Firm obtains settlement in lawsuit against fraternity involved in Charles River explosion
(BOSTON) August 9, 2010 – Taylor Duane Barton & Gilman recently obtained a six-figure settlement on behalf of two environmental clean-up volunteers who suffered severe burns caused by an exploding block of sodium ingot, which had been thrown into the Charles River as part of an MIT fraternity prank.
John J. Barton and the firm filed a lawsuit against the fraternity among others on behalf of the injured volunteers.
On Sept. 6, 2007, Thomas Soisson, a retired high school physics teacher, and Kate Nardin, a Harvard University graduate student, were part of a four-person volunteer cleanup crew. They were working on the Charles River Clean-Up Boat, a 20-foot, open deck vessel used to remove litter and other debris from the shores of the Charles River. While working on the Boston side of the river, just east of the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge, the cleanup workers spotted a white, brick-shaped object that looked like styrofoam on the rocks along the riverbank. They scooped up the foot-long object and deposited it in a plastic trash barrel on board the cleanup boat.
A few minutes later, the trash barrel started emitting crackling and popping noises, then began to smoke. When Soisson and Nardin approached the barrel to investigate, a thunderous explosion obliterated the plastic barrel, peppering the retired teacher and graduate student with pieces of molten plastic and a white caustic material, severely burning their faces, arms and legs.
Witnesses on shore who heard the explosion suspected a possible terrorist attack, and immediately called Emergency 911. First responders attempted to rinse the caustic material off of the injured volunteers, only to discover that the victim’s clothing and responder’s gloves caught fire when water came in contact with the unknown white particles.
Soisson and Nardin were both subjected to lengthy chemical scrubbings in a makeshift decontamination shower set up in the parking lot of Massachusetts General Hospital. The decontamination process was emotionally traumatic, particularly for Nardin, due to a large number of medical personnel who had gathered to observe the new decontamination process and the significant lack of privacy.
Soisson later underwent painful skin graft surgery, and endured a lengthy period of recuperation complicated by recurrent infections. Nardin was also treated for her burns during the course of a short hospital stay, but she had to return to the burn clinic for nine outpatient visits due to infections and scarring.
In the weeks that followed, various police agencies continued with their investigations to determine who was responsible for the Charles River explosion. Oddly enough, a break occurred in the investigation when detectives from the Massachusetts State Police were alerted to a You-Tube video that brazenly celebrated the zaniness of MIT students under cover of darkness tossing blocks of sodium ingot into the river to watch the resulting chemical explosions.
The popular You-Tube video continued to be aired even after the explosion that caused the well-publicized injuries to Soisson, Nardin and several other clean-up volunteers and emergency personnel. The video prompted Massachusetts State Police detectives to contact the MIT Police Department, where the State Police learned that an MIT fraternity, Tau Epsilon Phi (TEP), had recently conducted a sodium drop from the Boston side of the Charles River. According to MIT police, TEP had also reportedly been involved in other sodium drops in years past.
Ultimately, only one fraternity member, Bhaskar Mookerji, was charged with criminal conduct, even though the sodium drop was conducted as a rush-week function attended by over 20 TEP fraternity brothers and alumni. In April 2008, seven months after the Charles River explosion, Mookerji was officially charged in the case. He pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and an environmental pollution violation.
According to Matthew Peddie, president of TEP’s MIT Chapter in 2007, the fraternity’s national organization was informed of the local chapter’s sodium drop approximately two days after the Charles River explosion. Peddie testified in the civil lawsuit filed by Soisson and Nardin that TEP National initially sought to distance itself from the incident by pressuring members of the local chapter to author letters denying the TEP chapter had any role in the sodium drop that injured the Charles River volunteers.
At the urging of the national organization, TEP’s local chapter eventually censured Mookerji for his role in throwing the sodium ingot into the Charles River, but took no action against those fraternity members who had planned the sodium drop, procured the sodium ingot, or who for six months had concealed the fraternity’s role in the event. Despite his censure, Mookerji continued to live at the fraternity chapter house, and received free housing and monetary compensation to cover his attorney’s fees.
After many months of investigation and discovery, insurance carriers for TEP and the individual defendants ultimately agreed to pay an undisclosed settlement amount to compensate Soisson and Nardin for their injuries.
“It is disappointing when young men we consider to be our best and brightest engage in such reckless and irresponsible behavior," said Barton, a partner of the firm." But what is even more troubling is when a national fraternity organization, which one would expect to play some role in educating these young men, does nothing to stop these dangerous events, and even encourages its members to lie about their involvement. Fortunately, Tom Soisson and Kate Nardin have now recovered from their injuries, the responsible parties have been held accountable, and there is hope that others will learn from these events.”
About Taylor Duane
Taylor Duane is one of New England’s leading civil litigation law firms with offices in Boston and Providence. Its experienced trial attorneys appear regularly in the federal and state courts of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. The Providence Business News has named the firm as one of Rhode Island’s Best Places to Work for three consecutive years (2008-2010).
