TEXAS CITY, Texas — The family of a worker who died after a Marathon Galveston Bay refinery fire earlier this week is now taking legal action.
Scott Higgins, 55, died after a fire at the Texas City plant on Monday. He died of burns and smoke inhalation after an equipment failure caused the fire.
His family is being represented by high-profile attorney Tony Buzbee. Buzbee said Higgins had worked at the plant for years to support his family, but constantly warned them of how dangerous the conditions were.
"He spent years preparing us for what was at the time, and always supposed to be just a very real possibility, that working for Marathon would kill him," his family said. "He did that because he was aware of the state of things in that refinery."
Two other employees were hurt in Monday's fire. One of those workers is already suing the plant. This is the second death at the Marathon Galveston Bay refinery this year.
Marathon, in a statement, said they have invested more than a billion dollars on safety and regulatory upgrades since acquiring the plant in 2013. Read their full statement:
"We remain deeply saddened over Monday’s tragic incident and continue to extend our deepest sympathies to Mr. Higgins’ family. We recognize this loss is felt foremost by them, and our close-knit site also grieves.
"Consistent with our core values, we approach our work with the highest commitment to safety. Since acquiring the facility in 2013, we have invested more than $1 billion on safety and regulatory upgrades to the site, and our OSHA recordable incident rate (ORIR) is better than the industry average. We remain committed to continuous improvement in all aspects of safety, and our goal is to eliminate injuries at our site.
"We too want to understand fully what occurred on Monday. A full investigation is being conducted to determine the root cause, and OSHA is performing their own investigation. The safety of our workers and the community remain paramount and fundamental in everything we do, always."