A Houston jury has begun weighing whether the manufacturing company 3M bears any responsibility for the deadly 2020 Watson grinding explosion, in what is the fourth civil trial to grow out of the disaster. According to FOX 26 Houston, jurors are now being asked to decide both whether 3M shares any of the blame for the blast and what damages, if any, should be awarded to the residents who brought the case to court.
The case stems from the 2020 explosion at the Watson grinding facility, which occurred after propylene gas ignited. Three people were killed in the blast, and hundreds of nearby homes and businesses were also damaged by the explosion. The current proceeding is the fourth civil trial to grow out of that disaster, according to FOX 26 Houston.
This particular case was brought by 30 people who live in the area around the plant. At the heart of their claim is the argument that 3M did not properly service the facility's gas detection system. That accusation has placed the company's role at the center of this round of litigation before the court.
For its part, 3M has firmly rejected any responsibility, telling the court that Watson grinding is the only party to blame for what happened. The dispute over who is at fault has set the stage for a contentious trial, with the two sides clashing repeatedly over the expert testimony that has been presented to the jury during the proceedings.
A significant part of that clash has focused on the alleged use of artificial intelligence in a report prepared on behalf of 3M. According to arguments raised in court, the company hired an expert whose opinion was between 85 and 90 percent generated by AI rather than drawn from his own independent analysis, a claim that has become one of the flashpoints of the trial.
It was further alleged in court that when the expert was questioned about the matter, he initially denied using prompts and said he did not even know what a prompt was. However, more than 300 prompts were reportedly located afterward. One of them, it was claimed, posed the pointed question: how do I get 3M off this lawsuit.
With the arguments now before them, the jurors must decide whether 3M shares any of the responsibility for the explosion that killed three people and damaged hundreds of homes and businesses, and if so, what damages, if any, should be awarded to the residents who are suing. The panel's deliberations bring the fourth civil trial over the disaster toward a close, according to FOX 26 Houston.