Boston Versus West, Texas

By Dr. Henry Flores, NewsTaco

First let me state up front, I’m glad that the police caught the Boston Marathon Bomber alive.  They needed to do this for a great number of reasons, the greatest of which was to bring the citizens of Boston and the nation a sense of relief and security.  You see how this played out as the people lined the streets of Watertown, Massachusetts and cheered as the police left their community after the ordeal was finished.

I was glad that the bomber was caught and we all, most particularly the good people of Boston, could get our lives back.  Still, this incident says a great deal about this nation and the media.  It says we will leave no stone unturned to get the perpetrators after they attack one of our own particularly in our homeland.

Although four died and many more were injured, I felt a certain discomfort (I’m still trying to find the correct word) in the way the Horror in Boston was treated in the media as opposed to the manner in which they treated an even larger tragedy  unfolding in the small town of West, Texas.

A fertilizer storage facility caught fire and a cataclysmic explosion incurred.  The resulting damage included at least 15  dead, more than 200 injured and 60 missing.  More than 200 homes were damaged or destroyed along with two middle schools and one high school.  Thank goodness the blast occurred Wednesday evening a little before eight.  If school had been in session who knows how many children would have been hurt.  Still part of the damage was the destruction of a fifty unit apartment complex and a nursing home.  The tragedy in Texas was a larger catastrophe in scope than  the one in Boston, yet the media gave it far less play.

One of the things I find interesting is how much effort and coverage was put into catching the Boston Bomber, this young man will live with that moniker the remainder of his life, yet nothing has been done to find those responsible for the fertilizer explosion. Perhaps this stark silence is because the blame for the explosion lies in many places and there are many villains.

In Boston it was clear who the villains were: two young men of foreign origin, both immigrants.  One scenario pointed to the possibility that the bombers were affiliated with some foreign and/or terrorist organization.  At one time it was reported that at least 36 governmental agencies were on the scene chasing the bomber.

In West, ten  of the fifteen dead were first responders who arrived quickly to fight the fire and then died in the subsequent explosion.  The press has yet to announce who is responsible of the West explosion because, I guess, it’s not clear who the villains are.  Well, maybe, just maybe we can help the authorities get started by asking a few questions.

The first one I would like to ask is who in their right mind would allow such dangerous land use so close to a neighborhood with schools, an apartment complex and a nursing home?  Or, conversely, who decided to build all the homes and dwellings and educational facilities next to a leaky plant storing what was reported as 56,000 ponds of ammonium nitrate and 100,000 pounds of anhydrous ammonia, both highly flammable and subject to easy explosion.  Ammonium nitrate was the chemical of choice for the Oklahoma City bomber who took down the Murrah Federal Building.  So, who oversaw the placing of all these dwellings and schools next to such a dangerous and toxic place?

What roles did the city council, county commissioners, and state officials play in all of this?  Or, lest I sound cynical, are we just going to declare that this is a free society and we can do whatever we wish when we wish?   Sounds so libertarian, so Texan, huh?

Ok, if you are a believer of state’s rights and sovereignty how about blaming the feds?  Where was the EPA, OSHA, FBI, Homeland Security when the Texas Tragedy unfolded? While I’m pointing fingers how about the owner of West Fertilizer Company?  Apparently, this company has been negligent in the past and has been fined for various offenses.  The plant actually operated without a permit for its building from 1962 until 2006.  They obtained their permit only because some residents reported noxious fumes emanating from the plant.  Then the Texas Commission on Evironmental Quality visited and issued the permit but no agency state, federal or otherwise has bothered to see it this plant has had any further problems.

I really think that the Boston Bomber needs to stand trial and pay for his heinous crime, but I also feel that the criminals responsible for the West explosion need to be brought before the courts and made to pay for their horrible and irresponsible behavior as well.