Steve Straughen suffered life-altering injuries when a frac tank he was working on exploded and he was thrown in the air. Now, Straughen has just won a $30 million judgment in Colorado federal court.
The explosion happened in December 2019 while Straughen was working at a site near the intersection of County Roads 90 and 35 in Weld County.
A federal jury determined the oil and gas company he worked for, DHI Energy Service, owes Straughen $30 million for their alleged negligence because the tank he was working on had holes in it, which created an explosive reaction.
“We all have a job to do… and from their perspective, they had one job, and their job was to maintain proper tanks… and it didn’t happen, they didn’t do it, so sometimes you have to deal with the consequences of that,” Straughen said in an interview with CBS News Colorado on Friday, the day after the verdict. “They have that one job, and I hope from here on out, they do it.”