USIC asked the court to look at the definition of “construction work” under the statute. The primary issue between the parties that became the focal point of the court’s decision was: What is the definition or meaning of “construction work”? Spire argued that the task of marking the location of gas lines for others doing the excavation is not construction work: Marking alone does not make changes to the site, unlike construction work. As a result, Missouri prohibits anyone engaged in “public or private construction work” from “agreeing to indemnify or hold harmless” anyone else their “own negligence or wrongdoing.” The reasoning appears to be that construction activity can be a dangerous activity with the potential for serious accidents – this case being such an example.
The problem with this contractual provision, according to USIC, was a Missouri statute that prohibited contractual indemnity when the work involves construction activity. Spire argued that USIC was responsible for any damages caused by Spire’s negligence, as well as USIC’s own negligence, based on the contractual language that USIC had to indemnify Spire regardless of its “own negligence or wrongdoing.” Of interest here is a contractual indemnity dispute that arose between two of the defendants: the natural gas utility now known as Spire Missouri and the locating service it hired to locate its lines, USIC Locating Services. It is reported that more than $75 million was paid to resolve various claims. The explosion killed one person, injured 15 and completely destroyed a famous restaurant known as JJ’s.įollowing the explosion, many lawsuits were filed. That gas line leak resulted in a large explosion in the city’s Country Club District. 19, 2013, a natural gas line was accidentally struck during cross-directional boring for the installation of fiber-optic cables in downtown Kansas City, Missouri. Photo: CatLane/iStock / Getty Images Plus/Getty Images