Oklahoma sues over bridge collapse

TULSA, Okla. -- Oklahoma filed a lawsuit accusing a towboat captain and two barge companies of negligence for a crash that caused a highway bridge to collapse, killing 14 people.

Attorney General Drew Edmondson said Wednesday that Capt. William Joe Dedmon, Magnolia Marine Transport Co. and Ergon Inc. should have done more to prevent the May 26 crash.

The companies should have had a second pilot on the boat to steer the rig if the first became incapacitated, or a kill switch that would have stopped the boat if there was a problem, he said.

But Tuesday's lawsuit did not go into specifics because it was filed in response to a pre-emptive bid by Magnolia to limit its liability in the crash, Edmondson said.

Vicksburg, Miss.-based Magnolia asked a federal judge in Jackson, Miss., on Monday to be cleared of responsibility of the crash or to set a $1.2 million limit on civil damages.

Edmondson said the lawsuit seeks at least $10,000 but expects that damages will exceed $15 million.

He said Oklahoma's investigation is continuing and is also looking at the state's liability in the collapse of the bridge.

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation oversees its maintenance.

Dedmon's towboat was pushing two barges up the Arkansas River when one of the barges hit the Interstate 40 bridge in eastern Oklahoma, knocking down more than 500 feet of roadway and sending 10 vehicles into the muddy water.

Dedmon, who has been hospitalized for heart troubles, told investigators he blacked out just before the collision. The National Transportation Safety Board said Dedmon had slept less than 10 hours in the two days preceding the accident but told investigators he was not tired.

Magnolia owns the towboat and employs Dedmon, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Jackson, Miss.-based Ergon.

Joel Henderson, Magnolia's attorney, said that his company wasn't negligent. "We just have not seen any evidence of that," he said.

Henderson also said the Mississippi judge has already ruled that all lawsuits relating to the crash should be filed in that state. Edmondson said he wasn't aware of such a ruling.

State officials have said repairing the bridge will cost about $15 million and take as long as six months. Workers on Wednesday began shearing a piece of the span that has been hanging from the undamaged sections of the bridge.