3 burned in southern Illinois silo explosion awarded a total of $180 million

3 burned in southern Illinois silo explosion awarded a total of $180 million By Andy Grimm, Chicago Tribune reporter June 5, 2012 Three workers who were badly burned in a 2010 grain elevator explosion in southern Illinois are to split a $180 million jury award. John W. Jentz, Robert Schmidt and Justin Becker were on a crew cleaning out a grain bin in Chester, south of St. Louis, that, unbeknown to them, had been smoldering for days and exploded while the three were removing their tools, said Robert Clifford, lawyer for Jentz and Schmidt. After a month long trial and 10 hours of deliberations,...