PORT NECHES, Texas — An appeals court has dealt a serious setback to families whose homes were damaged in the 2019 TPC explosion that caused damage to homes in Port Neches.
Nearly 10,000 people sued TPC and their investors. Attorneys said the investors should be held liable for the millions of dollars in damages. They argued that investors held "abnormal control" over TPC's operations and claimed that they were directly liable for the damages.
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TPC appealed the claim to the Ninth Court of Appeals questioning whether a court in Orange has jurisdiction in the case.
Thursday, the court ruled that the multi-district-litigation must be a handled in a different court.
Attorneys have long argued that TPC's investors and "shell companies" should be held responsible for not maintaining equipment that led to the explosion.
"We were very disappointed to see the ruling that came out at 2 a.m. We firmly believe that the owner investors exercised control and had presence within the State of Texas sufficient for the Texas court to exercise jurisdiction over them. I fear this sets a dangerous precedent granting immunity to out of state investors who recklessly manage or operate complex facilities like the butadiene plant that blew up and caused so much damage," said Mark Sparks, one of the attorneys representing the affected families.