EAST ST. LOUIS – U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Beatty pitched out a pile of pleadings at a hearing on a refinery explosion and set strict rules to prepare for trial in April.
“What I hope to accomplish here is a reset,” he told five very quiet lawyers.
He said Seventh Circuit precedent would let him assess fees to prevailing parties in discovery disputes.
"It’ll be part of it unless it’s substantially justified,” Beatty said.
He said he’d invite clients to discovery hearings.
He said deposition designations staggered him with objections line after line and they’d spend weeks on them as they were submitted.
“I’m not going to get down in the weeds with that,” he said.
He denied 40 pages of motions to limit testimony and evidence on each side and set a limit of 20 pages.
He said they could improve or he could appoint a special master.
Attorneys Tracy Cowan and Karen Volkman of St. Louis appeared for Hydrochem, an industrial cleaner in Texas that worked at Phillips 66 in Roxana.
Attorneys Patrick Ruberry and Kenneth Barish of Chicago appeared for Miller Environmental, a waste management contractor in Louisiana.
Hydrochem and Miller Environmental plan to apportion liability for the explosion at trial unless they can do it sooner by mediation.
Attorney Christopher Koester of Effingham appeared for plaintiff Earl Pursell of Louisiana.
Pursell worked for Miller Environmental, which obtained one of the contracts for renewal of its sulfur recovery unit in 2018.
The contract stated Miller would decontaminate vessels by neutralizing iron sulfides and oxidizing residual hydrocarbons.
It stated Miller would add sodium permanganate to water, heat it, and pump it into the vessel with space above water to apply a cleaning vapor.
Hydrochem’s contract stated it would remove hydrogen sulfide and volatile gases so workers could enter and blast with water to remove dust and sludge.
The job required Pursell and a partner to remove rings of packing material in a stack eight feet high and vacuutm them.
Halfway through the task the vacuum spit out a fireball with a shotgun sound.
Pursell sued Hydrochem and Phillips 66 in Madison County circuit court in 2020, claiming lung damage.
Hydrochem removed the complaint to district court, asserting diverse citizenship.
Last year, Hydrochem filed a third party complaint claiming Miller caused the explosion and should contribute to any judgment against Hydrochem.
Hydrochem claimed Miller failed to remove sulfur containing solids or residue from the vessel.
Last December, the parties told Beatty they concluded negotiations with Pursell and would negotiate among themselves regarding fault.
They stated if mediation couldn’t resolve it they would request trial this November.
Beatty granted it.
This June, the parties moved to find good faith in Pursell’s settlement.
They stated mediation on apportionment of fault began in March and continued.
They stated an interim settlement with Phillips 66 was reached.
They stated it was supported by valuable consideration including a waiver of a pending worker’s compensation claim.
Beatty approved the Phillips 66 settlement.
Miller moved for summary judgment against Hydrochem in June, claiming it wasn’t hired to clean the vessel or the rings.
Beatty vacated the trial date.
On Nov. 10, Pursell moved to compel Hydrochem and Miller to pay the settlement.
“It was agreed by all parties that final payment whether by settlement or judgment would be tendered to Pursell in November 2022,” Koester wrote.
He claimed Phillips 66 satisfied its obligation and Hydrochem and Miller should each remit half of the remaining amount.
Beatty denied summary judgment to Miller on Nov. 21, finding Hydrochem demonstrated that Miller had a duty to make the vessel safe.
He found Hydrochem put forth testimony that adequate decontamination would have eliminated the presence of fuel.
He found Hydrochem put forth evidence that Miller was supposed to recirculate the permanganate solution but there was no record of it.
He found evidence that materials Miller was hired to neutralize or remove were present after the explosion.
He found Hydrochem and Miller offered very different stories as to what exactly caused the explosion.
At the Nov. 30 hearing, Beatty first said he wouldn’t hear Pursell’s motion to compel payment of the settlement.
After he said he wouldn’t get into weeds of objections at depositions he said, “Ideally I rule on five objections and you figure out the rest.”
Cowan said Hydrochem could limit its objections if there was no waiver.
Beatty said he wouldn’t play gotcha games at trial.
He set trial to start April 18.