Bayer CropScience's Institute plant will eliminate 80 percent of the huge methyl isocyanate stockpile that has fueled public safety concerns in the Kanawha Valley...The one-year project will cost $25 million and shut down production of two MIC-based pesticide ingredients...After the changes, Bayer hopes to keep its daily maximum MIC inventory below 50,000 pounds -- still far more than any other chemical plant in the nation...congressional investigators reported that debris from [last August's] explosion could have easily hit and damaged the MIC day tank, causing a disaster that "could have eclipsed" Bhopal. Those disclosures, coming after Bayer officials assured the public there was no danger to valley residents from the explosion and fire, prompted a firestorm of criticism.