On a slightly more twisted note, has anybody seen the cartoon "Business is Booming in Texas"? (A political cartoon targeting TX gov Rick Perry)
Todd G Williams, PE Fire Protection Design/Consulting Stonington, CT www.fpdc.com On Apr 29, 2013, at 9:03 AM, "Ford, Charles" <fo...@cintas.com> wrote: > I've been looking at NFPA 490 "Storage of Ammonium Nitrate. Very interesting > and only 11 pages. 1000 lbs triggers a AHJ permit requirement. 60 Tons > triggers a AHJ storage "approval". 2500 tons triggers a sprinkler > requirement. AHJ must approve all sites regarding, residential, Assembly, > schools, hospitals, etc. I look forward to NFPA's incident report where we > learn the relevant facts. Factoid: Ammonium Nitrate explodes with about 1/2 > the blast effect of explosives. NFPA 495 discusses separation distances for > explosives and Ammonium Nitrate. > > > C. Burton Ford > NICET Certified IV > NFPA Certified Fire Protection Specialist > Cintas Fire Protection Inc > 1038 Conshohocken Rd > Conshohocken, PA 19428 > Tel 610-233-1400 > Fax 610-233-1401 > > -----Original Message----- > From: sprinklerforum-boun...@lists.firesprinkler.org > [mailto:sprinklerforum-boun...@lists.firesprinkler.org] On Behalf Of > bver...@comcast.net > Sent: Friday, April 26, 2013 4:32 PM > To: sprinklerforum@lists.firesprinkler.org > Subject: Re: West, TX explosion > > Recent AHJ plan reviewer and inspector. As Arthur noted, prior to > construction or change of occupancy, or in his case preparation prior to > traveling to do an inspection, doing an Effective interview is a key activity > of an AHJ . Being the one segment of city organization that knows what is > normal for a particular industry is of assistance. Even a quick look at > wikipedia before meeting helps. > > Of course I worked in an environment that more or less expected me to enforce > codes, even if at times that made powers that be displeased. > > OSHA et al . When you cut budgets in a high-labor field you get less output. > You can only automate so much. Boots on the ground count. The only ways > self-enforcement works consistently if there is a strong value either in > broader society, or within an industry, that doing things in safe manner is > the only way. Think chlorine industry for a good example. The other is if > when caught by either a rare, effectively random inspection, or an event > happens, the results are so draconian that almost no one will violate good > practice. This is not part of the culture. > > West, Texas. Part of the expressed culture of non-Austin Texas is defiance > for rules, especially rules society embodies as laws. > > Choices society makes matter. > > bv > > From: "Todd - Work" < tgw @ fpdc .com> > To: sprinklerforum @ firesprinkler .org > Sent: Friday, April 26, 2013 9:09:25 AM > Subject: West, TX explosion > > From reading the latest reports, the fertilizer facility in West, TX that > exploded had 270 tons of ammonium nitrate on site. They had previously told > authorities that they had nothing hazardous. They were required to file with > DHS if they have more than 400 pounds on site and only exceeded that by 1350 > times. (Don't forget, Timothy McVeigh used a lot of that at the OK City > bombing). Obviously there is a problem at the management level. > > So when we evaluate facilities for sprinkler protection, how are people > handling hazardous materials? As a PE, I will address it one way. If a > contractor is looking at it in a design/build project, how is that being > addressed? > > Todd G Williams, PE _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list Sprinklerforum@lists.firesprinkler.org http://lists.firesprinkler.org/listinfo.cgi/sprinklerforum-firesprinkler.org
