Health Safety & Environment
When an accident occurs within the oil & gas industry, the outcome often leaves
more in its wake than just the obvious property damage, personal injuries and
equipment destruction. Many times, the fragile ecosystems surrounding the wellsite
are detrimentally affected by accidents that resulted from negligence of oilfield
management or defective equipment provided by manufacturers or suppliers.
Several of our engineering professionals have worked in the environmental business
and are highly experienced at performing environmental site assessments.
Case Histories
On a regular basis, our engineering staff designs and analyzes critical wells with the
intent to identify and mitigate hazardous drilling factors caused by high-temperature and
high-pressured formations, sour gasses and risks associated with remote locations and
hostile environments. As a result of their normal activities, our staff can apply the
same skills to evaluate wells after an accident to determine why the original plans failed.
Our expert witness and litigation staff has served as consultants for many major oil & gas
drilling companies and exploration companies and numerous energy-based attorneys since 1995.
Signa has served in cases representing both plaintiffs and defendants in energy litigation
cases, utilizing our field-tested experience to provide the most pertinent aspects of cases,
such as:
- Groundwater and soil contamination case that involved a site where oil & gas operations were located. Signa's engineers and litigation staff combined their ingenuity in the areas of petroleum engineering, geology, environmental science and geohydrology to resolve the case.
- A well blowout occurred while workers were trying to come out of a hole to make a bit change, when the well kicked. Workers tried to put the Kelly back on but were unsuccessful. When the well kicked, well was blowing sand, rocks and gas up through the crown and eventually ignited. A BOP installed on the well was not shut in. Plaintiff claimed foot injuries. Regulatory agency reported on defendant's right to dump waste material in specified area.
Who to Call
When an oilfield accident has caused damage to soil, groundwater or other biological
hazard, Signa can provide expert consultation supported by demonstrative evidence to paint
the clearest picture in the courtroom. Created in 1992 as a Engineering Service Company, Signa
expanded its services to offer expert witness and litigation support and has been instrumental
in the resolution of cases involving health & environmental litigation, patent infringement,
personal injury, product design, contract disputes and equipment failures.
Signa utilizes its own Risk Mitigation Process for drilling operations. After careful and
thorough reviews of wellsite conditions and issues, Signa can provide a detailed Hazard
Identification (HAZID) and Hazard Operations (HAZOP) analysis to identify inherent risks
in a critical drilling program and develop contingency plans to mitigate these problems.
We have experience in handling virtually every type of upstream oil & gas procedure. Contact
Dave Roseland with your expert witness needs, or simply check our
case histories or see our
client list in pdf format to get a better feel for what we do.




