Jackson Co. man sues Nomac Drilling for work injury

CHARLESTON -- A Jackson County man is suing Nomac Drilling after he claims he was injured while on the job.

Chesapeake Appalachia, LLC and Chesapeake Energy Corporation were also named as defendants in the suit.

On April 12, 2009, Howard Shamblin was working as a derrick hand at the defendants' rig, according to a complaint filed Feb. 16 in Kanawha Circuit Court.

Shamblin claims the mud pump was connected to an air pump and was not supplied by a flow of electricity that could be directly controlled, so in order to determine the cause of the failure of the charge pump to work, he flipped the breaker to the charge pump on and off several times, which did not activate the charge pump.

While Shamblin was attempting to examine the belts on the charge pump, the fingers of his right hand were exposed to the movement by the belts inside the charge pump due to a defective guard, according to the suit.

Shamblin claims while he was examining the charge pump, the air pump activated, causing the charge pump to activate suddenly and without warning and the belts to sever three fingers from his right hand.

The defendants failed to properly guard the belts in the charge pump and violated state and federal safety rules by allowing the unsafe working condition to exist, according to the suit.

Shamblin is seeking compensatory damages. He is being represented by Brent J. Kesner, Daniel W. Greear, Kevin C. Harris and Eric J. Holmes.

The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Tod J. Kaufman.

Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 11-C-257