Articles Tagged with ''Texas''

The chair of the Senate committee that investigated the West, Texas fertilizer plant explosion yesterday slammed the EPA for failing to include ammonium nitrate – the substance which caused the fatal blast – in its list of hazardous chemicals that require oversight.

Nearly a month after the fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas that killed 14 people and injured another 200, investigators are still unable to determine the cause of the tragedy.

The Texas Rangers and the McLennan County Sheriff's Department Officials are helping to conduct a criminal investigation into the April 17 explosion in West, Texas that killed 14 people and demolished hundreds of homes.

Sources say an investigation into the fatal April 17 blast at a West, Texas fertilizer plant has already yielded some information, though it’s expected to continue beyond this week. The Texas State Fire Marshal’s Office has identified ammonium nitrate – a relatively inexpensive fertilizer with a high nitrogen content – as the substance that caused the explosion, killing 14 people and injuring approximately 200 more.

An occupational safety organization says last week’s deadly fertilizer plant explosion in Texas is the result of that state’s anti-regulatory environment. The explosion at the West Fertilizer Company killed 14 people and injured many more.

The West Fertilizer Company facility that exploded in a deadly blast last week had not been inspected by OSHA in at least 10 years, according to advocacy group Public Citizen, which says too many similar facilities operate “with very little oversight” from regulatory agencies.

An explosion at a fertilizer plant in Texas last night powerful enough to cause a magnitude 2.1 earthquake has killed up to 15 people – and possibly more. Waco, Texas police Sgt. William Patrick Swanton said he expects the casualty rate to rise. A number of firefighters are among those still missing after the blast. (Firefighters – including volunteers – were at the plant fighting the blaze when the explosion occurred.)

Texas Governor Rick Perry’s recent assertion that his state’s high on-the-job fatality rate is due to the dangerous nature of the energy industry is being contradicted by the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (COSH).