City of West Reaches $10.4M Settlement in Deadly 2013 Fertilizer Plant Explosion

The city of West has reached a $10.4 million settlement with several companies in the April 2013 fertilizer plant explosion that resulted in 15 deaths and millions in property damage. The suit alleged that Adair Grain Inc., CF Industries, El Dorado Chemical Company and International Chemical Company were negligent in selling or distributing the chemical that was being stored at the plant. It also claimed they failed to warn of the dangers associated with handling and storing the product and should never have sold it to West Fertilizer, according to a statement by Harrison Davis Steakley Morrison Jones P.C., one firm that represented the city. The companies have denied responsibility or wrongdoing in the April 17, 2013, explosion that destroyed nearby schools and homes. More than 250 people were injured by the blast and cleanup efforts, including 72 residents of a nursing home not far from the plant. "I am very satisfied," Mayor Tommy Muska told WFAA-TV (Channel 8). "It has been a long time coming."  Continue reading...

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