Explosion in West, Texas

[Baron Scicluna]

Baron, it still wasn't an authorization problem. I hope you didn't get basic facts like this wrong when you were in newspapers. I also don't trust a newspaper reporter who likely knows little about fertilizer plant regulation to give readers a correct interpretation of relevant law and regulations.

Issues with the media aside, fact is, the company didn't report the relevant factual information to the regulators. The regulators, rather than be able to inspect the plants to verify it, had to rely on the company's information and operate as such. The company had more chemicals than what they were supposed to have, but the regulators couldn't/wouldn't verify it, because of the lack of resources

Or, put it another way. If the company tells regulators that they have X amount of one chemical, then comes back to them later and says, "Hey, you know how we said we have X amount of this chemical? Well, we actually have double that amount. Oh, and we also have 540,000 pounds of this other chemical," that wouldn't trigger an alarm with the regulators? And they wouldn't treat that company's situation differently?

 

[YankeeFan]

Baron are there other facilities, elsewhere in America, that store similar -- or greater -- amounts of these chemicals?

Do they receive a tremendous amount of scrutiny from federal regulators as a result?

 

[Baron Scicluna]

Baron are there other facilities, elsewhere in America, that store similar -- or greater -- amounts of these chemicals?

Do they receive a tremendous amount of scrutiny from federal regulators as a result?

Odds are, probably not.

Should they? Yep.

Will they? Depends on how much we taxpayers want to spend.

EDIT: My first answer refers to the scrutiny. And yes, I'd say there are other plants that store as much, or more. And I would think right now, they're checking to make sure they have every i dotted and t crossed.

 

[BenPoquette]

They could have had 1,000 pounds or 1,000,000...if someone set off a bomb in the plant, deregulation had nothing to do with it.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

They could have had 1,000 pounds or 1,000,000...if someone set off a bomb in the plant, deregulation had nothing to do with it.

It wouldn't make for a bigger explosion?

 

[Starman]

It's positively charming how ferociously the defenders of the Corporacitizens are defending their sacred honor.

Dozens dead, hundreds of buildings damaged, Hiroshima-style mushroom clouds rising into the sky, but don't you dare suggest that additional regulation might have been needed (or may have been evaded).

Because vicious talk like that is very hurtful to good profit-makin bidness enterprises. And corporations are people too. Have a heart.

 

[User 11148]

It's positively charming how ferociously the defenders of the Corporacitizens are defending their sacred honor.

Dozens dead, hundreds of buildings damaged, Hiroshima-style mushroom clouds rising into the sky, but don't you dare suggest that additional regulation might have been needed (or may have been evaded).

Because vicious talk like that is very hurtful to good profit-makin bidness enterprises. And corporations are people too. Have a heart.

Dozens dead? I woulda thought someone with your intelligence would have a better handle on base-12 arithmetic than that. After all, you had Ayn Rand dead to rights when you were just a teenager! A prodigy, I tell you!

And hundreds of buildings damaged? I doubt there are hundreds of buildings in West, Texas.

But I still think you're charming.

 

[Captain Obvious]

Whether the fertilizer plant needed more scrutiny is a good point, however it's tricky, because most in society want more scrutiny for everyone else except themselves.

 

[93Devil]

You guys are beating this poor dead horse.

Do you know flour mills also blow the **** up? Should we be concerned?

 

[Starman]

It's positively charming how ferociously the defenders of the Corporacitizens are defending their sacred honor.

Dozens dead, hundreds of buildings damaged, Hiroshima-style mushroom clouds rising into the sky, but don't you dare suggest that additional regulation might have been needed (or may have been evaded).

Because vicious talk like that is very hurtful to good profit-makin bidness enterprises. And corporations are people too. Have a heart.

Dozens dead? I woulda thought someone with your intelligence would have a better handle on base-12 arithmetic than that. After all, you had Ayn Rand dead to rights when you were just a teenager! A prodigy, I tell you!

And hundreds of buildings damaged? I doubt there are hundreds of buildings in West, Texas.

But I still think you're charming.

Take it up with Wiki.

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

At least 15 people were killed, more than 160 were injured and more than 150 buildings were damaged or destroyed

Keep fighting the good fight to defend the poor innocent corporapersons against even the slightest whisper of regulation.

 

[Riptide]

Never thought I'd see journalists who don't know what the **** a permit means.

 

[Armchair_QB]

Never thought I'd see journalists who don't know what the **** DHS does or who couldn't ****ing count. 15 is dozens? 150 is hundreds?

****ing idiots.

 

[YankeeFan]

Take it up with Wiki.

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

At least 15 people were killed, more than 160 were injured and more than 150 buildings were damaged or destroyed

Keep fighting the good fight to defend the poor innocent corporapersons against even the slightest whisper of regulation.

I'm just a humble espresso machine repair man, and not nearly as smart as the guy who at age 10 as already smarter than Ronald Reagan, but to properly apply the terms "dozens" or "hundreds" doesn't the number have to be a multiple of 12 or multiple of 100, rather than just being greater than 12 or 100?

I would think the minimum numbers would be 24 and 200.

Am I wrong?

I must be. I must be missing something, because you looked at the exact number, and reiterated your usage of the verbiage, even though the numbers were in fact not multiples of 12 or 100.

 

[User 11148]

OK, so Starman was apparently right re: the number of buildings damaged:

http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/05/12/4844179/im-not-too-old-to-build-another.html

With an estimated 350 homes damaged —170 severely — in the deadly April 17 explosion, West must first knock homes down before it can put them back up.

So I will have to concede his "hundreds" ... I should also note that I find him far less charming when he is right.

 

[Ace]

Take it up with Wiki.

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

At least 15 people were killed, more than 160 were injured and more than 150 buildings were damaged or destroyed

Keep fighting the good fight to defend the poor innocent corporapersons against even the slightest whisper of regulation.

I'm just a humble espresso machine repair man, and not nearly as smart as the guy who at age 10 as already smarter than Ronald Reagan, but to properly apply the terms "dozens" or "hundreds" doesn't the number have to be a multiple of 12 or multiple of 100, rather than just being greater than 12 or 100?

I would think the minimum numbers would be 24 and 200.

Am I wrong?

I must be. I must be missing something, because you looked at the exact number, and reiterated your usage of the verbiage, even though the numbers were in fact not multiples of 12 or 100.

Don't sell yourself short. You were probably smarter than Reagan at age 10, too.

 

[Riptide]

I always thought Reagan was at least as smart as a 12-year-old.

But maybe it was because he was standing next to Nancy. ... Err, Mommy.

 

[YankeeFan]

 

[bigpern23]

Wow. I wonder why it took three years to determine it was an incendiary that caused the explosion? I know investigations can take time, but this seems excessive, no?

 

[User 11148]

Wow. I wonder why it took three years to determine it was an incendiary that caused the explosion? I know investigations can take time, but this seems excessive, no?

They were using gmail and had to work past the spam ...

 

[YankeeFan]

They were using gmail and had to work past the spam ...

They don't use email!

It's all IMs.