Widows sue over Wynnewood, Okla. oil refinery explosion

Two widows have filed a negligence lawsuit over last year’s fatal boiler explosion at the crude oil refinery in Wynnewood. LeeAnna Mann and Kari Smith sued the refinery’s current owner, CVR Energy Inc., and its previous owner, Gary-Williams Energy Co. Their lawsuit seeks more than $1 million. The blast on Sept. 28, 2012, killed employees Russell Mann, 45, and Billy Smith, 34. The widows’ Houston-based attorney, Gary M. Riebschlager, complained in the lawsuit that the refinery’s owners — to save money — failed to make technological upgrades that would have reduced the danger of a steam boiler explosion. “The outdated Wickes boiler had to be restarted manually because it was not equipped with a Boiler Management System … that would allow Russell Mann and Billy Smith to restart the Wickes boiler from a safe and remote site,” the attorney wrote in the lawsuit.