Mrs. John S. Schexnayder, on Behalf of Herself and All Others Similarly Situated v. Bunge Corporation

WISDOM, Circuit Judge:

In this Erie-bound diversity suit, tried to a jury, the plaintiffs-appellants are members of eighteen, of the 225 families living in the Gabriel Heights subdivision in Destrehan, Louisiana. The subdivision is bounded by the Bunge grain elevator, built in 1960, the St. Charles grain elevator, built in 1964, railroad tracts, and the Mississippi River. The area is industrialized, and the grain elevators violate no zoning regulations. In September 1970, and again in October 1972, the Bunge elevator exploded when accumulated grain dust ignited.

The plaintiffs sued Bunge…