Superheated steam that filled elevator killed Westar workers, lawsuit says

Two workers killed at a Westar Energy power plant died after the elevator they were riding in filled with superheated steam from a faulty safety valve, according to a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday.

That lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of a state limit on compensation of $250,000 for survivors of those who die in on-the-job accidents.

The suit was filed on behalf of Bailey and Dalton Burchett, the daughter and son of Westar worker Damien “Craig” Burchett of Overbrook, a Westar operations manager who was killed in the June 3 accident along with co-worker Jesse Henson of Manhattan.

The deadly accident occurred within hours of restarting a turbine that had been shut down for three months as part of a routine maintenance program, said the lawsuit, filed in Kansas City, Kan.

The power plant northwest of Topeka generates electricity by burning coal to make high-pressure steam, which is then flowed through turbines that drive generators.

Two of the three steam turbines that had been serviced were brought back on line without incident, the lawsuit said.

But the third turbine didn’t come up to full power. Burchett and Henson were sent to investigate a loss of steam at a safety relief valve, which is supposed to vent the steam outside the plant if the pressure in the system gets too high.

The two men took the elevator to the 14th floor of the plant where the steam valve is housed.

“Upon the elevator door opening on the 14th floor, (the men were ) engulfed in flesh boiling steam that had filled the room,” the lawsuit said. “(Burchett) was exposed to the steam release and suffered severe burns that caused him to endure a horrific death.”

Burchett died at the University of Kansas Medical Center, where he was airlifted after the accident.

“Following the incident, it was determined (the steam relief valve) had either been ripped apart at the flange or had failed all together allowing the steam to fill the room on the 14th floor,” the lawsuit said.

His children are suing the company that did the maintenance work, Team Industrial Services. The company is a multinational firm with an office in Wichita.

The survivors are also suing the Emerson Electric Co., the manufacturer of the steam valve, and Siemens, the giant German industrial firm that built the turbines.

No one from any of those companies would comment on the lawsuit.

Westar is not named as a defendant.

Under Kansas law, workers’ compensation insurance is the sole remedy for workers, and the employer is immune from other legal actions, said John Carmichael, an attorney and member of the state House Judiciary Committee.

That immunity doesn’t extend to the company’s subcontractors or the manufacturers of equipment the company buys, Carmichael said.

The lawsuit also challenges the state’s cap on non-monetary damages in personal injury lawsuit.

Under current law, state courts are not allowed to award more than $250,000 for damages such as suffering and loss of companionship, which are not readily quantifiable in dollars.

The lawsuit claims that violates state and federal constitutional guarantees of “equal protection, separation of powers, right to trial by jury, taking private property without just compensation, due process (and) free and open access to the courts.”

This story was originally published November 1, 2018 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Superheated steam that filled elevator killed Westar workers, lawsuit says."