West, Texas Fertilizer Plant fined $118,000 by OSHA for explosion that killed 15 and injured 160

Remember this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDMmOpfvyWw

Well, check out just how much this company ended up having to pay for their negligence.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued 24 citations to the West Fertilizer Company for serious safety violations found in an investigation following the deadly explosion there in April.

Fifteen people were killed and more than 160 were injured in the April 17 blast. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D – Calif., announced the citations on a conference call with reporters Thursday morning.

Boxer, who chairs the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, is heading the charge at the Capitol to determine whether regulations were followed at the fertilizer plant ahead of the April blast. She said the owner, Adair Grain Inc., will have to pay $118,300 in fines. The citations were issued Wednesday morning, Boxer said.

The explosion, which left a crater 90 feet wide and 10 feet deep, caused more than $100 million in property damages, according to a report by the Insurance Council of Texas. More than 200 homes were destroyed or damaged. In May, a $1 million investigation by state and federal officials did not find a concrete cause for the explosion.

The fire did begin in the plant’s seed room, which backed up to an ammonium nitrate storage bin. The location housed 150 tons of the chemical, of which between 28 and 34 exploded. The force of the ammonium nitrate explosion was equal to 15,000 to 20,000 pounds of dynamite exploding.

Boxer said she scheduled the conference call because she is concerned that inspections of facilities housing large amounts of chemicals are lagging due to the government shut down.

“I’m stepping in here in the hopes that, as a result of my telling you these things, maybe another explosion could be prevented,” she said.

The citations, which Boxer repeatedly described as “serious safety violations,” are for, among other things, unsafe handling and storage of anhydrous ammonia and ammonium nitrate. OSHA found poor labeling of ammonia storage tanks as well as replacement hoses that were not tested for pressure.

The West Fertilizer Co. was found to have inadequate relief valves and no barrier protection around the ammonia piping. There was no respiratory protection program, OSHA found, nor were there appropriate fire extinguishers. Forklift operators were not property trained and the fertilizer plant did not have a hazard communication program or an emergency response plan.

16 people die, 160 are injured and huge number of people are put out of their homes and businesses; and the only thing this company has to pay is $118.000?!?! This is an outrage! Angry The owners of this company ought to be brought up on murder charges for their negligence.

However:

The investigation into the West explosion is ongoing. More fines are possible, Boxer said.

I won’t hold my breath, least I turn blue and die. As you all know, I am a Paleoconservative of the Pat Buchanan stripe. However, there is one thing that I cannot stand and I have been known to speak out against it on here; and that crony capitalism. This was nothing more than a corporate whitewashing of an ugly accident by the Texas office of OSHA, in concert with this company.

I think that if the Obama administration was worth a tinker’s damn; that he would order a full investigation by the justice department and see if there was any criminal liability on the part of the owners and if so, see if charges could be brought against the owners of this company. Sixteen lives were snuffed out, because the owners of this company could not be bothered to follow OSHA’s rules. This is unacceptable and something should be done.

However, because we have a President and an Attorney General, who are nothing more than a bunch of “House Negros”, nothing will be done at all. Waiting

Another good reason why I do not vote Democratic Party any longer

Because nothing says asshole and anti-American more than taking a horrible tragic event and using it to score a pathetic political point.

If the tables were turned and this event happened in a LIBERAL part of the Country and a Conservative or libertarian, like myself, printed such tripe; we would be excoriated from one end of the blogosphere to the other. Not to mention the media! However, because explosion happened in Texas, which is Rick Perry country, and it is printed on a Liberal rag blog; it is business as usual.

Here, go read this idiot’s tripe and go let him know what you think about it.

Quote:

Google Maps satellite view of West Fertilizer and its proximity to West Middle School, along with many houses and apartments.

Who needs pesky safety regulations or zoning laws when there is money to made running a fertilizer plant? Sadly, the small Texas town of West, which is just north of Waco, is suffering the consequences of unregulated free enterprise today, as a massive explosion at West Fertilizer has leveled much of the town. Perhaps the only remotely fortunate aspect of this tragedy is that it occurred at 8 pm local time and so West Middle School, which burned after the explosion, was not full of children.

A look at the satellite image above shows the folly of putting “free enterprise” ahead of sensible zoning laws. At almost 20 miles north of Waco, Texas, one thing that is in abundance in the region is open space (I’ve driven past this spot several times in the last two or three years–it’s desolate), and yet this fertilizer plant is immediately adjacent to a large apartment building (see the photo at the top of this article for how that building fared in the explosion) and very close to a middle school. There is no reason at all for any other building to be within two or three miles of a facility that produces material that is so explosive.

via John Galt Kills Texans in Massive Fertilizer Plant Explosion | emptywheel.

For the record, this blog used to be hosted by some hate-mongering, blonde, bimbo, bitch; who wrote some screen play to a movie that hit it big back in the 1990’s. That is her claim to fame; and with that money, she started this blog. It is filled with hate-mongers like this woman here and an Anti-Semite Italian idiot, who is named TBogg AKA Tom Boggioni; whom I have went after before, because of his hate-mongering shit on that site. It now appears that this woman, is no longer with them; gee, I wonder why? 🙄

I am just going to say it to these idiots and the people who read those blogs; fellas it’s like this here — you are NOT doing your Party any favors for 2014 and 2016. I am an independent blogger and voter; I vote the issues and the person’s ability to lead the Country. Your man up in the White House, he ain’t worth a shit! Which is why I did not vote for him, either damned time. However, my vote is up for grabs in 2014 and 2016. I think you need to think long and very hard about doing dumb shit like this and you want to know why? Because there are many, many undecided voters out there, that see stuff like this; especially in Texas, and they see what you write.

This is doing zero for your chances in 2014 and 2016. Simply put, you are on the wrong side of this issue and I think you need to reconsider the mocking of an accident that claimed the lives of that many people and injured that many people. It is lame, it is stupid and it will not do anything for you in the upcoming elections. Now, you can ignore me, all you want to; I really do not care. But, I happen to know a bit about this political game; and I have been right before. I suggest that you pull that posting and post and huge apology to those who you have offended, especially the Democratic Party of Texas; which is one of your bigger voting blocs by the way.

Other Liberal idiots rejoicing at the death and injuries in Texas: ThinkProgress, New York Times, CANNONFIRE and CBS Dallas