The owner of the Rockin R Bar in Bozeman says he took a $4 million hit the day of the downtown explosion and is the latest plaintiff to sue NorthWestern Energy for negligence.
Ralph Ferraro's Rockin R Bar was a mainstay on Main Street for more than 60 years and was completely destroyed in the March 5th blast.
The natural gas explosion killed Tara Reistad Bowman, 36, and leveled half a city block.
The Rockin R's lawsuit against NorthWestern Energy also includes Aspen Land Company as a plaintiff; the company was a tenant in the building.
According to court papers, Ferraro claims NorthWestern and its senior gas systems manager, Leonard Leveaux, knew or should have known that the service line at 219 East Main was brittle and unsafe. It was this cracked line that leaked natural gas, causing the explosion and fire.
The suit is the seventh against NorthWestern and is similar to those filed by the American Legion, the Rocky Mountain Rug Gallery, Boodles restaurant, the Pickle Barrel, Ann Bates, who lost a historic building in the blast and the owners of Lilly Lu's and Toldstedt Architects.
Bowman's family is also suing the utility company for wrongful death.
NorthWestern Energy spokeswoman Claudia Rapkoch says the company doesn't comment on ongoing litigation. CEO Bob Rowe has said in the past that the company believes it is not legally liable in the explosion.
(from November 2, 2009) The lawsuits against Northwestern Energy continue to mount as two more have been filed, blaming the utility company for the deadly downtown explosion.
The owners of Boodles restaurant and the Pickle Barrel are the latest plaintiffs to file suit against NorthWestern Energy and its senior gas system manager Leonard Leveaux. Both businesses were completely destroyed in the March 5 explosion, a blast that killed Bozeman resident Tara Reistad Bowman, 36, and leveled half a city block.
The lawsuits by William Jackson Kent of Boodles and Kenneth and Kerry Olson of the Pickle Barrel are similar to a handful that were already filed in Gallatin County District Court against NorthWestern Energy.
These are the fifth and sixth lawsuits filed against the utility company.
According to court documents, the parties blame the utility company and Leveaux for the explosion, saying NorthWestern's brittle and defective pipe caused the blast after natural gas escaped from the cracked service line.
"Long before March 5, 2009, NorthWestern and Leveaux knew, based on their experience, threaded connectors pose particular hazards when used in service lines because they are susceptible to the initiation of cracks, failures and leaks. NorthWestern and Leveaux knew of the expected, normal, environmental conditions existing in Downtown Bozeman, Montana and the effect those environmental conditions have on underground service lines. NorthWestern and Leveaux knew or should have known these conditions would cause initiation of cracks and failures in the brittle deteriorated pipe, particularly as threaded connectors," the lawsuits state. "Despite this knowledge, NorthWestern and Leveaux, as senior manager of gas system integrity, chose not to institute a program to replace the hazardous service lines in Downtown Bozeman with safe lines, without threaded connectors."
"On March 5, 2009, NorthWestern's deteriorated and defective pipe cause an explosion and fire in the 200 East Main block of Bozeman, Montana which destroyed the building owned by Ann Bates (owner of the building located at 221 and 223 East Main Street)," the lawsuits continue.
In October, Rocky Mountain Rug Gallery owner Jalal Neishabouri filed a lawsuit against the company. That month also, the family of Tara Reistad Bowman, 36, who died inside the art gallery on March 5, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the company.
In September, a lawsuit was filed against NorthWestern Energy by owners who lost buildings and businesses in the explosion. Named as plaintiffs in that lawsuit are Ann Bates, the owner of the building located at 221 and 223 East Main Street, which housed the Montana Ballet Company, LillyLu children's store and Tolstedt Architects; Sheryl Sanders, owner and operator of LillyLu children's boutique at 223 East Main Street; and Brian Tolstedt and Judy Doerr, owners and operators of Tolstedt Architects at 221 East Main Street.
Also in September, a lawsuit was filed by American Legion Post 14 in Bozeman and its manager Tom Jones against NorthWestern Energy, claiming the company and its officials knew that the natural gas service line behind the Montana Trails Art Gallery had deteriorated and was unsafe.
NorthWestern Energy CEO Bob Rowe has said Northwestern believes the utility company is not legally liable for the explosion.
