WACO, Texas (AP) — Federal regulators have approved a report that found inadequate emergency response coordination and training and careless storage of potentially explosive materials contributed to a catastrophic 2013 blast at a Texas fertilizer plant.
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board vote Thursday also adopted recommendations that federal regulators set higher standards for safe handling and storage of fertilizer-grade ammonium nitrate.
The unanimous vote came at the end of a three-hour public meeting in Waco, at which investigators presented the findings of their examination of the West Fertilizer Co. plant explosion. The blast killed 15 people, including volunteer firefighters trying to extinguish the blaze that led to the explosion. It injured about 200 others and leveled part of the Central Texas town of West.
