In West Virginia, a chemical plant has agreed to a major cut in production of the toxic chemical behind the Bhopal gas disaster of 1984. Thousands of people died in the Indian town of Bhopal when a Union Carbide pesticide plant released methyl isocyanate, or MIC. The owner of the West Virginia plant, Bayer CropScience, says it will reduce MIC production 80 percent, following a public outcry. An explosion at the plant killed two workers last year, raising fears that a similar accident could trigger the MIC’s release.