As Rick Perry calls for a second session to try and 'protect the sanctity of life' he is also is also still going around trying to poach jobs from other states due to the low tax and regulation rates in his state. In the aftermath West, TX explosion which leveled schools and apartment buildings, one can not help but notice that none of these special sessions are intended to deal with these lax-regulation issues or ways to help the West victims. Especially considering how stories like these continue to emerge:
Athens is a quiet East Texas community where the town square is still active and a place where residents enjoy the simple life.
Outside of an old building that some say needs to be torn down, there's a different type of activity. Several times a week, a chemical truck pulls up in front and unloads something into the building.
Nothing illegal is going on. In fact, what's inside is typically harmless.
We watched a truck driver unload 25 tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer
The driver said he's been delivering to the building for 15 years.
This is just one of 129 such buildings storing ammonium nitrate across the state. Surely proper safeguards are in place here, and the whole West thing was just a fluke right?
One reason residents may not have known a hazardous chemical was being stored inside is because the building's owner, East Texas Ag Supply, failed to notify state health officials until after the ammonium nitrate explosion in West.
But that's not the only concern.
The roof and interior of the Athens building is mostly wood, just like in West. National Fire Protection Association guidelines urge caution when storing ammonium nitrate in wooden bins.
Just one more blockquote to reflect the general intelligence of some of the people in charge here in my home state:
When News 8 started asking questions last month, Athens Fire Chief John McQueary said he was aware of what was in the building and that the building was safe.
He later told the local newspaper "...that ammonium nitrate is not going to go off; we're going to be able to put that out."
The chief provided News 8 with only one fire inspection record from last November. No hazards were noted, only the need for extinguishers and a "no smoking" sign
.