[Pikachu_Dad]

Navy,

Sorry, not ignoring you, just got distracted by the bomber hunt.

You are correct... Nitrate not nitrite.

I need to rule out anhydrous ammonia completely I think.

The ammonia bullets ‘long skinny white cylinders’ appear to be on the south side of the facility. At 12,000 gallons each, they would be filled from trucks, not rail cars. The cylinders appear to be there still. There were no complaints of an ammonia cloud that I am aware of. Just a large fire followed by explosion. Very unlikely.

[Navy Patriot]

I still don't have near enough information on the West, Texas plant to render an opinion on the probable cause of the explosion.

There was another FR thread this morning postulating that the plant was storing more ammonium nitrate than they were reporting because they did not have the required proper facilities and safety systems for the larger amount, being unwilling to pay the costs of those improvements.

However those are unconfirmed reports and may be inaccurate or false.