Atchison company fined for toxic gas release faces lawsuit

Atchison company fined for toxic gas release faces lawsuit

More than three years years after a toxic gas cloud hovered over the city of atchison, kansas -- concerns linger for some residents over the impact it had on their health... good evening... federal prosecutors say 140 people sought medical attention as a result of the toxic cloud... but as kq2's alan van zandt reports -- there's still a handful of people who say the fumes they were exposed to that day have left their health in a cloud of doubt... <<(alan van zandt reporting) (nat sound of puff)using an inhaler is now just part of a daily routine for sharron berry.the health of the formerly active atchison, kansas woman has gone downhill over the past three years.

(sot: sharon berry, overtaken by gas cloud: "my left vocal cord is paralyzed.

I'm still coughing up all sorts of yuck.")berry points to october 21, 2016 as the day things changed -- the day of a major industrial accident at mgp ingredients, a grain plant located just five blocks away from berry's home -- which in this video is underneath the thickest part of the cloud.

(sot: berry: )company officials at the time said a delivery error caused bleach and sulfuric acid to be mixed together--dispersing a cloud of chlorine gas over atchison.

The green gaseous cloud that formed enveloped the city, leaving residents and others to take cover or even evacuate..(sot: berry: "i literally could not breathe.

I didn't know what it was."we were debating whether to leave, but we didn't think we'd make it to the car.") after the cloud had cleared that afternoon, berry and more than 100 others sought medical attention .and now three years later, berry, her husband and six other families have filed a lawsuit against mgp.it doesn't pass the smell test that these many people would be in the middle of the exposure, at those levels and and somehow not walk away unscathed on a permanent basis.

(sot: andy smith, attorney: "permanent, irreversible lung damage, which affects how you breathe, your ability to breathe, it causes you fatigue, perhaps severe headache.")attorney andy smith says it shouldn't be a surprise that still today, people are developing illnesses due to the mgp chemical cloud.(sot: smith: "it's very common in toxic exposure cases for people to have a delay from people to figure it out.

You need for the people responsible for it to be front and center and tell the affected folks what can happen.) just last month the company pleaded guilty to violating the federal clean air act and agreed to pay a one-million dollar fine.

However, the judge in the case hasn't signed off yet on the agreement, wanting to hear victim impact statements first.

If he speaks to berry, he'll hear how her life has changed since the accident and how she even struggles to go up the stairs in her home without taking a rest break.

(sot: berry: "every morning i'm sick and my energy level is down and every day since i've been doing less and less.")and her anger about not being able to look out the windows of her own home the same way ever again.(sot: berry: "i'm mad" "every time there's a fog when you look outside and think...nature or mgp?")>> we talked with an mgp representative asking for a response to the story, but they said they could not comment due to pending litigation.

Sentencing takes place in federal court