As I put on my tin foil hat, Isn't a fire a great way to cover up the theft of a large amount of Ammonium Nitrate?
Taking hat off, joining regular society Maurice Marvi ---------------------------------------- From: "Steve Leyton" <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, April 26, 2013 2:16 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: West, TX explosion I'm not suggesting that they had sinister intentions, but I'll betcha a dollar to a dime that we're gonna find out there were all manner of violations and corners cut in their safety program. They were fined $10,000 last summer for safety violations by the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, but that fine was reduced to $5,250 after the company claimed to have made corrections. Are you bleeping kidding me? 5 thousand bucks ain't a pimple on a bear's ass to a good sized company. Here's one thing I'm sure of: make the fine $5,250 for every word in the notice of violation and you'll have an actual deterrent effect. Steve Leyton -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: Friday, April 26, 2013 10:23 AM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: West, TX explosion Just to take some of the sinister connotation out of a facility storing 270 tons or ammonium nitrate (fertilizer), that is only enough to do a single springtime application to about 900 acres of hay fields. Based on the amount of farming in the midsection of the U S, I'm betting there are many, many, and much bigger facilities scattered across rural America. Mark at Aero -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Steve Leyton Sent: Friday, April 26, 2013 10:00 AM To: [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: RE: West, TX explosion Todd - your numbers aren't exactly right, but there are definitely going to be some very compelling questions asked over the next few days and weeks. The plant had 270 tons of ammonium nitrate; Federal law states that you must make a declaration to Homeland Security if you keep over a ton. The company apparently did file a disaster plan with the EPA, but various reports hint that it was for an airborne release of anhydrous ammonia only, and hadn't been updated since 2011. It has also been reported that the company may have made declarations to state and local agencies, but this begs the question of why there wasn't a HSA declaration and whether or not the good-old-boys network was working to facilitate this local business keeping their ammonium nitrate storage under wraps, so to speak. Timothy McVeigh used approximately 2 tons of this stuff in OKC; 270 tons is a wee bit more than that. The family that owns this business is obviously in deep voodoo, as are the regulatory agencies that missed this - or worse, covered it up. Steve Leyton -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Steve Mackinnon Sent: Friday, April 26, 2013 9:39 AM To: [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: RE: West, TX explosion OMG! -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Todd - Work Sent: Friday, April 26, 2013 12:09 PM To: [email protected] Subject: West, TX explosion >From reading the latest reports, the fertilizer facility in West, TX that exploded had 270 tons of ammonium nitrate on site. They had previously told authorities that they had nothing hazardous. They were required to file with DHS if they have more than 400 pounds on site and only exceeded that by 1350 times. (Don't forget, Timothy McVeigh used a lot of that at the OK City bombing). Obviously there is a problem at the management level. So when we evaluate facilities for sprinkler protection, how are people handling hazardous materials? As a PE, I will address it one way. If a contractor is looking at it in a design/build project, how is that being addressed? Todd G Williams, PE Fire Protection Design/Consulting Stonington, CT www.fpdc.com _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/listinfo.cgi/sprinklerforum-firesprinkler .org _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/listinfo.cgi/sprinklerforum-firesprinkler .org _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/listinfo.cgi/sprinklerforum-firesprinkler .org _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/listinfo.cgi/sprinklerforum-firesprinkler .org _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/listinfo.cgi/sprinklerforum-firesprinkler.org _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/listinfo.cgi/sprinklerforum-firesprinkler.org
