Special Report: Poor planning left Texas firefighters unprepared
Last edited Tue May 28, 2013, 12:23 PM - Edit history (1)
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Reuters) - The fertilizer-plant explosion that killed 14 and injured about 200 others in Texas last month highlights the failings of a U.S. federal law intended to save lives during chemical accidents, a Reuters investigation has found."The West, Texas, first responders were doing the best they could under the circumstances," Langerman said. "The failure was in the community, county and state leadership to provide emergency planning and implementation guidance.".........
.........At least 800,000 people in the United States live within a mile of 440 sites that store potentially explosive ammonium nitrate, which investigators say was the source of the explosion in West, according to a Reuters analysis of hazardous-chemical storage data maintained by 29 states.
Hundreds of schools, 20 hospitals, 13 churches and hundreds of thousands of homes in those states sit within a mile of facilities that store the compound, used in both fertilizers and explosives, the analysis found.........
.......Of the remaining 21 states, 10 declined Reuters' requests for data, and one declined to release the information in electronic form. The rest either provided incomplete information, did not respond, don't maintain the filings electronically or are still considering the requests. Federal law requires such information be made available to the public within 45 days of a request. Reuters requested the information four weeks ago.......
......."No one ever knew you were going into something like that," Maler said.
Maler left the scene of the fire to retrieve protective gear. As he returned, the facility exploded, killing 10 first responders........."
full long report here- that has the details of all the things that happen when companies are left alone to self-regulate IMO. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/22/us-chemical-emergency-specialreport-idUSBRE94L19020130522
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