Sept. 30, 2010
Bayer, WVSU Named in Suit Over Student’s Death
Mother Seeking $10 Million in Damages
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter
Charleston, WV (HNN) - The mother of a former West Virginia State University student has filed suit against the institution and Bayer asserting that her son became the third victim of the 2008 explosion.
When the Aug 28, 2008 explosion occurred residents were ordered to shelter in place. Two workers died. The incident sparked a full scale investigation into the storage of the chemical MIC at the Institute, WV facility. MIC killed over 2,000 in India at a Union Carbide plant in the 80s.
According to the complaint filed in Kanawha Circuit Court, Ra’Sean Gray, then 19, returned to his dorm after the all clear. However, his room was allegedly covered in “dust or soot” as well as a “foul smelling odor.”
The dorm in which Ra’Sean lived faced the Bayer plant where the explosion occurred in the plant’s Larvin unit. Larvin is a brand name pesticide.
On or about Sept. 17, 2008, Gray went for emergency treatment at Thomas Memorial Hospital where he complained of chest pains and shortness of breath. He returned to the hospital in respiratory distress and died.
The autopsy listed the cause of death as a pulmonary embolism. A contributing factor was “morbid obesity.”
Ra’Sean ‘s mother, Portia Gray, has sued Bayer CropScience and subsidiaries as well as the WVSU Board of Governors, WV State University Foundation Properties, and WVSU Foundation. Barry Nance of Washington, D.C. represents the plaintiff.
The plant has the largest amount of onsite MIC in the US.
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Bayer, WVSU Named in Suit Over Student’s Death
Mother Seeking $10 Million in Damages
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter
Charleston, WV (HNN) - The mother of a former West Virginia State University student has filed suit against the institution and Bayer asserting that her son became the third victim of the 2008 explosion.
When the Aug 28, 2008 explosion occurred residents were ordered to shelter in place. Two workers died. The incident sparked a full scale investigation into the storage of the chemical MIC at the Institute, WV facility. MIC killed over 2,000 in India at a Union Carbide plant in the 80s.
According to the complaint filed in Kanawha Circuit Court, Ra’Sean Gray, then 19, returned to his dorm after the all clear. However, his room was allegedly covered in “dust or soot” as well as a “foul smelling odor.”
The dorm in which Ra’Sean lived faced the Bayer plant where the explosion occurred in the plant’s Larvin unit. Larvin is a brand name pesticide.
On or about Sept. 17, 2008, Gray went for emergency treatment at Thomas Memorial Hospital where he complained of chest pains and shortness of breath. He returned to the hospital in respiratory distress and died.
The autopsy listed the cause of death as a pulmonary embolism. A contributing factor was “morbid obesity.”
Ra’Sean ‘s mother, Portia Gray, has sued Bayer CropScience and subsidiaries as well as the WVSU Board of Governors, WV State University Foundation Properties, and WVSU Foundation. Barry Nance of Washington, D.C. represents the plaintiff.
The plant has the largest amount of onsite MIC in the US.
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