Tell me if you have heard this one before. An industry endangers the public because their products are dangerous to produce, store, transport, or use. They further threaten public safety because these very limited liability corporations do everything possible to hide the dangers. Lie. Smear the people who uncover their deceit. Bribe politicians.
I found a perfect example from the great state of Texas.
April, 2013: A synthetic fertilizer plant in the town of West explodes with megaton force, killing first responders trying to keep a fire at the plant from spreading into town. This short video will refresh your memory.
When the dust settled, 15 lost their lives, over a 100 were injured, and several hundreds of buildings damaged or destroyed. If this had been an act of political terrorism, the feds would be out hunting the perpetrators with drones. Corporate negligence and incompetence risks only a slap on the wrist. And big legal and lobbyist bills.
May, 2013: The state fire marshal says these volunteer fire fighters did not know how to fight a blaze like this one.
The Texas State Fire Marshal's Office concluded in a report published in May that members of the West Volunteer Fire Department arrived at the scene that day unprepared for the dangers.
The Texas State Fire Marshal also determined that strategies and tactics utilized by the WVFD were not appropriate for the situation and unnecessarily exposed the firefighters, many of whom have brought claims against the CF defendants in this matter, to extreme risks, CF Industries says in the motion.
Thank goodness for state regulators. Too bad the Texas State Fire Marshal does not educate local fire departments about potential dangers in their midst.
October, 2013: An accident investigation revealed a bevy of safety violations.
The Occupational Safety & Health Administration has cited a West, Texas, fertilizer company with 24 safety violations springing from an April 17 explosion that killed 15 people and flattened much of the town.
Adair Grain Inc., the owner of West Fertilizer Co., could face fines up to $118,300 under the law. The fertilizer firm is a retail agricultural supply store and warehouse, similar to 6,000 other firms spread throughout U.S. farm communities (C&EN, April 22, page 8).
The notice of violation was publicly released on Oct. 10 by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), the day after it was issued by OSHA. The violation notice was not made public, Boxer said, because the agency is closed as part of the federal government shutdown.
(BTW, kudos to Senator Boxer.)
Blow up half a town and kill 15 after cutting corners on safety and you could get slapped with a fine of $118,000! The owners of the company are laughing their asses off. That is probably not even one day's worth of revenue. Now all they have to do is beat back the civil lawsuits and contribute to the corruption of public officials.
July, 2014: The companies responsible for the blast spread massive cow patties in court.
WACO, Texas -- Two fertilizer companies sued following a deadly Texas explosion are claiming the small town deserves blame for failing to properly train volunteer firefighters and first responders, who made up most of the 15 people killed by the blast.
El Dorado Chemical Co. and CF Industries argued in a state district court in Waco that the city of West, which has about 2,800 people, had insufficient protocols in place to battle the April 2013 blaze at West Fertilizer Co. that triggered the explosion.
The fertilizer suppliers are now seeking to have the city designated as a responsible third party in lawsuits filed against the companies, the Waco-Tribune Herald reported Saturday.
Your Honor, please make these suckers share our liability. After all, they were gullible enough to welcome our business into their community and believe our sincerely-held beliefs that our products and processes were safe. Judge, would you like your campaign contributions in small or large bills?
The companies even blamed the town for allowing the companies that close to residential areas.
"...because it failed to protect its citizens by allowing through its zoning authority schools and a nursing home to operate in a close proximity to the plant."
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