DECEMBER 11, 2014
The wife of a man killed in a Nov. 20 explosion on a
Fieldwood Energy platform has filed a wrongful death lawsuit in U.S. District
Court that claims the victim and his crew were told the piece of equipment that
exploded was safe to work on.
Jerrel Hancock, 24, of Abbeville, was a supervisor on a
cleaning crew for Turnkey Cleaning Services when a heater treater they were
working on blew up, killing Hancock and injuring three others.
The injured employees were treated and released from medical
facilities in the days after the explosion.
Turnkey Cleaning Services is a contractor that was working
for Fieldwood about 12 miles offshore.
Hancock and other Turnkey Cleaning Services employees were
cleaning a heater treater, a piece of equipment that separates water and other
materials from oil, when it exploded.
Federal investigators with the Bureau of Safety and
Environmental Enforcement have not yet issued a report.
The lawsuit, filed by Kayler Hancock, also names Island
Operators as a defendant.
"The Turnkey cleaning crew . were advised by defendants
that Echo Platform's heater treater had been properly cleared of solids,
liquids, gases, de-pressurized and de-energized, and that it was safe for entry
and washing," the lawsuit alleges.
The suit alleges Hancock and his crew were told the heater
treater was safe to enter. "Upon doing so, the heater treater
exploded," the suit says.
Kayler Hancock alleges Fieldwood Energy and Island Operators
were grossly negligent and reckless, and Hancock is seeking an unspecified
amount of money for her and the couple's two children.
Fieldwood Energy risk manager Mark Mozell saidWednesday the
company had not yet seen the lawsuit, and that it does not comment in detail on
matters that are in litigation.