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Common Dreams reports:
The death toll from this week's fiery explosions at the Chinese port of Tianjin climbed above 100 on Saturday, while confusion spread over whether authorities had ordered the evacuation of everyone within two miles amid fears of chemical contamination.
[...] Anti-chemical warfare troops have entered the site, according to the BBC.
[...] Two Chinese news outlets, including the state-run The Paper, reported that the warehouse was storing 700 tons of sodium cyanide--70 times more than it should have been holding at one time--and that authorities were rushing to clean it up.
Sodium cyanide is a toxic chemical that can form a flammable gas upon contact with water.
[...] "The company that owned the warehouse where the blasts originated, Rui Hai International Logistics, appears to have violated Chinese law by operating close to apartment buildings and worker dormitories", journalist Andrew Jacobs reports for [NYTimes] (paywall). "Residents say they were unaware that the company was handling dangerous materials."
About 6,300 people have been displaced by the blasts, with around 721 injured and 33 in serious condition, Xinhua news agency said. At least 21 firefighters are reported dead.
Related: Large Warehouse Explosions Injure 300-400 in Tianjin, China
For the adulterated baby formula abuses of 2008 (4 infants dead; 12,892 hospitalized), 2 people were executed. One wonders what will come of this case.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 16 2015, @09:12PM
According to its last filing with the EPA in late 2012 [. . .] Federal law requires that [...] DHS be notified
An agency that could have padlocked the West, Texas operation until they were in compliance with standards is OSHA (Occupational Health and Safety Administration).
The Neoliberals in Congress (privatize everything; kill off all regulatory agencies), however, have continually defunded that agency in keeping with the principles of Reaganism.
Due to limited regulatory manpower, the West, TX plant was last inspected in 1985. [google.com]
My original suggested department was
from the a-more-free-market-and-fewer-regulations-is-clearly-the-solution dept.
takyon retained the nub of that.
-- gewg_