[JoeRedskin]

Not sure which story I saw it in but, apparently, the factory had been cited at least once (and maybe more, don't recall) for its emmissions being to high in certain chemicals and (I think) were under a court order to bring them down. I remember there being a few other citations against them also. Not sure if they were of the substantive variety or the the "You have too many five too many parking spaces for the space alloted" type violations. The impression I got was that the company was running on a shoe string and was trying to cut regulatory corners.

To me, this just looks like a tragic accident and 50 years of litigation.