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Ellipsis

(9,454 posts)
5. There's all ready an extensive wiki page up... cause is currently unknown
Thu Apr 18, 2013, 02:24 AM
Apr 2013
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Fertilizer_Plant_explosion

On April 17, 2013, at the West Fertilizer Company[1] plant in West, Texas (a city in McLennan County near Waco, Texas), an explosion occurred at 7:50 p.m. CDT (00:50 UTC, April 18).[2] Early media reports indicate mass damage to buildings and heavy casualties. The cause of the blast is currently unknown, and the number of injured and dead are not yet known with accuracy.[3][4][5][6][7]

According to a witness reported in the The Dallas Morning News, the plant first caught fire, then exploded as firefighters were attempting to douse the flames.[8]

The plant is owned by Adair Grain Inc. Adair received an air quality permit as a fertilizer mixing and storage facilty from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in December 2006, issued after Adair was investigated for failure to secure a permit, when a neighbor complained about an ammonia smell coming from the plant. Adair reportedly stored 54,000 pounds of anhydrous ammonia, which along with nitric acid, is used to produce ammonium nitrate, a fertilizer, pesticide, and rodenticide. [9]

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