Worker’s Electrocution Blamed on Multiple Failures at West Texas Midstream Plant

“Greed, speed and lack of heed” caused the death of an electrician at a West Texas midstream energy plant in 2019, a lawyer for his parents told a Dallas County jury Tuesday.

Michael K. Hurst of Lynn Pinker Hurst & Schwegmann said plant officials and the contractor Gabriel Vela worked for “cut corners, skipped safety meetings, took shortcuts and didn’t heed industry standards” because they were in a hurry to complete an expansion the Lobo III midstream facility in Luling County.