story note: This is a quick turn accountability story off the news of an ammonia leak that caused the evacuation of a small town in Minnesota.
Star Tribune, Pg. 1A
LENGTH: 591 words
HEADLINE: A danger, but no regular inspections; Agriculture Department says it can't afford to conduct more frequent checks of ammonia storage plants.
BYLINE: BRAD SCHRADE
HEADLINE: A danger, but no regular inspections; Agriculture Department says it can't afford to conduct more frequent checks of ammonia storage plants.
BYLINE: BRAD SCHRADE
STAFF WRITER
Leaks and other incidents involving anhydrous ammonia occur about once a week in Minnesota, but state law doesn't require regular inspections of facilities that store the widely used and hazardous agricultural chemical, according to public records and interviews with state officials.
Of the 457 incidents that took place over the past decade, most were minor and didn't involve the type of drama that occurred in Randolph on Wednesday, when more than 50 people were hospitalized and 1,000 evacuated after as many as 200 gallons of the material leaked from a storage station.
But some people are injured in a handful of ammonia cases each year, and there have been four fatalities in the past decade, according to data provided by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture.
Just last year, two drivers at a fertilizer terminal in Rosemount were killed when a blast of the poisonous material leaked and hit them as trucks were being filled. Months before that November 2009 accident, the city of St. Charles evacuated 3,600 residents when a fire at a meat-processing plant threatened nearby tanks containing the chemical. Some of the ammonia escaped and killed fish in a nearby river.
"It's an extremely hazardous substance," said Paul Liemandt, assistant director with the Agriculture Department's division of pesticide and fertilizer management. "There is risk associated with the product both to the employees and purchasers and communities."
Tougher on violators
Regulation of the effective and easy-to-use fertilizer, stored as a liquid inside pressurized tanks, falls largely to the Agriculture Department. State law does not address whether storage facilities should be inspected or how often, according to the department. Regulators try to inspect anhydrous ammonia storage facilities every three to five years.
There are 301 registered an- hydrous ammonia storage facilities across the state, many of them in rural communities. Just 11 facilities have permits to store the chemical in the seven-county metro area, including five in Dakota County, three in Carver, two in Scott and one in Hennepin, state records show.
The last comprehensive inspection of the River Country Cooperative facility that caused such trouble Wednesday took place in late 2005. The facility had no major incidents or penalties, state officials said. But River Country's Hampton facility drew a $5,450 civil penalty for several safety violations earlier this year.
Liemandt said the department can't afford to conduct more frequent inspections with the resources it has, but he said the department has gotten tougher on violations in recent years. In the most recent fiscal year, the department issued 47 civil penalties, up from just four in 2008.
"We have taken a different enforcement strategy," Liemandt said. "We are being more aggressive and more immediate than we've been in the past."
The worst fear
Kris Eide, director of the state's emergency management agency, said there is always the potential for serious harm to a community when a toxic chemical is released. She said her worst fear is a train derailment involving dangerous chemicals in a rural community that isn't equipped to manage the response.
Eide said residents should find out if they live near a facility that stores hazardous chemicals.
"You have to plan for yourself and your family," she said. "You have to know what's in your community. ... You have to know what your options are to protect yourself. People shouldn't be unaware of what the risks are and where they are living."
Brad Schrade - 612-673-4777
Leaks and other incidents involving anhydrous ammonia occur about once a week in Minnesota, but state law doesn't require regular inspections of facilities that store the widely used and hazardous agricultural chemical, according to public records and interviews with state officials.
Of the 457 incidents that took place over the past decade, most were minor and didn't involve the type of drama that occurred in Randolph on Wednesday, when more than 50 people were hospitalized and 1,000 evacuated after as many as 200 gallons of the material leaked from a storage station.
But some people are injured in a handful of ammonia cases each year, and there have been four fatalities in the past decade, according to data provided by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture.
Just last year, two drivers at a fertilizer terminal in Rosemount were killed when a blast of the poisonous material leaked and hit them as trucks were being filled. Months before that November 2009 accident, the city of St. Charles evacuated 3,600 residents when a fire at a meat-processing plant threatened nearby tanks containing the chemical. Some of the ammonia escaped and killed fish in a nearby river.
"It's an extremely hazardous substance," said Paul Liemandt, assistant director with the Agriculture Department's division of pesticide and fertilizer management. "There is risk associated with the product both to the employees and purchasers and communities."
Tougher on violators
Regulation of the effective and easy-to-use fertilizer, stored as a liquid inside pressurized tanks, falls largely to the Agriculture Department. State law does not address whether storage facilities should be inspected or how often, according to the department. Regulators try to inspect anhydrous ammonia storage facilities every three to five years.
There are 301 registered an- hydrous ammonia storage facilities across the state, many of them in rural communities. Just 11 facilities have permits to store the chemical in the seven-county metro area, including five in Dakota County, three in Carver, two in Scott and one in Hennepin, state records show.
The last comprehensive inspection of the River Country Cooperative facility that caused such trouble Wednesday took place in late 2005. The facility had no major incidents or penalties, state officials said. But River Country's Hampton facility drew a $5,450 civil penalty for several safety violations earlier this year.
Liemandt said the department can't afford to conduct more frequent inspections with the resources it has, but he said the department has gotten tougher on violations in recent years. In the most recent fiscal year, the department issued 47 civil penalties, up from just four in 2008.
"We have taken a different enforcement strategy," Liemandt said. "We are being more aggressive and more immediate than we've been in the past."
The worst fear
Kris Eide, director of the state's emergency management agency, said there is always the potential for serious harm to a community when a toxic chemical is released. She said her worst fear is a train derailment involving dangerous chemicals in a rural community that isn't equipped to manage the response.
Eide said residents should find out if they live near a facility that stores hazardous chemicals.
"You have to plan for yourself and your family," she said. "You have to know what's in your community. ... You have to know what your options are to protect yourself. People shouldn't be unaware of what the risks are and where they are living."
Brad Schrade - 612-673-4777
