Jury Awards $14.9 Million to Family of Man Killed in Gas Well Accident

By Mary Mitchell

Published on December 19, 2006

In early December 2006 after a six-day trial, the Santa Fe jury that heard the case brought Stapleton's family against Energen Resources Corp. awarded the family approximately $1.9 million in compensatory damages and another $13 million in punitive damages. The jury found Energen negligent because it had failed to place fencing around the well which could have prevented the accident. The family of the other man killed, 20-year-old Cody Amezcua, settled their legal action against Energen for an undisclosed amount, before trial.

The gas wells in the area where Stapleton died, the Glade Open Space Area, were mostly without fences. An attorney for Stapleton's family, Don Bruckner, reported that Energen officials admitted they'd had no program to assess the risks associated with its wells at the site. The company leased the high-pressure natural gas well on federal land. Bruckner also noted that after the case was filed, other gas and oil drilling companies added fences around their wells to avoid similar accidents.

Stapleton's grandparents Freeda and Alvin Stapleton raised him. If Energen does not appeal the verdict, they will share the jury's award with Stapleton's mother and sister.

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