Construction work at Samson Resources Co. sites in Wyoming’s Powder River Basi has halted, following Monday’s <"https://www.yourlawyer.com/topics/overview/wyoming-oil-storage-facility-explosion-lawsuit">explosion near Glenrock. Meanwhile, the names of the three men killed in that explosion have been released.
According to a report from The Republic, the dead have been identified as 55-year-old James Turner, 32-year-old, Llewellyn Dort and Gerardo Alatorre, no age available. Their bodies removed from the site yesterday. They will be taken to Colorado for autopsies to verify their identities.
It is now also known that the three men killed in Monday’s blast were employed by Wild West Construction of Glenrock and Double D Welding and Fabrication of Casper – not a Tulsa-based company as was previously reported. The companies had been hired by Samson to bring an oil well it acquired recently back into production.
That explosion, which occurred around 10:00 a.m. Monday, sparked a 10-acre fire before it was brougt under control. The oil well, which is located on Hornbuckle Ranch, about 50 miles northeast of Casper, was not involved in the explosion or fire. As we reported previously, the men were laying a fuel line intended to supply a heater treatment facility that separates oil from water as the two are pumped out of the ground when the explosion occurred.
The cause of the blast is not yet known. The Wyoming Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Converse County Sheriff’s Office and the State Fire Marshal’s Office are investigating. A report should be ready in about 180 days.
In a statement released yesterday, Samson said it has as stopped construction work at all its Powder River Basin assets until the preliminary cause of the accident is determined.
