Families Settle Over Youths’ Deaths on Michigan Dairy Farm

There’s a settlement in a federal wrongful death lawsuit by families of two young people who died in 2010 after falling into a tank at a Barry County dairy farm, according to legal documents.

The Grand Rapids Press reported that an attorney for Yankee Springs Dairy Farm says in a recent filing in U.S. District Court that those involved reached a settlement and were preparing related documents.

The families sued, saying 17-year-old Francisco Martinez and 18-year-old Victor Perez were overcome by fumes emitted by decaying molasses in the tank at the farm. Authorities said they died of asphyxiation after being trapped in the oxygen-depleted environment.

The lawsuit said Martinez and Perez complained to their supervisor about conditions inside the tank at the farm, about 20 miles southeast of Grand Rapids.

Related:

• Federal Survey Shows Risks to Young Kids on Farms