West explosions draws attention to limited protection around dangerous industrial sites

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics last week released a new report, revealing that workplace deaths are up slightly this year.

The announcement comes on the heels of a major explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas, that killed at least 14 and left some 200 people injured.

But those casualties included others beyond plant employees, including first responders and ordinary civilians who happened to live near a storage site for large quantities of both anhydrous ammonia and ammonium nitrate.

We might not all live near fertilizer plants, but explosive chemicals can be found in storage sites and cargo carriers throughout the country. Jim Morris, a Senior Reporter at the Center for Public Integrity who specializes in coverage of the environment and public health, says the West disaster is just the most recent, highest-profile, example of a phenomenon that is much more widespread.

“There are about 200 … high-consequence industrial accidents in this country every year,” he said. “Most don’t rise to the level of the West explosion — but these things happen all the time.”

In fact, he added, the same day as the West Explosion, there was a fire at an ExxonMobil refinery in Beaumont, Texas, some 300 miles southeast of West. About a dozen contractors were injured, including seven with severe burns, Morris said.

There are thousands of facilities, like the one in West, with just a chain-link fence separating them from residential and commercial developments, all over the country.

“What his demonstrates is a regulatory failure on a number of levels, which I think has to be discussed,” Morris said.

Specifically, he says, OSHA only has 2200 inspectors to cover the entire country — which means they’re unlikely to get to any particular workplace regularly. Morris called that an absurdly low number; OSHA hadn’t been in the West plant since 1985.

There’s also a role for the EPA, he said. In fact, some argue the EPA has the authority to regulate large stores of explosive and potentially dangerous chemicals, but has chosen not to do so, he added.

“The worker safety act in this country … is just extraordinarily weak,” Morris said. “It still, in this country, only a misdemeanor to kill a worker. Whereas, it is a felony to commit any number of environmental or securities violations.”

Every time Congress, particularly Democrats, have tried to strengthen that act, Morris said, they’ve been shot down.