Class action suits filed over TPC explosion
Published 12:15 am Wednesday, December 4, 2019
- Charred towers, viewed from the Port Neches Little League fields, are still standing at the site of the TPC Group Port Neches Operations group as smoke continues to dwindle Monday afternoon. (I.C. Murrell/The News) 12-3-19
The legal game has already begun in response to last week’s explosion at TPC Group in Port Neches.
Provost Umphrey was among the first to send notice of the filing of a class action suit for property damage. They sent it the afternoon after the explosion.
They also filed a temporary restraining order against TPC to preserve evidence for further investigation, according to a news release.
While several suits are in the works in Jefferson County, there are at least two filed in Harris County. Tommy John Kherkher, managing partner with The Kherkher Law Firm, filed a class action suit for nuisance displacing the public — making them have to evacuate — and for future public health monitoring moving forward in case the inhalation of asbestos or other substances causes long term impacts.
Kherkher, who is representing Port Neches resident Brian Lange, has multiple clients in the case, he said.
Houston attorneys Mo Aziz and Karl Long of Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Sorrrels, Agosto & Asiz and James Bradley of the Bradley Law Firm are representing Luxe Point Homes LLC, Jesus Gil and Yessica Gil in the suit.
The Gils and their company, Luxe Point Homes, own a number of properties in the four-mile mandatory evacuation zone and claim each of the properties sustained damage as a result of the explosion.
Other class action suits have been filed by the Ferguson Law Firm, Brent Coon & Associates.
Part of the TPC Group Port Neches facility at 2102 Spur 136 exploded at approximately 1 a.m. Nov. 27, breaking windows, blowing out doors, destroying garage doors, cracking sheetrock and leaving thick, black smoke billowing across the city and beyond. A mandatory evacuation was called that afternoon for Port Neches, Groves, Nederland and parts of Port Arthur within a four-mile radius of the explosion. The evacuation order was lifted on Friday.
Students in Port Neches-Groves Independent School District were out for the Thanksgiving holidays at the time of the explosion and school was cancelled on Monday as well. Students returned to school on Tuesday.