[sagar]

“Was the factory there first?”

The fertilizer plant was built in the 60s. Though I am guessing, I doubt a fertilizer plant would be built yards away from residential complexes. In the remote chance that those complexes were already there, it does not mean that people in 2013 were forced to live there. Everybody living 10 yards from the damn fertilizer plants had either accepted the risks or did not take personal responsibility of their own safety! Sorry to be blunt.

[HiTech RedNeck]

“In the remote chance” — how about getting some facts before strutting... the factory should not be a reason for people to have to abandon their homes. They get to have a blast, as I said... as long as said blast stops at the boundary of their property.

[trubolotta]

Your guess seems reasonable but I got the impression this was the first time the plant stored ammonium nitrate. If so and if the other operations were rather innocuous, very little separation or berms would have been required. It sounds like this was a change of use and occupancy and the proper protection may not have been up to standards. We won’t know that until an investigation is completed. The insurance carrier will most likely conduct a separate and independent losss investigation since they may well be on the hook for the exposure liability.