Chesapeake, Va.-The principals are reluctant to provide any details about Allied Terminals’ $3 million lawsuit against the companies that did the welding repairs and upgrades and inspected the work on a storage tank that collapsed in late 2008, injuring two persons and inundating a nearby neighborhood with 2.1 million gallons of liquid fertilizer. Allied Terminals, joined by ACE American Insurance Co., has filed a 10-count lawsuit in circuit court against G&T Fabricators of Wilmington, N.C., and HMT Inc. of Texas, seeking to recoup the costs of lost fertilizer, property damage and clean-up, and interruptions to Allied’s business. A spokesman for the legal firm representing Allied, Vandeventer Black LLC, emailed, “At this time we have no comment or information regarding the case.” Calls to Allied official Bruce Law at the Chesapeake office were not returned. According to press reports, the suit seeks more than basic damages by asking that the defendants be required to cover or contribute to claims amounting in the millions of dollars filed against Allied and others over the spill. The lawsuits by two injured parties cite findings by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board that the tank wasn’t inspected properly after the repairs were performed.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain