- AP
- Firefighter conduct search and rescue of an apartment destroyed by an explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas
By Alexandra Berzon
As details emerge about the Texas fertilizer plant that was the site of Wednesday’s fatal explosion and fire, a few tidbits can be gleaned from a 2007 lawsuit that the plant’s owners filed against agribusiness giant Monsanto Co.
The suit, filed as a potential class action in U.S. District Court for the western district of Texas, claimed that Monsanto had artificially inflated prices for its herbicide Roundup through anti-competitive actions. The suit did not relate to storing fertilizer, believed to be at the root of Wednesday’s blast.
The suit was filed by Texas Grain Storage Inc. The company now calls itself West Fertilizer Co.
In the suit, the company said that it was started in 1957 as a grain-storage business by the Plasek family in the town of West, Texas. It later built a small fertilizer-blend plant and started selling fertilizer to area farmers.
Zak Covar, executive director of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, told a news conference Wednesday that the fertilizer storage and blending facility had been there since 1962.
In 1970 it started selling other agricultural products, including some from Monsanto, and by 1997 it had struck a deal with Monsanto to directly purchase Roundup each year.
A court filing in 2008 indicated that Texas Grain Storage recently had been sold. Emil Plasek is listed as a former owner.
Texas Grain Storage said it monitored the Roundup, stored in a stainless steel tank, through a telephone connected to the tank, the company said.
Many documents in the case are sealed, and the public documents don’t reveal the names of the plant’s then-current owners. Texas corporation records list the president of the company as Donald R. Adair, and show a business operating as Adair Grain Inc. at the same address.
Texas Grain Storage was represented by roughly 30 lawyers at 12 firms, according to court records. One lawyer who represented Texas Grain said the suit stalled in 2010 after a magistrate judge denied a request to certify the case as a class action. The lawyer said Texas Grain appealed the ruling, and that a district judge has yet to rule on the appeal. The last public filing in the case was in 2010.
Monsanto responded to Texas Grain’s complaint by saying the company didn’t have standing to bring the case and was barred by the statute of limitations. Thursday, a Monsanto spokesman said, “The long dormant lawsuit filed by Texas Grain had nothing to do with fertilizer or the operation of the West, Texas plant.”
See also:
Full Coverage of the Texas Fertilizer Plant Explosion – WSJ Streams
Mr.” I sell round up”,
. Please do some research before you make foolish comments.
There has absolutly been no advancement in the treatment or cure of cancer after trillions of dollars and countless years. The definition of survival rate is manipulated to best serve the industries campaign to brainwash the public.
Five-year absolute survival rates describe the percentage of patients that are alive five years after their disease is diagnosed. If you can survive toxic chemotherapy for five years then die the day after the 5th year you are considered a survivor .
Go to Netflix and watch ” The Beautiful Truth “
They didn’t count on the Internet, social media, & youtube when they hatched their plan in the late 80′s/90′s. Information about their dirty dealings is as easy to find as the sun. Who they bribed, who works for them now that worked for the FDA, EPA, etc. You can trace every dirty track. Every lawsuit, every poison ever created. THIS WILL BURY THEM. FDA & US Gov’t cannot ignore the facts. They are all OUT IN THE OPEN. If they continue ignoring the facts they are RESPONSIBLE FOR DAMAGES. I can see the commercials already.
That’s why Hugh Grant Monsanto CEO sold a buttload of stocks in Jan 2013, 3 million worth. He knows the end is near for them…
If you want to KNOW the real scoop on Monsanto – this book is written by insiders. It will keep you sitting on the edge of your seat. Well written and leaves you with ZERO doubt about the insidious nature of this company. The book title: Shedding Light on Genetically Engineered Food by Beth Harrison – Pub 2007
Now THIS makes sense. The powerful cabal families (who own all the major corporations, ultimately, in the entire world) they killed JFK to send a powerful message. Do not make waves. Information has come forward that they were behind the Titanic (getting rid of the powerful business men of the time who all opposed the institution of the FED), 9/11 (to bring anger and fear to our world (esp the U.S.) and to eat away at our rights and allow for easy enforcement of marshall law and control), Sandy Hook (which is a LIE – look for the damning video proof on YouTube – it was to take away our right to bear arms and keep us in an uproar and afraid) and JFK (he wanted a totally transparent government and no FED). If this company was going to create a class action suit against Monsanto – the BEST way to discourage others from the same or joining in – scare them IN A BIG WAY. Please look at this from a different perspective. This is clear terrorism.
For those that have no idea…Round up is an Herbicide / weed killer. But the part you dont understand is that, it is being injected into our food, HENCE “GMO”. its also being put in fertilizer to control weeds and bugs. SO ..do your home work before you comment. THIS stuff is poison and we are EATING IT..thanks to Monsanto. Got Cancer ? Look at the food your eating.
Pay attention to what your buying and eating. SO your not supporting MONSANTO, BAYER, DUPONT and the like.