A man who says he was injured in an explosion at Valero Energy’s Port Arthur, Texas refinery on Monday night filed suit against the company on Wednesday, alleging the refinery was not properly maintained.
The complaint, lodged in the Jefferson County District Court in Beaumont, Texas, requests more than $1 million in damages. A Valero spokesperson had no immediate comment on Wednesday night.
In a separate submission to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on Tuesday, Valero described the incident this way: "An unforeseeable release of process fluid in Complex 2 resulted in an ignition event and multiple process unit upsets."
The plaintiff, identified in the suit as Jonathan Jaimes, was at the Port Arthur refinery when a diesel hydrotreater exploded. The force of the blast was reported to have rattled residences up to 11 miles (18 km) from the plant, located on the east Texas border with Louisiana.
According to the lawsuit, Jaimes "played no role in the tasks or events leading to the explosion. The blast and heat from the fire of the explosion caused (Jaimes) to be thrown to the ground and injured, as a result of the explosion." The filing details injuries to his back, neck and spine as well as other parts of his body, and states he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Kyle Findley, an attorney with Arnold & Itkin representing Jaimes, said in an emailed statement: "This was not an unavoidable accident - it was the result of gross negligence and a flagrant disregard for worker safety." Findley added: "Valero had awareness of the risks at this facility and chose to ignore them. When a company shows that kind of disregard for the safety of its workers and the surrounding community, it must be held accountable."
The lawsuit recounts the sequence of events and injuries as described above. When approached through a spokesperson at Arnold & Itkin, Jaimes declined to comment.
The company reported the incident to state environmental authorities the day after the explosion, characterizing it as arising from an unforeseen release that led to an ignition and multiple process unit disruptions.
Separate informational material included in the original reporting referenced analytical tools used by investors to evaluate Valero (ticker: VLO). That material described an AI-driven tool that compares companies across numerous financial metrics to identify potential stock ideas, noting its approach to fundamentals, momentum and valuation, and cited prior notable winners in other contexts. The tool further offered to show whether VLO is included in current strategies or if there are other opportunities in the same sector.
At the time the lawsuit was filed, additional details about the underlying causes of the process release, any broader operational impacts at the Port Arthur complex, or Valero’s longer-term response plans were not provided in the filings or in the company's brief comment to regulators.