Texas lawmakers hesitant to add new regulations in wake of West explosion; facilities uninsured

[TexasTowelie]

AUSTIN — Texas lawmakers following up on the deadly April explosion in West hesitated Monday to support new regulations for storing, moving and insuring ammonium nitrate in the state.

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Ammonium nitrate is a common ingredient in agricultural fertilizer. It fueled the April 17 explosion in West that killed 15 people, injured more than 300 and did an estimated $135 million worth of damage to private and public property. Officials said Monday that more than 140 facilities in the state have the chemical on hand.

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Since the blast, the Texas Department of Insurance has asked 95 fertilizer companies and 32 insurers about the level of coverage for other facilities with the dangerous chemical. Ten fertilizer companies and four insurers responded.

Insurance Commissioner Julia Rathgeber testified that some facilities with ammonium nitrate are uninsured because their policies were canceled after the West explosion. Texas law doesn’t mandate the terms for an insurance company to offer policies to plants like the one in West.

More at http://www.dallasnews.com/news/west-explosion/headlines/20130826-texas-lawmakers-hesitant-to-add-new-regulations-in-wake-of-west-explosion.ece .

[gopiscrap]

1. Fucking backwards state

I remember my parents hated living there for the 20 months they had to be there.

[TxDemChem]

2. It's sad that Perry brags about our lax regulations

Even after a disaster like this happens. That may be seen as a positive in his book, but it scares the hell out of me. And uninsured facilities? How does that even happen? I'm required to maintain at least liability insurance for my car; I would think any plant with flammable or explosive products should not be able to operate without the same level of minimum coverage.