Judge Dismisses Shareholder’s Firestone Explosion Suit Against Anadarko

By Colorado Public Radio Staff and The Associated Press

· Mar. 14, 2019, 6:43 pm

Photo: Firestone Home Explosion (AP) — Workers dismantle the charred remains of a home on May 4, 2017 where a gas line leak explosion killed two people inside their home, in Firestone, Colorado.

A federal judge has dismissed a shareholder lawsuit that claimed Anadarko Petroleum sacrificed safety at its Colorado wells and pipelines to boost its profits.

U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal ruled Wednesday the lawsuit didn't support the claims against Anadarko and three of its executives.

Rosenthal said attorneys for the shareholder, Robert Edgar, had revised the lawsuit twice, but Rosenthal said it still didn't meet legal requirements. "The court finds that further amendment would be futile," the judege wrote in his opinion. "The second amended complaint is dismissed, with prejudice and without leave to amend."

Suit Timeline:

August 2018: Renewed Suit Against Anadarko Contains Whistleblower Details
May 2018: Suit Alleges Anadarko Cut Safety Budget Before Fatal Firestone Blast

Neither Anadarko nor Edgar's attorneys responded immediately to a request for comment Thursday.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Houston. Anadarko is based in The Woodlands, a Houston suburb.

It was filed after one of Anadarko's gas wells was linked to a 2017 explosion that killed two people, injured a third and destroyed a house in Firestone, Colorado.

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