As Texan authorities continue to examine causes of a massive fertilizer explosion at a storage facility April 17, including the possibility of negligence, Canadian fertilizer industry leaders say their safety rules are robust.
In April 29 interviews, they said industry “best practices” codes, regular inspections and government regulations make the Canadian industry safe.
“I think the standards we have established both through regulation and through industry codes in Canada give us the highest levels of safety and security,” Canadian Fertilizer Institute president Roger Larson said.
At the Winnipeg-based Canadian Association of Agri-Retailers representing hundreds of fertilizer retail outlets across the country, president Delaney Ross Burtnack said her members have invested millions of dollars to secure their premises from theft and adhere to strict codes of conduct.
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Since a 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that used fertilizer as a base, the security of fertilizer stockpiles has become a public security issue.
With stories of lax reporting and inspection at the Texas plant, Ross Burtnack said it appears Canadian security and procedure rules are stricter and better enforced.
“It sounds like a situation that our retailers are just not allowed to get into or they wouldn’t be in business,” she said.
“They are audited frequently, they have requirements they have to meet including communications with local authorities and residents of their town so they are aware of what potential dangers there are and to make sure they have the procedures in place to make sure these things don’t happen or if they do, everyone knows how to act quickly.”
The blast, reportedly caused by a fire that ignited stored ammonium nitrate, destroyed the plant and nearby homes in the town of West, Texas, killing at least 15 people.
The fertilizer retail CAAR lobby has tried for years to convince the federal government that money should be made available to secure the perimeter of fertilizer storage facilities and to better light the area for security.
Ottawa has not responded, Ross Burtnack said, in part because departments of public safety, natural resources and agriculture are in-volved in the issue and none of them wanted take the lead.
Retailers invested their own money for upgrades to meet the higher standards or risk losing product access. Larson estimated the cost at between $25,000 and $100,000 per site.
Canadian regulations and industry codes range from conditions in manufacturing plants, storage and retail stores through transportation.
Although there are federal regulations, the CFI president said much of the enforcement and policing comes from the industry itself.
“We in Canada should be very proud that we in industry took the initiative to define best practices and to the agri-retailers who invested in their facilities at significant costs.”
