“Despite devastation from the April 17 explosion in West, Gov. Rick Perry suggests he sees no reason to boost state regulatory oversight at scores of sites around rural Texas where large amounts of hazardous chemicals are stored.”
http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/20130604-editorial-fill-gaps-exposed-by-west-disaster.ece
“Investigations into the April 17 explosion in West have exposed appalling levels of dysfunction and incompetence at the federal level, similar to flaws we noted in a Wednesday editorial on the state’s responsibilities. Badly written regulations, confusing federal guidelines and investigatory turf battles have further muddled the picture rather than bringing clarity.”
http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/20130605-editorial-federal-failures-in-west-aftermath.ece
Yes, yes, of course. It’s all Obama’s fault.
Well of course they don’t need more regulation because they can just shoot a chemical plant that starts exploding.
"In response to the deadly explosion at a Texas fertilizer plant, President Obama on Thursday ordered a government review of safety and security procedures at U.S. chemical plants.
Led by the departments of Homeland Security and Labor, and the Environmental Protection Agency, the working group will try to improve coordination with state, local and tribal agencies, streamline information-sharing and update regulations."
A year after the blast the Federal Government’s Chemical Safety Board has given it’s preliminary findings. My impression is there is nothing new in this report. And note that neither the Federal Government nor Texas government has made any changes in the past year as a result of this catastrophe.
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/west-explosion/headlines/20140422-in-west-no-closure-from-latest-report-on-regulatory-deficiencies.ece
Updating this thread.
After three years the FBI has decided the fire was intentionally set:
Well, no rush I guess.
The Wikipedia list of ammonium nitrate disasters linked above attributes at least one other incident to arson: Kansas City, MO, 1988.