How Will Peter King Respond To Rick Perry's Request For Federal Aid To Help In The Fertilizer Factory Explosion?

Texas secessionist Rick Perry didn't get a vote in the Hurricane Sandy relief bill. But this is how his state's two dozen Republican congressmen voted:

• Joe Barton- No
• Kevin Brady- No
• Michael Burgess- No
• John Carter- No
• Michael Conaway- No
• John Culberson- Yes
• Blake Farenthold- No
• Bill Flores- No
• Louie Gohmert- No
• Kay Granger- No
• Ralph Hall- No
• Jeb Hensarling- No
• Sam Johnson- No
• Kenny Marchant- No
• Michael McCaul- No
• Randy Neugebauer- No
• Pete Olson- No
• Ted Poe- No
• Pete Sessions- No
• Lamar Smith- No
• Steve Stockman- No
• Mac Thornberry- No
• Randy Weber- No
• Roger Williams- No

Just north of Waco on Route 35, West is in TX-17, Bill Flores' district, but just a few miles from TX-25, Roger Williams' district. People from both districts were impacted. Both voted against federal aid for Hurricane Sandy survivors. This isn't a time for schadenfreude but... as Steve Benen pointed out Thursday the devastation was both horrific and predictable. Should we be spending taxpayer money on willful flouting of federal safety violations, encouraged by renegade states like Texas?

The operators of the Texas fertilizer plant where at least five people died in a blast Wednesday told government regulators two years ago there wasn't a major risk of a fire or explosion from ammonia stored at the plant.

West Fertilizer Co. told the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2011 that it was storing up to 54,000 pounds of anhydrous ammonia at the plant, north of Waco, as part of a required "risk-management plan." The plan said that neither fire nor explosion has been identified as a significant hazard, according to a summary of the plan on the website of the Center for Effective Government, a nonprofit group that posts the EPA data.

In the risk-management plan, West Fertilizer said the "worst-case scenario" would be an ammonia leak from a storage tank or hose. It didn't specify the likely consequences. The company said the plant had no alarms, automatic shutoff system or firewall. 

It's not just a matter of schadenfreude or revenge; it's a matter of asking ourselves why we should subsidize these nihilists in the South? Maybe they should just have statewide prayer sessions led by their elected political leaders instead of federal aid. Even now the first thing the fertilizer industry is worried about is whether or not there will be more safety regulations imposed on them.

The fertilizer industry is worried that the tragedy could lead to regulatory overreaction.

"There's a concern that someone may react quickly and perhaps try to change things or impose new regulation on top of existing regulation that's already effective," said Kathy Mathers, the vice president of public affairs at The Fertilizer Institute, which represents about 90 percent of the sector.

"There's definitely a very rigorous regulatory structure in place right now. My sense is that the industry is working very hard to comply with existing regulations," she added, noting that the facility owner, West Fertilizer, is not a member of her organization.

...Though investigators have yet to discover the cause of the explosion, the Dallas Morning News reported on Thursday that West Fertilizer reported to the EPA that the facility did not pose a risk of explosion.

It did, however, have 54,000 pounds of anhydrous ammonia, a common chemical in agriculture fertilizer. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "When handled improperly, anhydrous ammonia can be immediately dangerous to life or health" and can cause difficulty breathing.

The chemical is also used to make the drug methamphetamine.