WEST, Texas, April 19, 2013 — Donald Adair, lifelong resident of the community of West, Texas and owner of Adair Grain Inc., today issued the following statement:Thanks, really, for respecting the investigative process. Too bad you had no respect for the regulative process:
This has been a terrible week for everyone in West, Texas and I want to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt sympathy for those affected and my appreciation for those who responded.
As a lifelong resident, my heart is broken with grief for the tragic losses to so many families in our community. I know that everyone has been deeply affected by this incident. Loved ones have been injured or killed. Homes have been damaged or destroyed. Our hearts go out to everyone who has suffered.
The selfless sacrifice of first responders who died trying to protect all of us is something I will never get over. I was devastated to learn that we lost one of our employees in the explosion. He bravely responded to the fire at the facility as a volunteer firefighter. I will never forget his bravery and his sacrifice, or that of his colleagues who rushed to the trouble.
This tragedy will continue to hurt deeply for generations to come.
My family and I can't express enough our deep appreciation for the loving service and selfless sacrifice from within and around our community responding to the urgent needs of those affected. I am proud to be associated with West Church of Christ, which has opened its doors to the State of Texas to provide grief counseling services. My family and I will continue to assist in relief efforts through our church family.
The genuine kindness we have witnessed will be the hallmark for all of our children's children.
Going forward, the owners and employees of Adair Grain and West Fertilizer Co. are working closely with investigating agencies. We are presenting all employees for interviews and will assist in the fact finding to whatever degree possible. We pledge to do everything we can to understand what happened to ensure nothing like this ever happens again in any community.
While the investigation continues, and out of respect for the investigative process, we will limit our comments during the weeks and months ahead.
(Reuters) - The fertilizer plant that exploded on Wednesday, obliterating part of a small Texas town and killing at least 14 people, had last year been storing 1,350 times the amount of ammonium nitrate that would normally trigger safety oversight by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).By the way, who had "about ten fucking seconds" in the How Long Will It Take Bill Flores and "Tailgunner Ted" Cruz to do a Jim Rockford 180º on Federal disaster relief once it was their fat asses on fire?
Yet a person familiar with DHS operations said the company that owns the plant, West Fertilizer, did not tell the agency about the potentially explosive fertilizer as it is required to do, leaving one of the principal regulators of ammonium nitrate - which can also be used in bomb making - unaware of any danger there.
Fertilizer plants and depots must report to the DHS when they hold 400 lb (180 kg) or more of the substance. Filings this year with the Texas Department of State Health Services, which weren't shared with DHS, show the plant had 270 tons of it on hand last year.
The Federal government should take care of the immediate needs of private citizens affected by this act.* The state of Texas should pay for personal and business losses caused by its laissez-faire attitude towards zoning, and sue Donald Adair, lifelong resident of West, for the costs.
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* Personally, I'd require the place to secede as a condition of our cutting the check, but maybe that's just me. Is there anything in the 10th amendment which says we can't at least require them to change the motto from "Lone Star State" to "There's So Much Shit in Texas You're Bound to Step in Some"?
Entering Texas
ReplyDelete~
Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof -- the smoking gun -- that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet we don't see Ac-130s mowing down Republicans in Texas despite their obvious terror plots against the American People.
I read the Texas AGs statement, something to the effect that it was too early to "blame the owners of the factory", but, oh yeah: any retailer who raised prices in response to the "tragedy" would find him/herself in jail!!!11!! for profiteering or something1!!!1
ReplyDeleteQuite the Tough Guy when dealing with 7-11 franchise owners.
Just as the pilots in the air that day weren't informed about the known pre-9/11 hijacking threat, the first responders at Adair fertilizer didn't have the benefit of knowing that the plant stored 1,350 times the amount of ammonium nitrate that would normally trigger safety oversight. They might have at least had the option of keeping a safe distance otherwise.
ReplyDeleteI would like to see any and all federal aid to be delayed precisely as long as Cruz delayed the aid to Sandy victims. Zero dollars to Texas until then.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Adair's insurance coverage has an upper limit -- and he should be personally sued to compensate the victims for his decisions.
While I can appreciate the sentiment behind the asterisk Doghouse, consider the 3.5 million Democrats down here.
ReplyDeleteOur state is trending blue (albeit slowly) and down the road, Hoosiers might again be happy to have us in the union.
Also, too we're still donor state when it comes to the federal budget. Just sayin'.
The factory explosion was NOT a natural disaster. The government of Texas and the town itself, plus the owners & stockholders of the factory should be the ones to pay.
ReplyDeletePossible Law Case with Georgetown University for Sexism and Racism Discrimination in Enrollment Process
ReplyDeleteBrief: A female advisor in the admissions department at Georgetown University has been caught openly admitting that she committed the CRIME of discrimination based on people's race and gender in the application process.
This has the potential to create a large scale lawsuit against Georgetown University, and with the momentum building at the rate it is building, seems very likely that will be the outcome.
Below are the main links to all of the information regarding this news story and case.
http://www.crimesagainstfathers.com/australia/Forums2/tabid/369/forumid/232/threadid/6149/scope/posts/Default.aspx
http://www.avoiceformen.com/georgetown-university-and-men/georgetown-university-in-a-cover-up/
While some Texan's claim that their state constitution would allow them to secede from the United States, they are bound by the U.S. constitution, and that means no secession.
ReplyDeleteWhat Texas could legally do, however, is divide into separate states. These states would likely be North Texas, South Texas, East Texas, West Texas, and Austin.
Hi calming influence! Not trying to be Contentious but I disagree. Texas was giiven the option to enter the union as up to five states, not enter, hang out for 180 years, then subdivide at will. Just saying
Deletea quibble: 400# of a given product is *nothing*. it might only do an acre's worth of fertilizing. a facility like that goes through (and inventories) hundreds of tons throughout the year. the dept of homeland security isn't interested in the amount of ammonium nitrate for the safety of the fertilizer plant so much as it wants to keep track of possible sources for 'terrorists'. i'm also curious as to why the state dept of health isn't sharing the info with dhs
ReplyDeletenice pic of mamie
jim, some guy in iowa