The payment, negotiated between
Illinois-based Natural Gas and attorneys for Francis M. Gough of
Sulphur, La., is by far the largest monetary settlement yet to
emerge from the October l989 accident that killed 11 people and
injured two others aboard the trawler Northumberland.
While precise figures are not
publicly available, attorneys on both sides estimate as many as 10
cases involving the Northumberland accident have been settled out
of court since the first lawsuits were filed last year, most for
$1 million or $2 million per case.
The incident, the worst of 21
boatpipeline accidents reported from 1985 to early 1990, has
sparked a renewed round of concern about the safety of the
nation's pipeline system.
In Washington, lawmakers are
considering legislation that would require pipeline companies to
inspect their lines in the Gulf of Mexico and to establish
periodic maintenance programs. The proposed law is expected to
pass the U.S. House of Representatives in the next week.
The Northumberland, owned by a
subsidiary of Houston-based Zapata Corp., hit an exposed
underwater pipeline owned by Natural Gas, rupturing the line and
setting off an explosion that destroyed the vessel.
Gough, a navigator on the boat's
deck, leaped from the vessel into the Gulf waters immediately
after the explosion, his attorney said. By the time he surfaced
for air, leaking gas and debris from the boat had ignited the
water's surface, burning Gough over nearly 70 percent of his body.
Natural Gas spokesman Ken Smith
confirmed the settlement Thursday but declined to comment further.
Gough could not be reached for comment.
Jerry McKernan, Gough's attorney,
said Thursday he now plans to pursue a much larger claim against
Zapata, which last month announced plans to sell a majority stake
in its offshore drilling rig fleet in an effort to avoid
bankruptcy.
The principal responsibility rests
with Zapata," McKernan said. “They have a responsibility to keep
their vessels out of very shallow water when there is a
possibility of striking a pipeline. Zapata didn't inform its crews
of the dangers they faced."
The 16-inch pipeline struck by
Zapata's boat was supposed to he buried beneath the ocean floor.
But after 18 years of wear, including tides, waves and hurricanes,
the line had edged above the ocean's floor, exposing it to the
hull of the Northumberland.
McKernan has filed a $50 million
claim against Zapata in a federal court in Louisiana. Attorneys
for other Northumberland victims also said Thursday that they
plan to pursue claims against Zapata, its Zapata-Haynie Corp.
subsidiary, and the parent company's insurance underwriters.
Barney White, a Zapata spokesman,
declined to discuss the case because it involves ongoing
litigation against the company.
Last year, Zapata filed a motion in
federal court to limit its liability in the accident to the cost
of the vessel. The move, based on well-tested statute in maritime
law, also prohibited victims of the explosion from filing separate
lawsuits against the company in state court.
In March, the plaintiffs' attorneys
will urge a federal court judge in Louisiana to lift Zapata's
liability limit. If successful, that motion also would eliminate
the prohibition against state court suits, exposing Zapata to
dozens of claims by victims and their families.
Zapata's case, through, may have
been strengthened earlier this week when federal regulators blamed
the Northumberland accident on Natural Gas., a subsidiary of
Occidental Petroleum.
The National Transportation Safety
Board said the company should have kept its pipeline buried.
Zapata, which is now suing Natural Gas for $20 million, was not
assessed blame for the incident in the safety hoard's report.
