Pretty scary. Early reports saying up to 70 dead. The pictures look like an atomic bomb went off.

This video is INSANE

 

lots of images here: http://www.buzzfeed.com/mbvd/gripping-imag...zer-factory-nea

Oh my f***ing god.

Evacuating a five mile radius...

 

I pray this is just an accident.

This stuff isn't fair. But why were there houses and a nursing home and school so close to a Fertilizer Plant? It obviously wasn't safe. I thought there was some sort of ordinance with that kind of stuff?

This stuff isn't fair. But why were there houses and a nursing home and school so close to a Fertilizer Plant? It obviously wasn't safe. I thought there was some sort of ordinance with that kind of stuff?

 

Those kinds of things are all grandfathered in. Even if the law was passed, it doesn't change what was already there.

Those kinds of things are all grandfathered in. Even if the law was passed, it doesn't change what was already there.

 

I know Texas tends to have lax zoning laws, but building fertilizer factories in neighborhoods (or vice versa) is one of the dumbest ideas I've ever heard of.

I know Texas tends to have lax zoning laws, but building fertilizer factories in neighborhoods (or vice versa) is one of the dumbest ideas I've ever heard of.

 

Most of Texas has no zoning laws. I'm speaking more for places that have real zoning laws even. If you pass a zoning ordinance, you can't make existing structures go back and change to fit the new law. They get grandfathered in until they make some material change to either the existing structure, or to their zoning.

Most of Texas has no zoning laws. I'm speaking more for places that have real zoning laws even. If you pass a zoning ordinance, you can't make existing structures go back and change to fit the new law. They get grandfathered in until they make some material change to either the existing structure, or to their zoning.

 

but... but... government regulation is bad!

 

...

Most of Texas has no zoning laws. I'm speaking more for places that have real zoning laws even. If you pass a zoning ordinance, you can't make existing structures go back and change to fit the new law. They get grandfathered in until they make some material change to either the existing structure, or to their zoning.

 

This is a good argument against that sort of stupidity then. Or do Texans not remember what the OKC bomb was?

but... but... government regulation is bad!

 

...

 

The idea is to prevent abuses of power by the government. Without that sort of protection, you could have a local government literally legislate your house out of existence, with nothing you could do about it.

The idea is to prevent abuses of power by the government. Without that sort of protection, you could have a local government literally legislate your house out of existence, with nothing you could do about it.

 

 

nah man i get it. but what about regulating where you can and can't build a plant?

 

which was there first?

nah man i get it. but what about regulating where you can and can't build a plant?

 

which was there first?

 

No idea honestly. In Texas, it probably doesn't matter. Most towns literally have no zoning ordinances in that state. I'm guessing that the plant was there first, because a neighborhood would have a fit the other way around.

No idea honestly. In Texas, it probably doesn't matter. Most towns literally have no zoning ordinances in that state. I'm guessing that the plant was there first, because a neighborhood would have a fit the other way around.

 

 

right and THAT'S my point. whichever was there first, regulations should be in place to keep this exact thing from happening. it's common sense. however, in texas... it ain't so common.

I'm sure more will be available, but people have done rapid checks and found that this plant applied for and failed to qualify for some variety of operating permit in 2006, they've had people complain of strong ammonia odors before, and they haven't been inspected by OSHA since before 2006.

right and THAT'S my point. whichever was there first, regulations should be in place to keep this exact thing from happening. it's common sense. however, in texas... it ain't so common.

 

It isn't as common as you would think. Neighborhoods spring up around dangerous places all of the time. Many times it happened before ordinances went on to the books, or there just aren't rules against it.

It isn't as common as you would think. Neighborhoods spring up around dangerous places all of the time. Many times it happened before ordinances went on to the books, or there just aren't rules against it.

Developers aren't going to care as long as they can sell the homes. One way to do it would be to have people warned if their home is within distance x of a potentially hazardous site, but that can be a joke anyway.

 

In California, you're supposed to be warned upon the purchase of a home if it's a few hundred yards from a fault line, but there's a place I really like on state route 14 where there is a steep slope with a bunch of houses on it, a mansion across the higway that I always guessed was over a million dollar home, a few hundred yards...and then you cross the San Andreas Fault. You couldn't pay me to live there.

Developers aren't going to care as long as they can sell the homes. One way to do it would be to have people warned if their home is within distance x of a potentially hazardous site, but that can be a joke anyway.

 

In California, you're supposed to be warned upon the purchase of a home if it's a few hundred yards from a fault line, but there's a place I really like on state route 14 where there is a steep slope with a bunch of houses on it, a mansion across the higway that I always guessed was over a million dollar home, a few hundred yards...and then you cross the San Andreas Fault. You couldn't pay me to live there.

 

People run a similar risk living right on a river too. Hell, there are literally all sorts of places people could live that are just as dangerous, if not moreso, than living next to this plant.

People run a similar risk living right on a river too. Hell, there are literally all sorts of places people could live that are just as dangerous, if not moreso, than living next to this plant.

Don't a lot of places have similar rules for flood-prone areas, where at least the developer is supposed to tell the homeowner that they're at a flood risk or that they should look into the federal flood insurance program?

People run a similar risk living right on a river too. Hell, there are literally all sorts of places people could live that are just as dangerous, if not moreso, than living next to this plant.

I dunno, not many places are literally bombs waiting to explode if a small fire breaks out. Look at that video posted on the first page, those people are probably a good half mile away if not more and they were still rocked.

Don't a lot of places have similar rules for flood-prone areas, where at least the developer is supposed to tell the homeowner that they're at a flood risk or that they should look into the federal flood insurance program?

 

I imagine so, or that it's at least widely assumed. But living in a high risk area like that, it becomes a lot more difficult and a lot more expensive to buy flood insurance as well. Think of a life insurance company insuring a smoking alcoholic.

 

I dunno, not many places are literally bombs waiting to explode if a small fire breaks out. Look at that video posted on the first page, those people are probably a good half mile away if not more and they were still rocked.

 

I'm not going to vouch for them and say it was a smart idea, but they obviously never anticipated this even in their wildest dreams. Suffice to say, there will be increased regulations on factories, especially on those that can, uhh, you know, explode.

Suffice to say, there will be increased regulations on factories, especially on those that can, uhh, you know, explode.

More regulation as a response to an event in Texas? This isn't exactly the first factory explosion in Texas. And somehow I don't see the Congress increasing the budget for OHSA on-site inspections any time soon.

Link

I'm not going to vouch for them and say it was a smart idea, but they obviously never anticipated this even in their wildest dreams. Suffice to say, there will be increased regulations on factories, especially on those that can, uhh, you know, explode.

 

People use fertilizer to make bombs. That's what was used in teh first WTC attack and at OKC. The idea that an ammonium nitrate plant can violently explode isn't new. Hell, it's happened before in Texas.