Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, announced Tuesday that she plans to schedule a hearing in hopes of investigating safety lapses at a West, Texas fertilizer plant, after a massive April 17 explosion killed 15 people and injured hundreds of others.
“I cannot rest until we get to the bottom of what caused the disaster in West, Texas and the tragic loss of life,” Boxer said in a statement. “It is critical that we find out how this happened. We must ensure that facilities like the one in West are complying with chemical safety laws. We will look at how the laws on the books are being enforced and whether there is a need to strengthen them.”
The facility reportedly failed to disclose a massive amount of ammonium nitrate — 1,350 times the maximum limit — that is ordinarily regulated by federal officials.
