SAVANNAH — The widow of a man who died in the explosion at the sugar refinery at Port Wentworth has filed a lawsuit against Savannah Foods & Industries.

The lawsuit filed in Chatham County State Court on Monday contends the company owned the property where the Imperial Sugar Company refinery operates and is liable for damages.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Lashunda Harvey, the widow of Shelathia Harvey. It also names Stokes Contracting, a cleaning-dust control company, as a defendant.

Savannah attorney Mark Tate filed the civil action.

The lawsuit says 31-year-old Shelathia Harvey was operating a machine used in the refining, packing and transporting of sugar when the explosion tore through the plant on February 7th. The lawsuit says he was an employee of Imperial-Savannah LP.

Shelathia Harvey was one of 13 people who died, including eight at the site.

The explosion is believed to have been sparked by combustible sugar dust.

Part of the plant was destroyed in the explosion, but company officials have pledged to rebuild.

Imperial Sugar is not named as a defendant in the Harvey lawsuit.