Mother Of Man Killed In Texas Well Site Explosion Intends To Sue Chesapeake

The mother of one of the other men who died in a well site explosion said has filed court documents stating she is intending to sue Chesapeake.

Chesapeake spokesman, Gordon Pennoyer, said their "thoughts and our prayers remain with those impacted."

They are not commenting on the lawsuit but attorneys for the company did file a response in court Monday morning.

On Jan. 30, emergency responders were called to the well site in rural Burleson County, Texas, after reports of an explosion.

Three people have since died. All were contractors, according to Chesapeake. 

On Friday afternoon, the mother of Windell Beddingfield, one of the victims, filed a request for a restraining order to keep Chesapeake from "from changing, altering, destroying, or modifying any physical evidence" related to the explosion and fire.

“This is done to try and preserve all evidence before the lawsuit actually gets filed and gets underway,” said Eric Allen of Zehl & Associates who is representing the mother. “You want to preserve all the evidence so you can make sure you find out what happened, what the negligent factors were. Was there gross negligence?”

Chesapeake responded with a filing Monday afternoon and said the two contractors at the well site are the ones responsible in the case.

Allen said they are hoping a judge will make a decision on the restraining order as soon as possible.

“This helps ensure justice for family members that have either lost someone or folks that have been grievously injured in this incident,” he said.

Chesapeake said they are still investigating what caused the explosion.