Upton Assets Slammed with $1.6B Verdict in Deadly Explosion Case

A Starr County jury unanimously awarded $1.6 billion Friday to the families of two men who died in an explosion at a Pecos hazardous-chemicals plant in 2023.

Both Reinaldo Garcia Pena, 57, and Angel Alaffa, 30, traveled from the Rio Grande Valley to work at Upton Assets’ facility in Pecos. The facility receives, stores, processes and transfers highly flammable natural gas liquids and condensate from oil and gas fields throughout the Permian Basin and Reeves County.