Anniversary of the tragedy at Texas City

Event Details

Please join us to mark the second anniversary of the tragedy at Texas City, and to unveil the Remember the 15 Bill. We will assemble on the South Steps of the Texas Capitol in Austin from 12:30 to 2:00 P.M.

But first read the Remember the 15 bill and sign the petition for Remember The 15 Bill

Location:
South Steps of the Texas Capitol in Austin
1100 San Jacinto Blvd, Austin, TX

For driving directions click here.

Time: 12:30pm - 1pm

Speaker List:

Brent W. Coon is the founding member of the firm Brent Coon & Associates. A veteran of hundreds of jury trials, the firm has obtained verdicts for many individuals in excess of a million dollars over the last decade and total settlements in the hundreds of millions of dollars. His most recent case was serving as lead plaintiff’s attorney for Eva Rowe in her lawsuit against BP, PLC.. Brent earned his Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of Houston Law Center in less than two years and began his law career in 1986. In 2001, Brent undertook the development of Brent Coon & Associates litigation. Today Brent Coon & Associates has 14 offices across the country and is one of the largest plaintiff law firms in the country.

A Representative from State Representative Craig Eiland was first elected to the Texas State Legislature in 1994. Mr. Eiland began his public service representing the citizens of Galveston County. Mr. Eiland has been recognized three times by Texas Monthly magazine, including one of the "Ten Best Legislators" in 2003.

A Representative from Texas State Senator Mario V. Gallegos, Jr., has dedicated his career to helping others. After serving 22 years in the Houston Fire Department where he retired as Senior Captain, Gallegos continued his public service in the Texas Legislature. Elected to the Texas State Senate in 1994, he is the first Hispanic Senator elected to represent Harris County. Most recently he was recognized by the Texas State Association of Fire Fighters and the Combined Law Enforcement Association of Texas for his work during the 77th Legislative Session.

Tammy Miser co-founded United Support & Memorial or Workplace Fatalities (USMWF) in 2004 after her brother Shawn Boone was killed in an explosion at Hayes-Lemmerz Huntington, IN. Tammy’s experience dealing with a workplace death prompted her to ensure other families were able to gain the support, healing, awareness, and sensitive information she was not able to obtain. Through USMWF Tammy has helped assemble groups and individuals together for common causes; such as giving our lost workers a voice and helping families deal with the repercussions of their loved ones death.

T. Michael "Mike" O'Connor, a Houston businessman, is the visionary behind the Texas A & M University Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center, internationally known for its research, education, service and outreach. Previously Mr. O’Connor worked 15 years for M.W. Kellogg as a heat transfer specialist and holds two patents. He currently splits his time between activities at the research center and business interests that include residential real estate development in the Katy area west of Houston.

Eva Rowe is a native of Hornbeck Louisiana.
On the morning of March 23, 2005, her parents were killed in the explosion at the BP Chemical Refining plant in Texas City, Texas. On November 9, 2006, Ms. Rowe agreed to a settlement in her lawsuit against BP, LLC. BP agreed to her demands, including: release legal documents to be made public and a total of $38 million to be donated to Texas A&M University Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Truman G. Blocker Adult Burn Unit, the College of the Mainland, in Texas City, the Cancer Center at St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in memory of her parents, and to the Hornbeck, Louisiana school system in the memory of her mother. Ms. Rowe, with Brent Coon, is helping spearhead the passage of a bill in the Texas Legislature to do everything possible to prevent such a tragedy from ever occurring again.

Emmett Sheppard is president of the Texas AFL-CIO, a state labor federation with approximately 220,000 affiliates from labor unions across Texas. The Texas AFL-CIO is the leading voice advocating for workers’ rights in Texas. A former City Councilman and Mayor Pro Tem in his hometown of Groves, Mr. Sheppard worked at Gulf Oil Corp., where he assumed various duties in his union. In 2003 Mr. Sheppard won unanimous support to become Texas AFL-CIO president. Among other activities, he serves on the executive board of the Workers’ Assistance Program, which helps workers throughout the state with a variety of problems and on the executive advisory board of Project SAFE Texas.