It was about 5 o'clock on Thursday afternoon in August 1996, when a dense gray cloud descended over Route 73, a two-lane road near Geismar, La., cutting visibility to zero and triggering a rear-end collision. As State Trooper Ross Johnson, a fresh-faced, 25-year-old Marine Corps veteran, drove toward the accident, he noted that every car headed his way had headlights on and windshield wipers flapping. When Johnson got out of his patrol car, he suddenly got hit by the heavy smell of ammonia. He ushered the drivers of the two cars out of the cloud and into a guard shack at...
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