Fertilizer plant blast: Sen. Boxer to urges review of chemical storage policies

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) urged the nation’s governors to ensure the safe storage of ammonium nitrate, a dangerous chemical that exacerbated the April explosion at the West, Texas, fertilizer plant.

“We know what has to be done. Ammonium nitrate has to be stored in a separate facility,” said Boxer at a press conference Tuesday. “It’s not rocket science here.”

When heated or contaminated, ammonium nitrate can explode. Hundreds were injured and 15 died in the blast, which also damaged or destroyed nearby homes, businesses and three unoccupied schools.

“I urge you to review the applicable requirements in your state, and in the interests of saving lives, adopt policies that you believe will prevent loss of life while allowing the use of ammonium nitrate with appropriate protections or the use of alternatives,” wrote Boxer in a letter to governors, including Texas’ Rick Perry.

Occupational Health and Safety Administration federal regulations requiring controls on the storage of ammonium nitrate have been in place for years. But OSHA had last inspected the West Fertilizer Co. plant in 1985.

Ammonium nitrate is not on the Environmental Protection Agency’s list of hazards requiring oversight, including a local emergency plan, although the Chemical Safety Board urged them to do so in 2002.

Boxer called the exclusion “outrageous.”

“People died here,” she said. “This is not some bureaucratic mistake.”

At a hearing held by Boxer on June 27, experts testified more recent inspections and stronger federal, local and state regulations could have averted or mitigated the blast.

The Chemical Safety Board reported that large amounts of combustible material were stored in the same areas as wooden containers holding ammonium nitrate. The board also noted no rules requiring sprinklers or restricting how much ammonium nitrate can be placed near homes, schools and hospitals.

“The destruction I personally saw in West – the obliteration of homes, schools, and businesses by an ammonium nitrate explosion – was almost beyond imagination,” said Rafael Moure-Eraso, CSB chairperson.

Moure-Eraso noted that though voluntary fire codes have provisions for ammonium nitrate, many Texas counties had none. “So at West, these fire code provisions were strictly voluntary, and West Fertilizer had not volunteered,” he said.

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