Opinion
No. 08-30821.
June 24, 2009.
Bruno Bruno, Roy Francis Amedee, Jr., New Orleans, LA Joseph M. Bruno, David S. Scalia, Daniel E. Becnel, Jr., Becnel Law Firm, Reserve, LA, Rebecca A. Cunard, Cunard Reis Law Firm, Baton Rouge, LA, Calvin Clifford Fayard, Jr., Denham Springs, LA, William Hugh Sibley, Sibley Law Firm, Greensburg, LA, for Plaintiffs-Appellants.
Alan James Berteau, Kean, Miller, Hawthorne, D'Armond, McCowan Jarman, Baton Rouge, LA, for Defendant-Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana, No. 3:93-MD-2.
Before JOLLY, SMITH, and BENAVIDES, Circuit Judges.
After an explosion at a plant owned and operated by Exxon Mobil Corporation ("Exxon Mobil"), residents living in the area sued, claiming that the company was strictly liable for the accident. After a bench trial, the district court decided that the faulty piping in the plant did not create an unreasonable risk of harm to the plaintiffs, none of whom was killed or injured by the blast.
We have reviewed the briefs and have heard the arguments of counsel. We have consulted pertinent parts of the record and have researched the applicable law. The district court accurately employed the proper test and committed no error, much less any clear error, in finding no unreasonable risk of harm. Moreover, the court did not abuse its discretion in any evidentiary ruling.
The judgment is AFFIRMED, essentially for the reasons given by the district court in its comprehensive and persuasive Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law dated July 18, 2008.