DALLAS — Federal investigators have determined that a lack of oversight and regulations at the local, state and federal levels contributed to the deadly fertilizer plant explosion that devastated a rural Texas town last year…. [T]he United States Chemical Safety Board released the preliminary findings of its investigation at a news conference here on Tuesday. Officials with the agency highlighted a series of shortcomings, both in how the West Fertilizer Company handled the agricultural chemical that touched off the explosion — ammonium nitrate — and in how various agencies oversaw the company’s operations and storage of the chemical.
There are few things that speak to the farce that is the “Texas Miracle” more than the fertilizer plant explosion in West, TX. Governor Rick Perry has portrayed himself as the impetus behind an economy that weathered the recession without suffering the degree of damage done to most other states. How did he do this? By creating a business-friendly environment almost completely free of pesky things like regulation and oversight. One can debate the numbers and his alleged success at creating what he self-aggrandizingly calls “The Texas Miracle,” but it’s become clear that such a miracle has come at a price. A very steep and deadly price.
The fertilizer plant explosion leveled a good portion of West. It killed 15 people and injured more than 160, and it might have been prevented with even the barest minimum of government oversight. The plant had last been inspected (by OSHA) in 1985, when it was cited for improperly storing anhydrous ammonia and fined…wait for it…$30.
If you were wondering, anhydrous ammonia is what Timothy McVeigh used to to blow up the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995. It’s serious stuff, and needs to be handled and stored properly. Unfortunately, Rick Perry’s Texas Miracle removed the need for any sort of oversight that might have protected public safety.
The economic “miracle” Rick Perry never misses the chance to celebrate is built on the backs of those killed and injured in West. In most states that would be cause for alarm, but this is Texas we’re talking about, where life is cheap and what’s really important is making it possible for business to thrive…regardless of the consequences. Life has been cheapened in Texas so that business might maximize profits, and loss of life is now considered merely a cost of doing business.
