Posted on 04/21/2013 11:22:36 AM PDT by OKRA2012
The West, Texas fertilizer plant where a powerful explosion killed at least 14 and injured dozens on Wednesday failed to disclose a massive ammount of ammonium nitrate ordinarily regulated by federal officials, according to Reuters.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security requires fertilizer plants and depots to disclose amounts of ammonium nitrate, which can be used to make a bomb, above 400 lbs. The West, Texas plant, West Fertilizer, reportedly held 270 tons of the substance, 1,350 times that limit.
(Excerpt) Read more at livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com ...
Somebody’s in big trouble.
Who owns/operates this plant?
Perhaps. But before we can say that was the plant a big democrat donor?
There was a school and a nursing home right across the street from this plant. It’s a Federal felony to get within 1,000 ft. of a school with a lawfully carried firearm but there aren’t any regulations about how close you can put an ammonium nitrate plant?
Allahu Ackbar Growth Promotions, LLC.
Some dude with last name of Adair. He better hope he’s dead, because there would be some serious jail time, I would think.
West Fertilizer Company.
Given that Democrats only got 30% of the vote in the county in 2012, it seems exceedingly unlikely that a rural grain and fertilizer storage facility is a big Democrat donor.
The owner, Donald Adair, is not listed as having made any campaign contributions either on the national or local level.
Wow, famous last name in Texa oil circles. Hope he’s no kin of Red.
oops
I note DHS is up West Fertilizers ***, but let the Boston Bombers go 2 years ago.
... Ahh, yes, the witchhunt begins, how dare a plant report to multiple agencies and leave one of the billion alphabet soups off of the list.
DHS’s actual involvement, had the amount been reported (which, I notice, very few reporters have bothered to even ask the question, how many fertilizer plants are out of compliance with this demand...) would be to make helpful suggestions by sending out a couple different brochures on plant safety, and then require hundreds of pictures of the plant site, security layout, security equipment, etc.
But you know why we know exactly how much the plant held (and note, that the number in the article is at the maximum capacity)? Because they submitted reports for Texas oversight as well as EPA requirements. OH MY! They hid in absolute plain sight.
I’ve not taken a look at the relevant DHS regulation or how it was published, but if I was a reporter being fed information by the DHS, my first question would be: Didn’t you pick up the blue book and copy down all the addresses of fertilizer plants in the United States and send them letters notifying them of your requirement? Because the odd thing is, DHS has been quoted as saying they didn’t know that the plant even existed!
The amount of regulation that any manufacturing plant is under is staggering, and for a small business, compliance can be a full time job for half of the workforce.
The school, nursing home, and apartment complex were all built AFTER the plant.
Honestly who cares about the reporting. They shouldn’t have had it at a plant located in that area.
I guess I really did need a </sarc> tag after all...
There is also a serious issue of using water on the ammonia nitrate fire.
The fire department or did the plant management provide the wrong information to the first responders?
It's hard to distinguish sarcasm from stupidity on this board a lot of the time...
Thank you for that moment of clarity!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.