Company officials have already released information indicating that the immediate cause of the leak was a valve that failed. DuPont has highly trained employees and highly developed safety systems, leaving many wondering how the four employees did not escape the fumes in time, and whether a lapse in company safety protocols may have caused the deaths.

The Washington Post asked residents in the community how they felt, and many were concerned. Although some have accepted the risk that goes along with living near a chemical plant, they also found the deaths unsettling and are asking for answers.

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board has sent a team of investigators to the plant, where they join investigators from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and company investigators. No one knows when the investigation will be complete.

The chemical that was leaked, methyl mercaptan, is used by DuPont in the production of pesticides that are used to kill insects in farming and livestock operations.

By Mary Ellis LaGarde

In the first official public health report, county officials have indicated that injuries were more severe than previously known. The report also suggests that many injuries may have been missed in the initial chaos following the explosion.

This new report, issued by the Waco-McLennan County Public Health District, finds that more than one in five of those injured by the explosion experienced traumatic brain injury (TBI) or concussion.

The report also states “some injuries, particularly ear injuries as well as traumatic brain injury, may not have been identified at the time of medical treatment immediately after the explosion,” indicating that many of the injured may have left the hospital without proper treatment or instructions.

Ear injuries affected more than 10 percent of the injured.

Reese Dunklin of the Dallas Morning News has been reporting on a second issue: the latest moves by the Texas Department of State Health Services to keep basic information about chemical storage facilities away from the public.

In early July, the office of the Texas Attorney General informed reporters at the Dallas Morning News that the Department of State Health Services would no longer release information about chemical inventories to the public.

In a letter, the Attorney General stated that the decision was based on Texas Homeland Security statutes. Several federal agencies have spoken out against the withholding of information about potential chemical hazards.

In April of 2014, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board concluded that a lack of community awareness of the chemical hazard at the West facility contributed to the disaster. No emergency response plan was in place at the time of the explosion. 

In the last few weeks, a new federal task force has publicly called for increased release of information about large chemical inventories. Such information would make it possible for local citizens and businesses to make effective emergency response plans based on real knowledge of the risks that surround them.

At The Hale Law Firm, we have helped thousands of clients successfully prosecute their personal injury claims including auto accidents, wrongful death, dangerous products, brain injuries, burn injuries, and defective medical devices. Clients depend on their personal injury lawyers for guidance and legal advice across a broad range of personal injury accidents. To learn more, visit http://www.hale911.com/ or call 972.351.0000.