A jury awarded $9.7 million to the family of a man who died while working inside a tank at a landfill gas facility in Houston. On Feb. 22, 2005, Adan Padron, 41, was sent inside the gas tank to manually remove spent iron sponge. Minutes after entering, a piece of sponge fell from the wall and struck Padron, fracturing his neck. He was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital. Padron's wife blamed GSF Energy LLC, the contractor and operator of the facility, alleging it knew the tank was hazardous. She further contended that GSF Energy didn't conduct a full hazard analysis before approving a permit to allow workers into the tank, in violation of OSHA and company policies.
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