As the official investigation into the Dec. 6 Falk Corp. explosion continues, the families of the three employees killed in the blast filed a civil complaint Wednesday against J.M. Brennan, Inc., the company responsible for maintaining the propane pipelines underneath the Falk plant, 3001 W. Canal St.

"To lose a loved one through negligence or someone's fault .the grief is even worse," said Robert Habush, the families' attorney. "Then anger is associated with the grief."

The three plaintiffs filed the complaint jointly but are asking for separate judgments.

According to the complaint:

?Brennan employees were at Falk on Dec. 6 to switch the pipelines from natural gas to propane gas. Falk can switch between the two gases depending on how it wants to heat its complex.

?When employees made the switch, they smelled propane gas and saw liquid propane gas seeping up from the ground.

?Brennan employees told Falk employees the situation was under control and no evacuation was necessary. Moments later, the propane gas caused an explosion.

"We don't think the evacuation was handled properly," Habush said at a press conference Wednesday.

According to Habush, in 1988, Brennan installed the pipeline in in rocky ground.

The complaint states that the company was negligent in this regard because the pipe should have been laid in sand to protect the pipe from corrosion.

When investigators dug the pipe up, they found it had two obvious holes and another potential leak site.

Falk Corp. will not be added to the complaint.

"We haven't found evidence that Falk knew the pipe had been laid on rocks," Habush said.

The complaint did not specify the amount in damages that the families are asking for.

"They experienced both financial and emotional loss," Habush said.

Brennan has 45 days to file a written answer. Habush and co-counsel Alex Flynn and Gary Krawczyk are still developing their case and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is still investigating the explosion.

"We don't need to have OSHA tell us if something is wrong," Habush said of waiting to file the complaint until the investigation is complete.