Today in Kansas City, a large chemical explosion in an offshoot off the downtown called "The East Bottoms" caused people as far as four blocks away to be knocked from their feet and onto the ground.
The Chemical Fire, which is now raining pieces of deadly ash as far as a mile plus away, is expected to continue burning for up to TWO DAYS This raises serious concerns as to the protection & safety of our chemical storage facilities.
http://www.kansascity.com/...
In the "War on Terror" we are advised of the importance of managing the assets the country has which can create potential dangerous, health hazardous, etc. situations.
The situation in Kansas City today is a perfect example of where something has gone seriously wrong.
Residents citywide were warned not to pick up debris carried by the dark cloud that streamed out of downtown, although Fire Chief Richard Dyer said the material was not highly toxic.
The facility, which stores numerous different chemicals, is not known for storing chemicals classified as disastrous in and of themselves. However, the continual burning has led to some individuals voicing concerns over the end result of these different chemicals being combined within the fire - or combined with common elements as well as general soot and fire waste created.
The facility, which employs 15 individuals, operates "mostly unguarded" according to sources.
In the end, I'm someone who is generally opposed to large scale growth of government, and this isn't a facility that needs government employed workers to secure it. However, it is apparent in this case that the chemical company did not do an adequate job protecting against a disaster. And when a disaster occurred, the recovery and stabilization plan was not sufficient to bring the event to a satisfactory close.
Now, for the next few days, residents of the Kansas City Metro get to deal with the potential of having chemicals and soot mixed into our rain, snow, and daily living.
If this isn't an event that explains why we need to pay more attention to how we handle the environment and chemical safety, I'm not sure what is.
Being the midwest, this story won't get nearly the same press as if it were in a larger area. But it's not where it occurs, it's the lesson we take from it.