Trade association sought to exclude fertilizer blenders from reporting requirements

[NoPasaran]

awmakers that retailers that blend fertilizer — such as West Fertilizer Co. — should be excluded from rules requiring them to cooperate in the development of emergency plans and to publicly reveal their chemical inventories.

The Agricultural Retailers Association said in its 2012 congressional lobbying report that it seeks to “work with the EPA to clarify their new Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act interpretation of fertilizer retailer to exclude facilities that blend fertilizer.”

According to association representatives, the blending of dry fertilizer, such as ammonium nitrate, is extremely safe and lumping blenders in with manufacturers represents a regulatory burden for small businesses. It’s not clear what caused Wednesday’s explosion at the West plant, which occurred after business hours.

During a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee meeting last year, Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., declared that “if EPA continues down this road they will be imposing additional costs on hundreds of small businesses and farmers in rural America.”

http://www.statesman.com/news/news/local/trade-association-sought-to-exclude-fertilizer-ble/nXRhZ/

[Buzz Clik]

1. Well. I guess any hope of getting that through has evaporated.

[white cloud]

2. People forget history

Texas City 1947

600+ killed

[Buzz Clik]

4. Come on! The fertilizer was in a boat!

[DreamGypsy]

3. Is violence by commission necessarily worse than violence by omission??

From The Washington Post Residents near the Texas fertilizer plant explosion site are allowed access to homes:

14 deaths, 200 injured, 50 homes damaged

Fertilizer facilities that hold more than 400 pounds of ammonium nitrate are required to register with the Department of Homeland Security. The West company failed to do so, even though it submitted a state form last year noting it had 270 tons in stock.

And as I noted in a post yesterday Oh, ammonium nitrate is dangerous?? You'd think Texans would know: Texas City exploded...

In a kind of sick coincidence the West explosion comes exactly 66 years after America’s worst ever industrial disaster. On April 16, 1947 a fire on board a freighter at the Texas City port ignited a cargo of ammonium nitrate and caused an explosion so enormous that the ship’s anchor weighing 1.5 tons was thrown 2 miles away. Nearly 600 were killed in the blast.

...so the risk should not have been a surprise.




Reports state that nearly every home in a half-mile radius from the retail facility suffered significant damage

[Buzz Clik]

5. The risk was a surprise to no one. Ammonium nitrate in large quantities was a fatal shock.

This is all on the owner/management.

[DreamGypsy]

6. Maybe Senator Inhofe was surprised, certainly ignorant :+o (nt :+)

[white cloud]

7. Take a look at these.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/reflecting_on_the_texas_city_disaster_tnAmX90HgEGSJWxlQ8GOvI



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_City_Disaster

[DreamGypsy]

9. Yeah, that's essentially the same information I posted yesterday...

as I mentioned, here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=2715470

It's all happened before...and it will all happen again...and again...and again.

[white cloud]

8. Take a look at these.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/reflecting_on_the_texas_city_disaster_tnAmX90HgEGSJWxlQ8GOvI



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_City_Disaster

[Ilsa]

10. The subsequent laws written to regulate

And protect residents and employees should specifically mention the accidents, or be named after the accidents, so it is clear why the law was written. Then any time someone tries to undo legislation in the future, the catastrophic event has to be reconsidered.