{"id":319652,"date":"2013-04-27T12:24:43","date_gmt":"2013-04-27T12:24:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishterrorism.com\/what-went-wrong-in-west-texas-and-where-were-the-regulators-5\/"},"modified":"2013-04-27T12:24:43","modified_gmt":"2013-04-27T12:24:43","slug":"what-went-wrong-in-west-texas-and-where-were-the-regulators-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewworldorder.org\/what-went-wrong-in-west-texas-and-where-were-the-regulators-5\/","title":{"rendered":"<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nationofchange.org\/what-went-wrong-west-texas-and-where-were-regulators-1366983856\">What Went Wrong in West Texas, and Where Were the Regulators?<\/a>"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><div>\n<div id=\"bodycount\" style=\"clear:both\">\n<p>A week after a blast at a Texas fertilizer plant\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/blogs\/thetwo-way\/2013\/04\/23\/178678505\/death-toll-in-west-texas-fertilizer-explosion-rises-to-15\">killed at least 15 people<\/a>\u00a0and hurt more than 200, authorities still don\u2019t know exactly why the West Chemical and Fertilizer Company plant exploded.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s what we do know: The fertilizer plant hadn\u2019t been inspected by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/2013-04-19\/texas-explosion-seen-as-sign-of-weak-u-s-oversight.html\">since 1985<\/a>. Its owners\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/2013\/04\/21\/us-usa-explosion-regulation-idUSBRE93K09H20130421\">do not seem to have told<\/a>\u00a0the Department of Homeland Security that they were storing large quantities of potentially explosive fertilizer, as regulations require. And the most recent partial\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.phmsa.dot.gov\/staticfiles\/PHMSA\/DownloadableFiles\/Hazmat\/Enforcement\/West%20Fertilizer%20Comp%20Order%20Jun%202012.pdf\">safety inspection<\/a>\u00a0of the facility in 2011\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2013\/04\/22\/west-fertilizer_n_3134202.html?utm_hp_ref=tw\">led to $5,250 in fines<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve laid out which agencies were in charge of regulating the plant and who\u2019s investigating the explosion now.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What happened, exactly?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Around 7:30 p.m. on April 17, a fire broke out at the West Chemical and Fertilizer Company plant in West, Texas, a small town of about 2,800 people 75 miles south of Dallas. Twenty minutes later, it blew up. The explosion\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2013\/04\/18\/us\/texas-explosion\/index.html\">shook houses<\/a>\u00a050 miles away and was so powerful that the United States Geological Survey registered it as a 2.1-magnitude earthquake. It flattened homes within a\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/nation.time.com\/2013\/04\/22\/after-the-texas-explosion-a-firestorm-of-lawsuits\/\">five-block radius<\/a>\u00a0and destroyed a nursing home, an apartment complex, and a nearby middle school.\u00a0 According to the New York Times, the blast\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2013\/04\/25\/us\/texas-fertilizer-plant-fell-through-cracks-of-regulatory-oversight.html?ref=us&amp;_r=0&amp;pagewanted=all\">left a crater<\/a>\u00a093 feet wide and 10 feet deep, and the fire \u201cburned with such intensity that\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2013\/04\/19\/us\/huge-blast-at-texas-fertilizer-plant.html?pagewanted=all\">railroad tracks were fused<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The blast killed at least 15 people,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/bigstory.ap.org\/article\/official-toll-mystery-residents-know-lost\">most of them<\/a>\u00a0firefighters and other first responders.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Have fertilizer plants ever exploded before?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yes. A plant in Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, that manufactured ammonium nitrate fertilizer \u2014 the same explosive chemical stored in West \u2014\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.desmoinesregister.com\/article\/20130418\/NEWS\/130418015\/Texas-explosion-brings-back-memories-1994-Sioux-City-area-blast\">exploded<\/a>\u00a0on December 13, 1994, killing four people and injuring 18.<\/p>\n<p>But fertilizer plants are safer now, said Stephen Slater, the Iowa administrator of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. \u201cAll kinds of technologies have had huge improvements,\u201d he\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.desmoinesregister.com\/article\/20130419\/NEWS\/304190053\/Could-explosion-similar-one-Texas-happen-again-Iowa-\">told the Des Moines Register<\/a>. \u201cAnd we haven\u2019t had any bad experiences at the plants in the 20 years since [the accident]. I\u2019m knocking on wood.\u201d (Slater didn\u2019t respond to our requests for comment.)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Who regulates these fertilizer plants?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>At least seven different state and federal agencies can regulate Texas fertilizer plants like the one in West: OSHA, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, the Texas Department of State Health Services, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Texas Feed and Fertilizer Control Service.<\/p>\n<p>Some of the agencies don\u2019t appear to have shared information before the blast.<\/p>\n<p>Fertilizer plants that hold more than 400 pounds of ammonium nitrate, for instance, are required to notify the Department of Homeland Security. (Ammonium nitrate can be used to make bombs. It\u2019s what Timothy McVeigh used to blow up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995.) The West plant held 270 tons \u2014 yes, tons \u2014 of the chemical last year, according to a report it filed with the Texas Department of State Health Services, but the plant\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/2013\/04\/21\/us-usa-explosion-regulation-idUSBRE93K09H20130421\">didn\u2019t tell<\/a>\u00a0Homeland Security.<\/p>\n<p>Carrie Williams, a Department of State Health Services spokeswoman, told ProPublica that the agency isn\u2019t required to pass that information \u2014 which is also sent to local authorities \u2014 on to Homeland Security.<\/p>\n<p>While the exact cause of the explosion is unknown, a federal official\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2013\/04\/25\/us\/texas-fertilizer-plant-fell-through-cracks-of-regulatory-oversight.html?ref=us&amp;_r=0&amp;pagewanted=all\">told the New York Times<\/a>\u00a0that investigators believed it was caused by the ammonium nitrate. The blast crater is in the area of the plant where the chemical was stored.<\/p>\n<p>The plant\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dallasnews.com\/news\/state\/headlines\/20130417-west-fertilizer-plant-said-in-report-that-it-presented-no-risk.ece\">also filed<\/a>\u00a0a \u201cworst-case release scenario\u201d\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.rtknet.org\/db\/rmp\/rmp.php?facility_id=100000135597&amp;database=rmp&amp;detail=3&amp;datype=T\">report<\/a>\u00a0with the EPA and local officials stating there was no risk of a fire or an explosion. The scenario described an anhydrous ammonia leak that wouldn\u2019t hurt anyone.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Did any of these agencies fail to inspect the plant when they should have?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s unclear. OSHA\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/2013-04-19\/texas-explosion-seen-as-sign-of-weak-u-s-oversight.html\">conducted<\/a>\u00a0the last full safety inspection of the plant in 1985. \u201cSince then,\u201d the Huffington Post\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2013\/04\/22\/west-fertilizer_n_3134202.html?utm_hp_ref=tw\">reported<\/a>, \u201cregulators from other agencies have been inside the plant, but they looked only at certain aspects of plant operations, such as whether the facility was abiding by labeling rules when packaging its fertilizer for sale.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>You can view the full OSHA report\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.osha.gov\/pls\/imis\/establishment.inspection_detail?id=1911015\">here<\/a>. Since 2011, OSHA has carried out inspections based in part on the level of risk that plants like the one in West reported to the EPA. Since the West plant had told the EPA there was no risk of a fire or an explosion, it wasn\u2019t a priority. The plant also may have been\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2013\/04\/20\/texas-plant-explosion-workplace_n_3122643.html\">exempt from some inspections<\/a>\u00a0as a small employer. An OSHA spokesman told ProPublica that the agency would be investigating whether the plant had such an exemption.<\/p>\n<p>As the Huffington Post also noted, the most recent federal safety inspection of the plant, in 2011, resulted in a $5,250 fine for failing to draft a safety plan for pressured canisters of anhydrous ammonia, among other infractions. (There\u2019s no evidence that anhydrous ammonia played any role in the explosion.)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why was a plant that stored explosive chemicals allowed to be located so close to a school?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The EPA and other federal agencies actually don\u2019t regulate how close such plants can be to schools, nursing homes and population centers. In Texas, the decision is\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/recommended\/ci_23071458\">left up to the local zoning authorities<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>A Dallas Morning News\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dallasnews.com\/news\/west-explosion\/headlines\/20080601-toxic-neighbors-thousands-of-dallas-county-residents-aren-t-aware-of-the-danger-nearby-2008.ece\">investigation<\/a>\u00a0in 2008 found that Dallas County residents were \u201cat risk of a toxic disaster because outdated and haphazard zoning has allowed homes, apartments and schools to be built within blocks \u2014 in some cases even across the street \u2014 from sites that use dangerous chemicals.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ed Sykora, who owns a Ford dealership in West and spent a dozen years on the school board and the city council,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2013\/04\/22\/west-fertilizer_n_3134202.html?utm_hp_ref=tw\">told the Huffington Post<\/a>\u00a0he couldn\u2019t recall the town discussing whether it was a good idea to build houses and the school so close to the plant, which has been there since 1962. &#8220;The land was available out there that way; they could get sewer and other stuff that way without building a bunch of new lines,&#8221; Sykora said. &#8220;There never was any thought about it. Maybe that was wrong.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Who\u2019s investigating what happened?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>OSHA, the EPA and the U.S. Chemical Safety Board\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/2013-04-19\/texas-explosion-seen-as-sign-of-weak-u-s-oversight.html\">are all investigating<\/a>. But don\u2019t hold your breath waiting for the Chemical Safety Board\u2019s conclusions. The agency\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.publicintegrity.org\/2013\/04\/17\/12498\/critics-press-action-chemical-safety-board-investigations-languish\">is still investigating<\/a>\u00a0a blast that killed seven workers at an oil refinery in Washington State three years ago, as well as the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion that killed 11 workers in 2010 and sent oil flowing into the Gulf of Mexico for months.<\/p>\n<p>A Center for Public Integrity investigation found that the number of accident reports completed by the Chemical Safety Board had declined dramatically since 2006. Daniel Horowitz, the agency\u2019s managing director, said that the agency was stretched thin and had been asking for more investigators for years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGoing forward, the owners and employees of Adair Grain and West Fertilizer Co. are working closely with investigating agencies,\u201dDonald Adair, the plant\u2019s owner and a West resident,said in a\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/finance.yahoo.com\/news\/statement-adair-grain-inc-regarding-211220604.html\">statement<\/a>\u00a0last Friday. \u201cWe are presenting all employees for interviews and will assist in the fact finding to whatever degree possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Has Congress introduced any new regulation legislation?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yes, but it would roll back regulations rather than strengthen them. Eleven representatives \u2014 one Democrat and 10 Republicans \u2014\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.motherjones.com\/politics\/2013\/04\/how-chemical-lobby%E2%80%99s-friends-congress-fought-keep-regulators-its-back?utm_source=buffer&amp;utm_medium=twitter&amp;utm_campaign=Buffer:%20@Publici%20on%20twitter&amp;buffer_share=8d6e4\">sponsored<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/pompeo.house.gov\/uploadedfiles\/pompeogdcbackgroundinfo.pdf\">a bill<\/a>\u00a0in February that would limit the EPA\u2019s regulatory authority over fertilizer plants. It has been endorsed by industry groups such as the Fertilizer Institute.\u00a0Kathy Mathers, a spokeswoman for the Fertilizer Institute, told ProPublica that the group supports the bill because it would more clearly spell out how the EPA can regulate the industry.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Correction:<\/strong>\u00a0An earlier version of this story mistakenly stated two different figures for the number of people killed in the blast. It is at least 15 people.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Source Article from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nationofchange.org\/what-went-wrong-west-texas-and-where-were-regulators-1366983856\">http:\/\/www.nationofchange.org\/what-went-wrong-west-texas-and-where-were-regulators-1366983856<\/a><\/p>\n<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><p>Views: 0<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A week after a blast at a Texas fertilizer plant\u00a0killed at least 15 people\u00a0and hurt more than 200, authorities still don\u2019t know exactly why the West Chemical and Fertilizer Company plant exploded. Here\u2019s what we do know: The fertilizer plant hadn\u2019t been inspected by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration\u00a0since 1985. Its owners\u00a0do not seem [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2728,1223,1810],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-319652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-jewish-news","category-jewish-zionist-criminals","category-zionist-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewworldorder.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewworldorder.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewworldorder.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewworldorder.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewworldorder.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=319652"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewworldorder.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319652\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewworldorder.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=319652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewworldorder.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=319652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewworldorder.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=319652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}