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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA Marion County man is suing a transportation company and other defendants after a tanker explosion left him with chemical and flash burns to his head and face.
Kevin Smith said a transport tanker he was working with in early 2025 in Marion County had not been properly cleaned and inspected after previously transporting fuel or a flammable liquid. It was then filled with a corrosive liquid.
Smith said in court papers that he was sampling liquid from the tanker when static electricity ignited the leftover liquid. That triggered the explosion.
The tanker was not labeled as having anything flammable, so Smith was not wearing protective gear used when handling those liquids, according to the lawsuit, which was originally filed last month in Marion Superior Court.
It was transferred last week to U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.
Smith “will continue to incur substantial medical expenses for treatment of his burn injuries, including but not limited to emergency care, hospitalization, surgery, skin grafts, wound care, rehabilitation, and ongoing medical monitoring,” the complaint states.
Defendants named in the case include Pittsburgh-based Howmet Aerospace Inc. and Basin Transportation LLC of Oklahoma City.
Neither company responded Tuesday afternoon to requests for comment from The Indiana Lawyer.
The lawsuit says one or more of the defendants “failed to implement or follow industry standards and best practices for cleaning, inspecting, and preparing transport tankers used to carry corrosive liquids.”
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