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SUPERIOR, Wisconsin (KMSP) - More than five months after an explosion at an oil refinery in Superior, Wisconsin, some residents are taking the company to court.
The explosion and fire led to 36 people being injured and caused a mandatory evacuation in the city of Superior.
Now, Husky Energy and the Superior Refinery Company are at the center of a class-action lawsuit.
Minneapolis law firm Zimmerman Reed is representing three residents who were among hundreds forced to evacuate their homes as plumes of smoke filled the sky.
Court documents state that the plaintiffs suffered damages including lost wages, disruption and inconvenience.
One man says that he and his family were forced to spend the night in Canal Park in Duluth, because he couldn’t afford a hotel.
And one woman claims that her mother, who was in-home hospice, died just days after the explosion. Her death was allegedly the result of stress caused by the evacuation.
April 26, debris from an explosion punctured a large storage tank containing asphalt.
More than 15,000 barrels of hot asphalt spilled into the refinery, creating a massive fire.
Concerns that a nearby tank of toxic hydrogen fluoride would catch fire forced the evacuation of about 27,000 residents.
The lawsuit charges that the defendants failed to exercise due care in operating the refinery.