At least one U.S. congressman and many safety experts raised questions about whether incomplete disclosure to the Department of Homeland Security may have contributed to the explosion. In a statement, Mississippi Congressman Bennie Thompson said: “It seems this manufacturer was willfully off the grid. This facility was known to have chemicals well above the threshold amount to be regulated under the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards Act (CFATS), yet we understand that DHS did not even know the plant existed until it blew up.”
Thompson went on to say: “I strongly believe that if the proper safeguards were in place, as are at thousands of (DHS) CFATS-regulated plants across the country, the loss of life and destruction could have been far less extensive.”
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If you were injured or endured property damage, or if you lost a loved one in the West, Texas fertilizer plant explosion, contact an experienced Texas personal injury lawyer today. For a free consultation, call 1-800-455-1054 or contact us online. If you are represented by The Herrera Law Firm, Inc., you won’t have to pay us any fees unless we make a recovery. Act promptly. A delay may affect your right to pursue compensation.
April 23 (Reuters) – The owner of a fertilizer plant that exploded last week killing 14 people and destroying dozens of homes and an apartment complex in a tiny Texas town is being sued by a single mom and by several insurance companies.
Two lawsuits, filed in McLennan County district court, have accused Adair Grain, Inc, the parent company of West Fertilizer Co, of negligence, according to copies of the filings provided by the court on Tuesday.
The company “was negligent in the operation of its facility, creating an unreasonably dangerous condition, which led to the fire and explosion,” said a lawsuit filed on Friday by insurance companies on behalf of individuals, two churches, and businesses including a Chevrolet car dealer and a bakery.
