Video of Rachel Maddow's coverage below the fold.
The toxic leak at a DuPont chemical plant in La Porte, Texas, that
killed four workers over the weekend was so dangerous that as of Tuesday morning, investigators still
had not been able to access the affected area for safety reasons. But, as Rachel Maddow
highlighted Tuesday evening, you wouldn't have ever guessed that level of danger from a
plant supervisor's initial 911 call:
Dispatcher: How did this happen. Is it chemical related?
DuPont Supervisor: Uh, I am not certain.
Dispatcher: OK sir I need to know what's going on before I send.
DuPont Supervisor: They're doing a rescue right now. We have some injured people. I am not sure if chemicals are involved or not. I'm just relaying the message. [...]
Dispatcher: And you don't know what kind of chemical it is?
DuPont Supervisor No ma'am. I have got my team trying to determine that right now.
Dispatcher: Is this any risk to the public is it going to be a possible escaping from your premises?
DuPont Supervisor: No ma'am.
Dispatcher: No threat?
DuPont Supervisor: No ma'am.
Luckily, the public was not harmed by any leak beyond the factory. But the jump from "I am not sure if chemicals are involved" to "I have got my team trying to determine" what kind of chemical it is to "No ma'am," no threat whatsoever is not exactly convincing that plant management's response to this deadly leak was as urgent as the situation called for, or even very competent. And this is a plant that
has been cited four times for exactly what the 911 dispatcher was asking about—releasing hazardous emissions into the air.