(1) The population of West has been about the same since the fertilizer plant started up in 1962. People didn't build up around the plant, the plant was built among them.
(2) West Fertlizer was authorized to store up to 27 tons of anhydrous ammonia onsite and to notify the regulator if they had more than 1 ton in storage at any time. They had 55 tons of anhydrous in storage when the plant blew, and 270 tons of ammonium nitrate. They were in flagrant violation.
(3) These substances are ones that terrorists would love to get their hands on, so the company was not only playing with the lives of their neighbors, but by concealing their true stock of goods they were also potentially playing with anyone's life. When sagar talks of "personal responsibility" he is clearly exempting the owners of West Fertilizer from this requirement.
You’re a bit late; sagar already conceded this. It apparently wasn’t a place known for this sort of blast hazard when it was erected. Whether the population change reflects a change in home siting, who knows. We don’t have data to that level. Anyhow, if there was a law and the plant disobeyed, then unless someone told the state and the state ignored it then certainly Perry does not bear blame. Why should we have the state inspecting every facility which is not supposed to have deadly quantities of chemical in it, when it ostensibly does not even deal in that chemical?
... anyhow, until companies in California stop disobeying laws too, maybe this idiot cartoonist should shut up.