Download MOS 5640Unit IV Case StudyColumbia Southern UniversityMOS 56 and more Lecture notes Accounting in PDF only on Docsity! MOS 5640 Unit IV Case Study Columbia Southern University MOS 5640: Advanced Interactions of Hazardous Materials Unit IV Case Study An explosion at West Fertilizer Company in West Texas on 17th April 2013 killed 15 people and left several hundreds of people injured as a result. The explosion also led to the damage of more than one hundred and fifty buildings close to the fertilizer plant. Following an investigation of the incident by the US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB), a report was published. Based on this report, this paper will analyze the report and give an account of what caused the explosion, how the incident was handled, and how the accident could be prevented from occurring in the future. The company named West Fertilizer Company is located near Waco and deals in manufacturing fertilizers. The company has been in existence since its establishment in 1962. A fire started at the plant on the 17th of April, 2013 in one of its wood-frame seed and fertilizer buildings. The building in which most of the processing took place had no fire resistance mechanism in place and also contained close to 30 tons of ammonium nitrate used in agriculture as a high-content nitrate fertilizer. In this element, there also exists an industrial explosive called ANFO which constitutes almost 80% of the explosives used in the North American continent. This fire that developed in this building led to the explosion of the Ammonium Nitrate. The accident took place just over twenty minutes after the fire was reported to have developed. First responders arrived minutes before the explosion with the motive of putting off the fire, and among them, 12 were killed including firefighters who had already responded. Damage assessment indicated that more than 500 homes and buildings were destroyed and/or damaged by the incident which was approximate of over $100 million damage. A report by [ CITATION Lab16 \l 1033 ], showed that the there is no uniqueness in the sitting of schools near where hazardous chemicals are produced and/or stored in comparison to West, Texas. In the investigation by CSB, it was revealed that almost 50% of chemical plants that store fertilizer- grade ammonium nitrate are located within a mile of an elementary, secondary or high school. It was only a fortunate event in disguise that the accident occurred during the evening hours after the closure of schools, therefore, preventing an even worse disaster [CITATION Kle20 \l 1033]. The tragic explosion happened as a result of the fire that had set off the reaction of close to 30 tons of ammonium nitrate which is a very explosive compound. Following thorough investigations that have taken years, it has been concluded by the investigators that the fire was an act of arson. The Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), published a report that closes to over four hundred interviews related to the accident had been conducted to determine the cause of the fire and it was determined that the fire started intentionally from the interview responses. From the researches, accidental and natural causes were ruled out on the basis of very strong and advanced scientific tests conducted at the research laboratories. Some say that the explosion would have been avoided on the easy if appropriate measures were taken to store the ammonium nitrate safely. As at 2013, only six fertilizer plants had undergone inspection by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and West Fertilizer Company was not one of the six plants that had already been inspected. This failure can be blamed on the small number of staff at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration who were only 2220 than compared to the recommended 12000 in order for an efficient and effective inspection by the body. This unfortunate incident also occurred because the West Fertilizer plant did not store their chemicals in the plant’s stockpile. The company had been handling thousands of ammonium nitrate since 2006 and it was only until 2012 that the company listed its compound as a federally required hazardous chemical inventory. In addition, firefighter departments, as well as the rest of the emergency responders, failed to act on the information
