A legal settlement’s been reached between Anadarko Petroleum and families of two men killed in a 2017 Colorado home explosion. But details of the deal were not disclosed.
The company announced the settlement with families of Mark Martinez and Joey Irwin who died last April while working in the Martinez home in Firestone, about 30 miles north of Denver.
In announcing the deal, Anadarko said the victims were not at fault for the explosion as they worked on a water heater in the basement of the home.
“The people of Anadarko express their deepest condolences to both families, and to all affected families, friends and communities,” the company said.
The explosion was caused by odorless and unrefined natural gas from a pipeline severed about 10 feet from the house. It was believed to be abandoned but remained connected to an operating Anadarko well with the valve turned to the open position and the gas seeped into the home.
The deadly blast led to state regulators ordering energy companies to test and report the location of any flow line with 1,000 feet of buildings. There were an estimated 129,000 such lines fitting the category.
As a result, Colorado created new rules for installing, testing and shutting down of flow lines.
