Fertilizer Plant explosion near Waco

[Winehole23]

The state agency that collects and maintains information on large chemical supplies across Texas has stopped sharing it with the public.


That was the type of information The Dallas Morning News used after last year’s deadly West explosion to identify dozens of other locations (http://www.dallasnews.com/news/local-news/20130503-map-ammonium-nitrate-storage-facilities-in-texas.ece) with ammonium nitrate fertilizer near homes and schools.


The Department of State Health Services released its database of chemical inventories, as reported by businesses across the state, after The News and other news media made public-information requests following the West disaster.


But the department changed course starting March 1. It began asking the Attorney General’s Office whether it had to withhold the information because of a 2003 state statute involving homeland security (http://tx.elaws.us/law/gv_title4_chapter418_sec.418.178).


The AG’s Office, which rules on open-records matters, said the department did have to keep the information from the public, according to a May 22 letter (http://watchdogblog.dallasnews.com/files/2014/06/TalonAGruling.pdf). WFAA-TV (Channel 8) first reported (http://www.wfaa.com/news/investigates/Exclusive-Hazardous-chemical-lists-no-longer-public-record-in-Texas-262943831.html) on the ruling Thursday night.


As a result, the state health department will no longer release its inventory reports unless told otherwise by the AG, a spokeswoman told The News Friday.

http://watchdogblog.dallasnews.com/2014/06/want-to-know-about-chemicals-stored-near-you-dont-expect-texas-to-tell-you-anymore.html/

[Wild Cobra]

Makes sense to me. Don't need would-be chemical bomb makers to know who to bribe or steal from.

[boutons_deux]

cool, people won't know they are living within blast range of a huge bomb, so they CANNOT put pressure on govt to protect.

As always, companies get protection, secrecy, citizens get fucked, with Repug ALWAYS doing the companies' dirty business.

[Wild Cobra]

cool, people won't know they are living within blast range of a huge bomb, so they put pressure on govt to protect.

As always, companies get protection, secrecy, citizens get fucked, with Repug ALWAYS doing the companies' dirty business.
I think they already know that.

[boutons_deux]

I think they already know that.

Then it's their own damn fault.

What do their premise insurers think about it? Unless the insurers don't cover total home loss from industrial explosions.

[Wild Cobra]

Then it's their own damn fault.

What do their premise insurers think about it? Unless the insurers don't cover total home loss from industrial explosions.
Why get into that?

Of course, proper reporting does need to be shared with the insurer. Assets just don't need to be public. Anyone with half a brain knows that chemical plants, grain silos, etc. are potentially explosive. Water towers can flood your home if they break, even flatten it.

I think most people have half a brain or more.

[boutons_deux]

Govt. Report: Even After 2013 Texas Fertilizer Explosion, Hundreds of Communities Still at Risk


http://inthesetimes.com/images/working/west-texas-fertilizer-explosion.jpg

the Chemical Safety Board (http://www.csb.gov/west-fertilizer-explosion-and-fire-/) (CSB) has released and unanimously approved its final report (http://www.csb.gov/west-fertilizer-explosion-and-fire-/) on the incident.

Presented at a public meeting in Waco, Texas on January 28, the CSB’s report found that

“limited regulatory oversight,

poor hazard awareness,

inadequate emergency planning and the

proximity of the facility to nearby homes and other buildings all led to the incident’s severity.”

According to the report, more than 1,300 facilities across the country store fertilizer grade ammonium nitrate; 40 of those, which store more than 10,000 pounds of this material, are in Texas, and nearly half are located within half a mile of a school, nursing home or hospital. Eighty three percent of these facilities are within a quarter mile of a residence.

The final CSB report upholds what its preliminary investigation (which can be read below (http://www.csb.gov/assets/1/19/West_Preliminary_Findings.pd)) found: that huge gaps in information available to both first responders and the community about the hazardous material stored West Fertilizer plant contributed to the loss of life, injuries and damage.

These gaps included the failure of training and reference material to inform emergency responders about fertilizer grade ammonium nitrate’s potential to explode in a fire.

http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/18815/west-texas-fertilizer-explosion-report

We don't need no steenkin regulations.

West TX is just acceptable collateral damage from the Wild West cowboy, anti-govt mentality.

[RandomGuy]

We don't need no steenkin regulations.

West TX is just acceptable collateral damage from the Wild West cowboy, anti-govt mentality.

[/SIZE]

+1

As much as some like to bitch about the cost of government, the cost of no government can be a lot higher than those same somebodies would like to admit.

[RandomGuy]

Despite the death and devastation, Republican state lawmakers have been skeptical of imposing additional regulations on the fertilizer industry or making other changes to protect the public.
After West, some legislation passed authorizing fire officials to inspect ammonium nitrate facilities and fine them as much as a few thousand dollars if they found hazards. But more substantial bills filed by Democrats never gained traction, including one that would have imposed penalties for improper storage of ammonium nitrate and created a rule-making authority on ammonium nitrate facilities.

[TeyshaBlue]

http://www.wfaa.com/mb/news/local/texas-news/watch-live-officials-say-west-explosion-was-intentional/18547978
Now for something completely different. The Larch.

[Wild Cobra]

Bad link...

[TeyshaBlue]

http://www.wfaa.com/mb/news/local/texas-news/watch-live-officials-say-west-explosion-was-intentional/185479785

[boutons_deux]

http://www.wfaa.com/mb/news/local/texas-news/watch-live-officials-say-west-explosion-was-intentional/185479785

amazing.

At first I thought this would let all ol' boys off who store this explosive shit with similar indifference to safety, where they could say "See, we told all y'all we been handlin' this shit for decades and no problems, so don't go doin' no more regulatin' on us. " But how many ammonium nitrate storages are as lackadaisical, and unknown, to people nearby, as this one?

[Winehole23]

EPA Sec'y Pruitt rescinds safety rules:


“With all due respect to Scott Pruitt, he’s never lost 15 firefighter friends,” Muska told the American-Statesman. “I’m as pro-business as anyone, but some things are way, way, way more important than too much regulation, and that includes the safety of these chemical plants.” The April 17, 2013, blast killed 15 people, injured more than 150 and left part of the small town in ruins.https://www.mystatesman.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/frustration-west-after-epa-does-away-with-chemical-plant-rules/IWeohabTs04AG3cAlZk17L/

[RandomGuy]

EPA Sec'y Pruitt rescinds safety rules:

https://www.mystatesman.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/frustration-west-after-epa-does-away-with-chemical-plant-rules/IWeohabTs04AG3cAlZk17L/

Remember the CSB's report found as the proximal cause:


limited regulatory oversight,

poor hazard awareness,

inadequate emergency planning and the

proximity of the facility to nearby homes and other buildings all led to the incident’s severity.”

I guess it is acceptable for Republicans to have their rural towns exploding and firefighters being incinerated, so long as "big bad" government doesn't "hurt jobs".

Economic term is "rent".

[RandomGuy]

http://www.wfaa.com/mb/news/local/texas-news/watch-live-officials-say-west-explosion-was-intentional/185479785

Intentional. I had not heard that.

[boutons_deux]

BigChem pays Repugs to increase its profits and increase risks to humans and environment

Trump EPA eases safety requirements enacted after West explosion

https://thumbnails.texastribune.org/xw2zIEAib-K44GRrd5NGt9EkHXE=/850x570/smart/filters:quality(80)/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2013/04/18/West-TX-1.jpg

Attorney General Ken Paxton :lol applauded the move,:lol saying it would make Texans safer. :lol

The regulations were meant to improve chemical safety practices and

prevent tragedies like the deadly 2013 fertilizer plant explosion in the tiny Central Texas town of West.

https://www.texastribune.org/2019/11/21/west-texas-fertilizer-explosion-spurred-safety-rules-trump-rescinding/ (https://www.texastribune.org/2019/11/21/west-texas-fertilizer-explosion-spurred-safety-rules-trump-rescinding/)

no doubt, that blue guy is dancing on the graves these regulations.