Massive explosion fertilizer plant near Waco

[PA5COR]

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/17/us/texas-explosion/

A massive explosion at a fertilizer plant in the small Texas town of West left at least two people dead, sent dozens more seeking medical attention and prompted a widescale evacuation in the community of 2,600 people.Fire officials fear that the number of casualties could rise much higher.

The blast took place at the West Fertilizer Plant, about 18 miles north of Waco. It sent a massive fireball into the sky
And the danger may not be over.
Residents are being evacuated because officials are worried that another tank at the facility might explode.
State troopers in gas masks were scene rushing to the area shortly after the blast,

Shortly after the explosion, more than 60 patients streamed into Hillcrest Hospital in Waco, suffering from "blast injuries, orthopedic injuries (and) a lot of lacerations," said hospital CEO Glenn Robinson.
While some of the injuries are minor, others are "quite serious," he said.

At least six helicopters are going to fly out those who are injured, Robinson said. Others are being transported by ambulance, and some are getting to the hospital by car, he added.
Two other hospitals in the region were also assisting.

The explosion caught on camera 30 seconds in:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROrpKx3aIjA&feature=youtu.be

[W4GPL]

Some of the footage is down right surreal. Wishing the best for those people..

[X-Rated]

I think I saw a Saudi National running from the scene in the videos after the blast. That's the ticket.

[W4GPL]

I think I saw a Saudi National running from the scene in the videos after the blast. That's the ticket.You joke, but terrorism was the initial speculation last night.

[W2NAP]

any word what caused it yet?

I know storms were going though. wonder if lightning sparked a fire?

[N8YX]

Static electricity, much as with a grain bin full of dust?

If you let airborne concentrations of powdered fertilizer build to volatile thresholds it's a possibility that a spark caused by a worker or piece of machinery could trigger an explosion.

[PA5COR]

I worked 5 years at DSM in Amsterdam in their fertilizer plant where security and safety was written large everywhere.
They handled acids, anhydrous ammonia and lots of other very volatile stuff.
WE had strickt rules for any work that could spark, used open fire welding etc to get a permit first.
All the factory buildings used vacuum and suction to get any gasses and dust out of the building filter stacks etc.

The factory was on the terrain of the large smeltery of Hoogovens melting steel and aluminium and 3ooo meters away of any houses.
Looks like this plant was right in the town, stupid...

[VE7DCW]

Some of the footage is down right surreal. Wishing the best for those people..

There was some posted still shots I saw posted somewhere else on the web that resembled a mushroom cloud you saw in old 50's nuclear test explosion photograhs from Nevada....... that's a sign of big explosion! :shock:

[W2NAP]

There was some posted still shots I saw posted somewhere else on the web that resembled a mushroom cloud you saw in old 50's nuclear test explosion photograhs from Nevada....... that's a sign of big explosion! :shock:

yea no kidding. the one tape linked at the top of page here. you can tell it was a big one by the sound.

also registered 2.5 per USGS

[NQ6U]

Fertilizers are mostly nitrates. Coincidentally, so are many explosives.

[N2NH]

That video in the story is impressive but Cor is right. Why would they build the plant that close to the town? That's crazy.

[NQ6U]

It is (or, more accurately, was) a small plant. There are hundreds just like it scattered all over agricultural areas in the United States. You can see it here pre-explosion (https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=West+Fertilizer+Co,+Jerry+Mashek+Drive,+West,+TX&aq=0&oq=west+fertiWest,+TX&sll=31.795963,-97.094808&sspn=0.02349,0.045276&vpsrc=6&t=h&ie=UTF8&hq=West+Fertilizer+Co,+Jerry+Mashek+Drive,+West,+T X&ll=31.816605,-97.088134&spn=0.005871,0.011319&z=17) on Google Maps.

[VE7DCW]

My father-in-law was for a long time in the road construction business.... he told me fertilizer nitrates are packed in drill holes for blasting purposes.If you have concentrated dry fertilizer that has gone "wet" it becomes a very Potent and unstable explosive!

The explosive of choice in that Oklahoma bombing of that federal building I believe..... :angry:

[W2NAP]

That video in the story is impressive but Cor is right. Why would they build the plant that close to the town? That's crazy.

could be what happened is. it was once not in town and the town built around it.

decades ago all the GM factories here were on the "edge" of the city and the city built around them.

[n2ize]

That video in the story is impressive but Cor is right. Why would they build the plant that close to the town? That's crazy.

Lot's of plants and mills were/are traditionally built close to towns as most of their employees came from the town. Ir as IBC pointed out, the town grew around the mill. In many such towns the mill/plant is or was the major employer. In the old days this was also a common practice in New York and most of New England as well as NJ, Ohio, PA, etc.

[n2ize]

My father-in-law was for a long time in the road construction business.... he told me fertilizer nitrates are packed in drill holes for blasting purposes.If you have concentrated dry fertilizer that has gone "wet" it becomes a very Potent and unstable explosive!

The explosive of choice in that Oklahoma bombing of that federal building I believe..... :angry:

True. Any molecule or radical that easily gives up its oxygen will behave similarly, (i.e. nitrates, chlorates, perchlorates, peroxides, etc.) particularly when in contact with a combustible material. Even old movie film (cellulose nitrate) is incredibly flammable and even explosive, particularly when it's old and starts deteriorating.

[AE1PT]

My father-in-law was for a long time in the road construction business.... he told me fertilizer nitrates are packed in drill holes for blasting purposes.If you have concentrated dry fertilizer that has gone "wet" it becomes a very Potent and unstable explosive!

The explosive of choice in that Oklahoma bombing of that federal building I believe..... :angry:

Indeed, with a bit of diesel fuel...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANFO

A few other similar as well:

http://nineball.ve.carpathiahost.net/rat/old/cockbook1.1.txt

Some of these are bogus. The styrofoam will not explode, but just try to put it out once it starts to burn. I learned this the hard way many years ago... :wtf:

[PA5COR]

25 years back there was a new law here in our country to remove all hazardous factories etc to outside the city perimeter.
That was done, and new buildings around them have to stay at a decent minimum distance.
Still we had a fireworks bunker explode with too much and too heavy fireworks, killed lots of people and flattened a whole area with houses..
Now they are gone too.

[N2NH]

could be what happened is. it was once not in town and the town built around it.

decades ago all the GM factories here were on the "edge" of the city and the city built around them.

Makes sense. Like what happens with airports. Seems to be bad planning. Thankfully, the only one nearby here is in the middle of farm country.

[W2NAP]

Makes sense. Like what happens with airports. Seems to be bad planning. Thankfully, the only one nearby here is in the middle of farm country.

Yea. hell anderson a few decades ago didn't go past 29th st. then it was 38th. then it was 53rd then it was 73rd. now I think it ends somewhere around 83rd

[X-Rated]

MAP LINK (http://maps.google.com/?ll=38.93037,-95.201254&spn=0.037858,0.077162&t=h&z=14)

I grew up near a fertilizer plant. Ain't no nothin' wrong with me. The plant is top center and my home was along the river to the south.

[KC2UGV]

That video in the story is impressive but Cor is right. Why would they build the plant that close to the town? That's crazy.

It's Texas. Those jokers build all kinds of crazy shit in the middle of populated areas. There's a chlorine manufacturing plant about 1 mile from downtown DFW...

[X-Rated]

LOL. 1 mile from downtown DFW. He changed his call to PG.

[X-Rated]

Actually there is no danger when living near a fertilizer plant as long as it doesn't hurt you or kill you.

[NQ6U]

Actually there is no danger when living near a fertilizer plant as long as it doesn't hurt you or kill you.

As long as it doesn't get blowed up real good, you mean?

[NA4BH]

As long as it doesn't get blowed up real good, you mean?

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AxikaaVnbMg/R9H5I5DekLI/AAAAAAAAAlk/KLSXzxe6JRo/s400/SCTV-0858.JPG

[VE7DCW]

As long as it doesn't get blowed up real good, you mean?

Like that solid rocket fuel plant in the middle of the dessert that blew up a few years ago? ...... that was a BIG one!

Fortunately nobody was living around the factory! :shock:

[X-Rated]

As long as it doesn't get blowed up real good, you mean?

Catch your death of antihirus pneumonia.

[NQ6U]

Catch your death of antihirus pneumonia.

That, too. Once lived near an old-fashioned cold storage plant in Medford, OR, that used ammonia as the refrigerant. If I'd known more about that stuff at the time, I probably would have moved.

[NA4BH]

Catch your death of antihirus pneumonia.


What is that?

[NQ6U]

What is that?


Anhydrous ammonia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anhydrous_ammonia). Nasty stuff.

[NA4BH]

OK, I was wondering what antihirus was.

[VE7DCW]

Anhydrous ammonia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anhydrous_ammonia). Nasty stuff.

This stuff was used as a refrigerant in the early days of the invention of the refrigerator before the availability of much safer freons were used.
I had a friend of mine who used to work in an old 1920's vintage cold storage fish packing plant that still used ammonia as a refrigerant in their ancient refrigeration system....... he survived a major ammonia leak they had and escaped in time.... his lungs and breathing ability took a major beating and he never really recovered from it.
WorkSafe B.C. had a field day with that B.C. Packers plant over that one :agree:

[X-Rated]

OK, I was wondering what antihirus was.

I made up a word. I forget everyone is not from the farm.

[KC2UGV]

Anhydrous ammonia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anhydrous_ammonia). Nasty stuff.

Wikipedia is just a liberal conspiracy site... Anhydrous ammonia is safe as water, the libs just want to get big gub'mint into everything :P

[PA5COR]

That stuff is nasty in the concentrated form they use for fertilizer.
Once worked on the replacement of the main valve for the DSM tank holding 250.000 liters of the stuff in full suit, breathing apparatus because i had the training for it, extremely corrosive for the skin and longs etc.
You don't want to get a whiff of that up your nose...

[n2ize]

Wikipedia is just a liberal conspiracy site... Anhydrous ammonia is safe as water, the libs just want to get big gub'mint into everything :P

I remember making liquefied ammonia as a chemistry lab experiment many decades ago. And no I don't mean ammonia solution (i.e.ammonia gas dissolved in water) I mean liquefied gas by passing it through a cold enough chambre to liquefy the gas (a test tube in an ice salt mixture) is enough to cause ammonia to exist in liquid state. I doubt it was dry enough to be called anhydrous but you still wouldn't want to breath it as it boils back to a gaseous state. Best done in a fume hood.

[HUGH]

Fertilizers are mostly nitrates. Coincidentally, so are many explosives.

Ammonium Nitrate was my guess, it's popular with farmers because of it's quick nitrate release with little residue and popular with the less sophisticated terrorists wanting to make massive car bombs.

Posing as a farmer you could probably go out and buy several tons of the stuff at any time.

[kb2vxa]

Ammonium nitrate is a natural suspect but by itself is a powerful oxidizer, not an explosive. Combined with #2 fuel oil however it becomes a common blasting agent, ANFO, Ammonium Nitrate Fuel Oil. Being cheap and dirty, easily made it was chosen by Timothy McVeigh to blow up the Federal Building in Oklahoma City. ANFO under most conditions is cap-insensitive, and so it is classified as a blasting agent and not a high explosive. So, that raises the question if it was involved what was the other half of the mixture?

It brings to mind the Mythbusters who as you probably know have a motto: If all else fails blow it up. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYKbBavXriY It also brings to mind one of the largest non nuclear explosions: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_City_Disaster STOP HERE and put a pillow under your chin before reading this! It was manufactured in a patented process, mixed with clay, petrolatum, rosin and paraffin wax to avoid moisture caking. It was also packaged in paper sacks, then transported and stored at temperatures that increased its chemical activity. Longshoremen reported the bags were warm to the touch prior to loading. EEK!

I'm sure we're all waiting to hear the final report but don't hold your breath. An investigation takes time and by then this will be yesterday's news, follow up reports are rare indeed.

[VE7DCW]

This is a link to the video of that gigantic explosion of that rocket fuel plant out in the middle of the Nevada dessert....watched it on TV and they kept calling it "the big one"!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yc0Oh-zyoiU

A 100 million dollar worth big Ka-boom! :shock:

[W4GPL]

Suspect in custody.

[KG4CGC]

Suspect in custody.

What?

[KC2UGV]

baleeted.... wrong thread.

[WØTKX]

Suspect in custody.

:lol: Too many tabs on Hamis. Get's confusin'. Been there. Done that. ;)

[WØTKX]

Suspect in custody.

:lol: Too many tabs on Hamis. Get's confusin'. Been there. Done that. ;)

Unless they found some new manure RE the TX explosion.

[X-Rated]

Is the Bird 43 still for sale?

[W4GPL]

baleeted.... wrong thread.This. Sorry. Alcohol may or may not have been involved.

[N8YX]

This. Sorry. Alcohol may or may not have been involved.

If it wasn't, it should have been.

Just sayin'.

;)

[N2NH]

Let's fix the problem.

Drinks for all bartender. Something to put hair in the palm of your hand please.

[W4GPL]

None for me. It's bad for my reputation. :)

[KG4CGC]

Palm Hair.

[K7SGJ]

Palm Hair.

I especially hate it when I get plam hair on my dates.

[NA4BH]

That's pretty nutty.

[NA4BH]

And then there's this


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35aWgiA0YK4&playnext=1&list=PL23B83D7C9732AF41

[K7SGJ]

And then there's this


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35aWgiA0YK4&playnext=1&list=PL23B83D7C9732AF41


Talk about timing, that was just on AMC. Notice she is holding him by the pork loin? The lucky bastid.

[VE7DCW]

That Maxwell is one lucky little Weeeeeeeeeeee !! :agree:

[NQ6U]

Notice she is holding him by the pork loin? The lucky bastid.

Maybe not so lucky. Later that night, she had pork chops for dinner.

[K7SGJ]

Maybe not so lucky. Later that night, she had pork chops for dinner.

Yeah, but what a way to go. In my lifetime, I've been known to sacrifice more for much less in return. But I did play a pig once...... I was placed in hock.

[NA4BH]

Being placed in hock would be such a wild boar. I think you should just root things up as you go.

[K7SGJ]

Being placed in hock would be such a wild boar. I think you should just root things up as you go.

Well, didn't you just go hog wild?

[NA4BH]

My jowls were shaking.

[K7SGJ]

You swhinny bitch.

[KG4CGC]

Move this to politico because the explosion was Bush's fault. Look up Phil Perry, Cheney's then son in law. He slip in legislation in a spending bill to keep the EPA from being able to regulate chemical plants and put it under DHS but made sure to not give them the tools to enforce ANY rule or regulation already in existence.

It's coming out. It's Bush's fault.

[KG4CGC]

BTW, forgot the year. It was 2007.

[KG4CGC]

Bush did it. For real. He really did.

[PA5COR]

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/04/27/1205200/-West-Texas-explosion-political-cartoon-strikes-a-nerve-with-Rick-Perry

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l165/magblog/PerryBusinessInTexasOhman.jpeg

[N2NH]

BTW, forgot the year. It was 2007.

That explains why it wasn't inspected since 2006. The Reverse Robin Hood tactics of the right come back to kill the average guy. Profits prioritized over your lives. Is it murder through legislation when it is this institutionalized?

[KG4CGC]

Murder through Conservative legislation.

[VE7DCW]

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/04/27/1205200/-West-Texas-explosion-political-cartoon-strikes-a-nerve-with-Rick-Perry

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l165/magblog/PerryBusinessInTexasOhman.jpeg

.....of course they never meant that in literal sense of the word! :lol:

[KC2UGV]

That explains why it wasn't inspected since 2006. The Reverse Robin Hood tactics of the right come back to kill the average guy. Profits prioritized over your lives. Is it murder through legislation when it is this institutionalized?

Nah, it's only murder if it abortion. After the fetus is born, fuck 'em.

[N2NH]

Nah, it's only murder if it abortion. After the fetus is born, fuck 'em.

And the other shoe drops. Business loves Texas. Here's why:


The Texas fertilizer plant that exploded last month, killing 14 people, injuring more than 200 others and causing tens of millions of dollars in damage to the surrounding area had only $1 million in liability coverage, lawyers said Saturday.Tyler lawyer Randy C. Roberts said he and other attorneys who have filed lawsuits against West Fertilizer’s owners were told Thursday that the plant carried only $1 million in liability insurance. Brook Laskey, an attorney hired by the plant’s insurer to represent West Fertilizer Co., confirmed the amount Saturday in an email to The Associated Press, after the Dallas Morning News first reported it.

“The bottom line is, this lack of insurance coverage is just consistent with the overall lack of responsibility we’ve seen from the fertilizer plant, starting from the fact that from day one they have yet to acknowledge responsibility,” Roberts said.
Roberts said he expects the plant’s owner to ask a judge to divide the $1 million in insurance money among the plaintiffs, several of whom he represents, and then file for bankruptcy.
He said he wasn’t surprised that the plant was carrying such a small policy.
“It’s rare for Texas to require insurance for any kind of hazardous activity,” he said. “We have very little oversight of hazardous activities and even less regulation.”--WaPo Story

Soooo blowd' the town up, and has no way to pay for their negligence. It's obviously Liberals just are wrong about Texas. Business is booming ya know.
Texas fertilizer plant that exploded carried only $1 million in liability coverage (http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/attorney-texas-fertilizer-plant-that-exploded-carried-only-1-million-in-liability-coverage/2013/05/04/cccab504-b4e8-11e2-9fb1-62de9581c946_story.html?tid=pm_pop)

[w0aew]

Yet I bet the poor yahoos in West will vote solid Republican in the next local elections.

Back in '79 I left Texas when I realized that you can't fix stooopid (with emphasis on the ooo).

[ki4itv]

It was reported that this company was only insured for 1 million in liability....WTF? I have the same coverage on a very small contracting company.
I can't believe they were allowed to hold such a small policy.

[WØTKX]

Now, now, now. Deregulation and limited liability are good for corporate personhood. This person just had trouble with a nitrate addiction, and self-departed. The self correction of the invisible hand. It happens, yadig? :dunno:

Or was it the Stark Fist of Removal?

[w0aew]

Now, now, now. Deregulation and limited liability are good for corporate personhood. This person just had trouble with a nitrate addiction, and self-departed. The self correction of the invisible hand. It happens, yadig? :dunno:

Or was it the Stark Fist of Removal?

Maybe the Fickle Finger of Foooooom.

[KG4CGC]

It was Bush/Cheney and the RWN. Simple as that.

[PA5COR]

My personal liabillety and my car insurance liaibilety insurance is for 5 million Euro's, 6.5 million dollar + change.

[NQ6U]

Now, now, now. Deregulation and limited liability are good for corporate personhood. This person just had trouble with a nitrate addiction, and self-departed. The self correction of the invisible hand. It happens, yadig? :dunno:

Or was it the Stark Fist of Removal?

It's the invisible hand of the marketplace reaching up and grabbing the residents of West, Texas, by the balls.

We hold as much liability insurance on our little duplex as that guy held on his fertilizer plant.

[kb2vxa]

"Back in '79 I left Texas when I realized that you can't fix stooopid (with emphasis on the ooo)."

It sure took Ron White long enough to work his now famous "there's just no fixin' stupid" tag line into his routine.

[NQ6U]

A reader's comment from the Washington Post site on this:


Well howdy partner, welcome to Texas, a great place to do business. We don't cotton to them pointy headed know-it-all liberals from back east telling us what we can and can not do. That insurance is expensive, cuts into profits, and you know if the boss don't make a profit then you ain't got no job.

However, this here is a Dee-saster with a capital D so we'd like some of that government money to rebuild our plant so them poor folks can get their jobs back. We just don't want none of them liberals coming here telling us how to do it. Or maybe we can get Oklahoma to give us a nice fat tax break if we rebuild up there. You know, like them baseball fellers get.

And don't you worry about Texas, this ain't gonna change a thing. We like like the way that LaPierre feller does things, just like the disaster up in Boston means everybody needs more guns, this little explosion means we need less regulation not more. All them regulations don't make anybody any money.

[WØTKX]

Why, that's even snarkier than what I wrote, pahdnah. :yes:

[N2NH]

Why, that's even snarkier than what I wrote, pahdnah. :yes:

And yet so on the mark. Maybe the GOP and Teatoolers are just a form of Darwin Award. Vote for them and you too might be one of the lucky ones to be scragged.