment, sprayed with process material, exposed to escaping gas, or injured by the force of the release itself.
Failures may result from numerous conditions, including defective components, improper installation, corrosion, inadequate inspection, maintenance failures, improper operation, or mistakes during repair work.
Pressure testing and commissioning can create additional hazards. A system undergoing pneumatic or hydrostatic testing may contain enormous stored energy even before the facility is fully operational. That is one reason startup and commissioning activities deserve the same level of planning and hazard control as normal plant operations.
In these cases, an LNG accident lawyer may need to trace the equipment’s design, installation, inspection, testing, and maintenance history to identify where the failure occurred.
Electrical Hazards at LNG Plants
Modern LNG facilities require enormous electrical systems to operate pumps, compressors, instrumentation, lighting, control systems, and other equipment.
Workers may encounter energized switchgear, transformers, temporary electrical systems, substations, cables, and other high-voltage equipment. Electrical incidents can result in electrocution, arc flash injuries, electrical burns, falls, or fires.
The risk can increase during construction, expansion, and commissioning, when permanent and temporary electrical systems may exist alongside one another and numerous contractors may be performing work simultaneously.
Maintenance work can also become dangerous when equipment is energized unexpectedly. Proper isolation and lockout/tagout procedures are intended to prevent machinery or electrical systems from being activated while workers are performing repairs or maintenance.
Construction and Expansion Create Additional Risks
Many LNG facilities spend years under construction before entering full operation. Existing terminals may also undergo major expansion projects while portions of the facility remain active.
That means an LNG site may combine the hazards of a major construction project with those of an industrial processing facility.
Workers may be exposed to cranes, scaffolds, excavations, elevated work, pipe installation, structural steel, forklifts, heavy equipment, trucks, welding operations, and electrical construction. Contractors from numerous companies may be working in the same area or performing tasks that affect one another.
The danger is not limited to obvious construction activities. A worker performing one job may be injured because another contractor created a hazard elsewhere on the project.
Coordination becomes especially important when several employers share responsibility for different portions of the work. An LNG plant injury lawyer may need to determine which company controlled the area, directed the work, supplied the equipment, or had authority to correct the dangerous condition.
Maintenance, Repair, and Shutdown Work
Industrial equipment eventually requires inspection, maintenance, repair, and replacement.
These activities may require workers to open piping, disconnect equipment, enter vessels, remove valves, isolate process systems, perform hot work, or work close to equipment that remains operational.
Maintenance can expose workers to hazards that are normally contained within the process. A line believed to be empty may still contain pressure. Equipment may not be adequately isolated. A valve may leak. Residual gas or chemicals may remain inside a vessel.
Work performed during outages or major maintenance periods can also involve large numbers of temporary workers and contractors performing demanding jobs under tight schedules.
When safety procedures are shortened, misunderstood, or ignored, routine maintenance can become the setting for a catastrophic accident.
Who May Be Responsible for an LNG Plant Accident?
Responsibility for an LNG accident depends heavily on the circumstances.
Large LNG facilities commonly involve multiple companies. The property owner may be different from the facility operator. An engineering or construction contractor may oversee a major expansion. Specialized subcontractors may perform electrical, crane, piping, welding, inspection, maintenance, or commissioning work.
An injured worker’s employer may therefore be only one of several companies whose conduct needs to be examined.
Depending on the facts, a case may involve third-party liability against another contractor, facility owner, equipment manufacturer, maintenance company, or other entity responsible for creating or failing to correct a dangerous condition.
Defective machinery or components can also raise product liability issues when equipment fails because of a design, manufacturing, or warning defect.
An experienced LNG plant accident attorney can examine how the project or facility was organized, who controlled the work, what each company knew about the hazard, and whether multiple parties share responsibility for the incident.
Evidence After a Serious LNG Accident
Major industrial facilities typically generate significant amounts of information.
Depending on the accident, relevant evidence may include surveillance footage, control-system data, operating logs, alarms, inspection records, work permits, maintenance history, training documents, photographs, incident reports, witness statements, contractor agreements, and electronic communications.
Some incidents also require technical analysis. Engineers, process-safety professionals, equipment specialists, accident reconstruction professionals, or another expert witness may help determine how an equipment failure, release, fire, or other event occurred.
Important evidence can disappear if it is not identified and preserved promptly. Video may be overwritten. Equipment may be repaired or replaced. Electronic data may be lost. Physical conditions at the scene may change quickly after operations resume.
For that reason, an LNG plant accident lawyer may move quickly to identify critical records, preserve electronic data, inspect equipment, and document the conditions that existed when the incident occurred.
LNG Plant Accidents Can Cause Life-Changing Injuries
The forces involved in an industrial accident can produce devastating harm.
Workers may suffer burns, fractures, amputations, internal injuries, neurological injuries, respiratory damage, and traumatic brain injury. Falls and crush incidents may result in spinal cord injuries or permanent mobility limitations.
Some victims of serious and catastrophic injuries may require surgeries, rehabilitation, assistive devices, home modifications, or substantial future medical care.
A serious injury can also prevent an experienced industrial worker from returning to the same occupation. The resulting losses may extend well beyond the initial medical treatment.
An LNG plant accident lawyer can evaluate how those losses affect not only immediate medical expenses and lost wages, but also future treatment needs, reduced earning ability, and the long-term impact of the injury.
When an LNG accident is fatal, surviving family members may also need to evaluate whether the circumstances support a wrongful death claim against one or more responsible parties.
Speak With an LNG Plant Accident Lawyer After a Serious Injury
LNG facilities combine natural gas, cryogenic materials, high-pressure equipment, heavy machinery, electrical systems, construction activities, and complex contractor relationships. When a serious accident occurs, identifying why it happened and which company was responsible often requires a detailed investigation.
An experienced LNG plant accident lawyer can investigate the companies involved, preserve critical evidence, evaluate potential claims, and determine whether the conduct of a facility owner, operator, contractor, subcontractor, equipment manufacturer, or another party contributed to the accident.
Spagnoletti Law Firm represents people and families affected by serious industrial and workplace accidents. Our LNG plant accident attorneys can evaluate potential personal injury claims and help determine what legal options may be available.
If you or a loved one has been impacted by an LNG plant accident, call us. Contact Spagnoletti Law Firm at 713-804-9306 or contact us online to schedule a free consultation.
We handle injury cases on a contingency fee basis, meaning our clients do not owe attorney’s fees unless we recover compensation for them.