Jury: Contractor not responsible for fatal Falk Corp. blast

Industrial Distribution staff -- Industrial Distribution, 10/3/2008 2:35:00 PM

A jury in Milwaukee ruled that employees of power transmission product maker Falk Corp. were largely responsible for the 2006 propane pipeline explosion that killed three workers and injured 46, the Business Journal of Milwaukee reported.
The jury ruled that the contractor that installed the pipeline, J.M. Brennan Inc., was only 5 percent responsible for the Dec. 6, 2006 blast. Falk employees were 95 percent responsible, the jury found, because they failed to conduct the contractor’s suggested annual safety inspections, for which Brennan would have charged $1,000 each.
The mechanical contractor previously settled a lawsuit brought by the families of the three men killed in the explosion, but that agreement contained no admission of guilt.
In the most recent case, Brennan was accused by Falk Corp. parent Rexnord Industries LLC and its insurer, Factory Mutual Insurance Co., of setting off the explosion by starting the leaking propane system. 
In a separate ruling in the case, Circuit Judge David Hansher ruled that Rexnord was entitled expenses totaling $1.28 million.
The Falk plant lost up to $54.5 million in sales in 2007 after the blast interrupted production; court records show that Factory Mutual paid out $21 million for business interruption expenses.
In a statement released after the verdict, Rexnord said it will consider whether to appeal the decision.
“Although we respect the jury’s decision, we are disappointed in this outcome. We will look at today’s decision further to determine if additional legal action is warranted,” the company said in the statement. “The outcome aside, we shall forever be proud of and grateful to our employees involved in this tragic event. We will continue to move forward as a company, while at the same time, never forgetting the colleagues we lost and those injured on Dec. 6, 2006.”