Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Since it was 72 years ago, the plant was probably operating in a manner consistent with most plants.
Quote:
University of Houston professor Hugh W. Stephens, in his book The Texas City Disaster, 1947, writes that even though a contemporary U.S. Army ordnance safety manual listed ammonium nitrate as a high explosive, “prevailing scientific opinion held that the fertilizer was inert and would not catch fire or explode under ‘ordinary conditions.’” In the civilian world, the dangers of the substance were either unknown or not widely discussed.
With a little luck, whatever chemical company this was back then, was either merged with or bought out by Monsanto, and now you can go after them for... BILLIONS.
Either that, or the company will blame the Aunt for the explosion and try and go after the OP for damages.
If it is Texas City, that place is no stranger to disasters, didn't a refinery blow its top there about 20 years ago? It's staggering the workplace safety, pollution, and other standards that we take for granted today. I had a friend at work who was a UAW Local President, and he had a sign in his office that said something to the effect of, "If you only worked 40 hours this week didn't get killed or maimed doing so, and earned a decent check, thank a Union member".
Read this story about the devastating blast and fire that occurred in my state of Oregon, in 1959. Its main cause was a lack of proper regulations regarding the transport of explosives and negligence on the part of a truck driver. He had left his truck, loaded with 6.5 tons of dynamite and ammonium nitrate, parked on a city street, where a building fire nearby, caused it to detonate. The heroism of a young fire-fighting lieutenant, who assumed command after an assistant chief was killed, saved the City of Roseburg a lot of post-explosion fire damage, that would have occurred otherwise. The primary crater from the blast was 52 feet wide and 20 feet deep.
With a little luck, whatever chemical company this was back then, was either merged with or bought out by Monsanto, and now you can go after them for... BILLIONS.
Since Monsanto doesn't exist anymore, he would need to sue the new parent company :-)
My maternal grandfather died in a work accident in 1940. My grandmother never saw a dime and had to go on whatever welfare was available back then as she had 3 children. I'm not even sure OSHA existed back then.
That looks similar, but that's NOT the explosion I'm referring to.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Curly Q. Bobalink
Either that, or the company will blame the Aunt for the explosion and try and go after the OP for damages.
If it is Texas City, that place is no stranger to disasters, didn't a refinery blow its top there about 20 years ago? It's staggering the workplace safety, pollution, and other standards that we take for granted today. I had a friend at work who was a UAW Local President, and he had a sign in his office that said something to the effect of, "If you only worked 40 hours this week didn't get killed or maimed doing so, and earned a decent check, thank a Union member".
Again, it's not the one in TX & my aunt had nothing to do w/ the explosion whatsoever. Did you even read what I posted before about who did it? Her boss lied about his education, credentials, etc. to get his job. Somehow they hired him thinking he had a Ph.D. from MIT when in fact, he didn't even graduate from high school. There are tons of articles that show that.
Hopefully, someone can help guide me in the right direction regarding if anything can be done regarding receiving some kind of justice & compensation.
My aunt was killed in a chemical explosion back in the 1940s while she was at her job site. She was in her early 20s. Her boss was responsible for this. He lied about his education, credentials, etc. to get his job. There's plenty of proof online about this...countless articles, photos, and even a book written about this tragedy that I'm trying to find/obtain. I know boss' name, the name of the company she worked for, the address, etc. I just learned of all these articles, etc.
Is there here anything at all I can do to pursue this and if so, who can I contact? (My father has passed away a few years ago now and there are no other relatives of mine to ask about this.)
As others have said, this was way too long ago and back then, people did not sue or even get anything for deaths like this. Families were actually split apart with kids going to orphanages.
There is no justice and if someone is interested in the story, go to them. I think they're your only hope to find out more about your aunt.
You're being awful coy with revealing the identity of the plant. It sounds like you don't want people to research information that might contradict your claims or to find out whether damages have been paid out. It's still a common occurrence for fires to break out and explosions to occur at fertilizer plants.
I never heard about this either & can't say too much more w/o revealing my own ID, but I came to know of this when a chemist contacted me just last month. He actually wrote an article about it on his science history website & about my specific family. He must be in his 90s himself because I was shocked he was still alive.
She never had any children. Technically there's one last living sibling left (out of several), so she'd be in line to get any money. I don't know if she ever knew about this, but if she did, she wouldn't tell me about it.
Company's been blown up...killed 17 (my aunt & her boss included on that day), injured 150. Even disturbed homes in the nearby area too.
Maybe I'll PM you.
Thanks a lot! Actually, a university law professor I contacted said generally, damages for an incident like this must be filed w/i 2 yrs of the incident, but that I should speak w/ a local personal injury attorney to get his or her opinion. So he didn't say all hope was lost.
I don’t understand what the basis is for you yourself suing though. What damages are you going to say it caused you? I don’t think a standard personal injury attorney would take a case that’s 80 years old In which none of the principals are even alive.
I don’t think the boss lying to get the job is relevant in any way. Is there even proof that it (the explosion) was all that one person’s fault? Remember to that you would not be suing based on today’s laws under which companies operate but 1940 laws which there were not many.
EVERYONE NEEDS TO READ MY OTHER POSTS AFTER MY OP, specifically post #18 & then I did 1 more post #26 after that. Here it is below. I've given up trying to see about compensation. I know too many yrs have passed.
When disasters happen that kill loved ones & people sue, why do you think they sue? To get justice, compensation for a family member, etc. Unfortunately, this incident just happened way too many yrs ago, but a devastating tragedy is still a devastating tragedy no matter whether it happened 2 yrs ago or 70 yrs ago.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Forever Blue
I appreciate the comments. It's just one of those tragic events in which I'll collect as much information as I can for my own personal intrigue. The article the chemist wrote had photos of my aunt in which I can tell it's her and the official 1940 US census with my dad's name and his 7 other family members.
I'd love to know what the connection was with specifically my family to this chemist/article writer and this woman who he stated as an "invaluable help". Were either of them a childhood friend, etc.? I'll ask him. They must both be in their 90s then by now because the only living relative of my dad's family is the very youngest daughter (my other aunt) and she's now in her late 70s. Two of the other sisters just passed within a few mos of each other just the last 1/2 of last year.
My father's family was also facing another devastating plight at that time along with others of their ethnicity, which is probably why they never had the chance or means to prosecute back then about it.
My aunt was only 21 or 22 when she passed...a life way too short. The sudden and devastating way she left this earth, even finding dental records was impossible. She was just wiped out and forever gone.
To clarify, the "wannabe chemist", which is the term they used for that liar who was the sole cause of the explosion died too in the explosion along with my aunt, 16 others, and 150 injured.
The chemist who contacted me last month who wrote the article is a different man. I wonder did he know the other guy?
Quote:
Originally Posted by lchoro
You're being awful coy with revealing the identity of the plant. It sounds like you don't want people to research information that might contradict your claims or to find out whether damages have been paid out. It's still a common occurrence for fires to break out and explosions to occur at fertilizer plants.
Doing that would reveal my last name & w/ crazies out there & I've already had ID theft, etc. done to m e throughout the yrs, who knows what someone will do next.
Here's a picture of it though:
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Another Major Explosion That Rocked a U. S. City
