SMETHPORT – Wear and tear, not a manufacturer’s defect, lead to
the failure of spark sensors which led to a massive fatal explosion
and fire at the Temple-Inland Particleboard Plant on Feb. 13, 2001,
ruled McKean County President Judge John Cleland in a summary
judgment in favor of the sole remaining defendant in a locally
filed civil lawsuit from the blast.
In an order entered Oct. 17 in McKean County Court, Cleland
granted summary judgment in favor of GreCon Electronics Inc.,
ruling the company was not responsible for the failure of the spark
sensors the night of the explosion.
Outside contractors had been welding inside the plant that day
and sparks had fallen onto sawdust, igniting it. Employees of the
plant worked for several hours to try to extinguish all the sparks,
according to court records, but the sparks eventually entered an
auger, causing an explosion and fire.
Three men – James Covert, Roger Smith and Gregg Engelken – were
killed. Several others were seriously injured, including Tony
Barnish, Sandy Bussard, David Johnson, Stephen Meade and David
Whipkey.
Cleland’s order establishes a list of facts leading up to the
explosion in 2001.
In 1991, GreCon sold spark detection sensors and a central
control panel used to monitor the sensors to the Allegheny
Particleboard Plant, which later was sold to Temple-Inland. The
system is designed to “detect sparks and light sources and activate
an automated alarm and water deluge response. These sensors worked
for 10 years without incident,” Cleland wrote.
On Feb. 13, 2001, at about 5:30 p.m., several employees saw an
ember in an outfeed conveyor beyond three sensors and just before
the fourth sensor.
“Despite the presence of the ember, none of the GreCon sensors
activated and, at approximately 8:55 p.m., there was a large
explosion and fire.”
The survivors and the family members of the men killed in the
blast filed suit against the contractors they felt were responsible
for the explosion.
“Plaintiffs have settled their claims with all the defendants
except GreCon,” Cleland wrote in the order.
The settlement was sealed, but was referred to in a wrongful
death claim for Roberta and Tristan Smith, listed as the spouse and
son of Roger Smith. On Oct. 13, 2004, a settlement was agreed to of
$21 million, the court records read.
Cleland noted that the only remaining claim in the suit was of
product malfunction. Explaining Pennsylvania’s standards for proof
of product malfunction, Cleland noted that a plaintiff is required
to prove “1. the product was defective; 2. the defect caused the
harm; and 3. the defect existed when it left the hands of the
defendant.”
Assessing the information presented through depositions, Cleland
wrote that the spark detectors had failed to operate as intended,
as no alarm sounded and no water deluge was initiated.
Therefore, a reasonable jury could find that the “alleged
malfunction caused the explosion which then caused the plaintiffs’
injuries.”
“Finally, the plaintiffs must show a jury could reasonably infer
the existence of a manufacturing defect from the sensor’s
malfunction at the time of the explosion,” Cleland explained.
“Although the plaintiffs have presented evidence of the
malfunction, they have not satisfied their burden under the
malfunction theory because they have not provided evidence such
that a reasonable jury could find a defect existed when the sensors
left GreCon’s control.”
Prolonged use of the sensors without prior incident “precludes a
reasonable inference the sensors were defective when they left
GreCon’s control,” Cleland explained.
Therefore, Cleland granted GreCon’s motion for summary
judgment.
