JOHNSTOWN – A Western Pennsylvania man alleges that he suffered a litany of facial injuries, after a driller’s release of mud caused him to fall and strike his face on a piece of equipment at an oil drilling site.
Anthony Hile of Grampian filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania on Oct. 13 versus National Oil Well Varco, L.P. (doing business as “NOV LP”) and National Oilwell, Inc. (doing business as “NOV, Inc.) of Houston, Texas, National Oil Well Varco Holdings LLC of Wilmington, Del., Omron Electronics, Inc. of Philadelphia, Omron Electronics, LLC of Wilmington, Del., Omron IDM Controls, Inc. of Philadelphia, Schlumberger NV (doing business as “SLB, as a successor-in-interest of Omron Oilfield and Marine, Inc.”) of Houston, Texas, Omron Electronic Components, LLC of Hoffman Estates, Ill., Omron Systems, LLC, Omron Systems of America, Inc. and Omron Manufacturing of America, Inc. of Wilmington, Del., Omron Management Center of America, Inc. of Hoffman Estates, Ill., Omron Logistics of America, LLC and Omron Logistics of America, Inc. of Wilmington, Del., Nabors Drilling Technologies, Inc. of Wilmington, Del., Nabors Drilling Technologies USA, Inc. of Dallas, Texas, Nabors Drilling Equipment Leasing, LLC of Wilmington, Del., Nabors Industries, Inc., Nabors Drilling USA, Nabors Equipment, Inc. and Canrig Drilling Technology, LTD., all of Houston, Texas.
“On Oct. 21, 2021, and at all relevant times, plaintiff was employed as a derrick hand by Patterson-UTI Drilling Company, LLC and was working at a well-site located on Shepard Hill Road, in Jacobsburg, Ohio at Rig 296. Rig 296 had been equipped to operate with a top drive which was designed, manufactured, inspected, tested, sold, marketed and supplied by Nabors and/or NOV defendants and which featured a remote control operated Internal Blowout Preventer positioned to the lower portion of the top drive,” the suit says.
“This remote operation system, and related control console, was designed, manufactured, inspected, tested, sold, marketed and supplied by Omron defendants. Following an operation in which the drill pipe was perforated and drilling mud had been pumped through the perforations, the Driller at the rig attempted to open the lower IBOP valve remotely using the Driller’s console as per typical operating procedure in order to release pressure within the drill pipe which had built up from the pumping down of drilling mud. At this time, the Driller’s console displayed a green light indicating that the lower IBOP valve had opened.”
The suit adds that the plaintiff was “then instructed by the Driller to manually open an additional bleed off valve to further release any trapped drilling fluid pressure within the drill pipe.”
“Operating under the impression that both valves had been properly released, the Driller instructed plaintiff, along with another employee, to begin to break the connection between the crossover sub and the drill pipe and to hold a reservoir to catch any residual drilling mud from the pipe as the disconnection occurred. As the Driller began to spin the pipe out of the connection, a massive release of pressurized drilling mud occurred from the resulting gap between the crossover sub and the drill pipe. This release caused plaintiff, who had been standing adjacent to the drill pipe, to be pushed backwards, causing him to fall and strike his face onto piece of equipment nearby,” the suit states.
“As a direct and proximate result of the negligence, carelessness and recklessness of defendants, plaintiff sustained the following serious injuries, some or all of which may be permanent: LeFort Type I Fracture, maxillary fracture, nasal bone fracture, pterygoid plate fracture, closed fracture of hard palate, lip laceration, multiple teeth fractures, loss of teeth, acute respiratory failure, bilateral pulmonary contusion, bruises, contusions and other injuries in or about nerves, muscles, bones, tendons, ligaments, tissues and vessels of the body, nervousness, emotional tension, anxiety and depression and other injuries to be proven at trial.”
For multiple counts of negligence, strict products liability, breach of warranty, the plaintiff is seeking compensatory and punitive damages in excess of $75,000, plus court costs, interest and all other and further relief permitted by the Court.
The plaintiff is represented by Chad P. Shannon and Ian M. Watt of Friday & Shannon, in Pittsburgh.
The defendants have not yet obtained legal counsel.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania case 3:23-cv-00256
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com