UPDATES AT BOTTOM OF POST -
I got batted around a little bit last night for jumping to the conclusion that this was a terror-related incident. I don't blame people for saying I'm jumping to conclusions. Because, I am.
I have a hair-trigger on this stuff, because we have been lied to quite a bit lately. Just within the last week, we have learned that the Denver Police ruled a suicide in the case of an indigent man who was found dead after being holed up for six days in a posh hotel with a pound of cyanide. That's an elaborate way for a homeless man to kill himself, don't you think?
Yet, the Denver Police ruled that it was NOT TERROR-RELATED. And, as far as I know, the FBI is not investigating the incident.
And then, just a couple days later, we find that an Egyptian man on Long Island, was building and testing an unmanned drone aircraft, designed to carry a 600 lb. payload.
Once again, that incident was ruled to be NOT TERROR-RELATED.
So yes, I have a hair-trigger. And, it looks like I may have been right in this case as well.
Thanks to Reliapundit over at the Astute Bloggers for sending this over to me:
AP: 2 dead from chemical exposure at plant in Ill.
Two people have died after exposure to a dangerous chemical at a storage and mixing plant, a city official said Sunday.
At least eight people were sickened by exposure to the chemical on Saturday, and emergency rooms were quarantined at two St. Louis hospitals where those people sought treatment.
In a statement issued early Sunday, East St. Louis City Manager Robert Betts said two people had died.
The chemical was released when a barrel was dropped at the Ro-Corp. plant. The lid popped off the barrel and a white powder came out, said Fire Chief Jim Silvernail from Mehlville, Mo.
"It's like what would happen if you drop flour — it got all over them," Silvernail said.
The eight men who were at the plant sought treatment at several hospitals in the area, with some of them driving themselves, officials said.
Betts told KSDK-TV in St. Louis that the FBI would investigate because of the nature of the exposure. He said it wasn't certain that the employees had permission to be at the company on a Saturday.
EARLIER UPDATED POST HERE... (WITH EVOLUTION OF THE STORY FROM THE START.)
IF THEY WERE IN THE PLANT WITHOUT PERMISSION, THEN WHY... AND WHAT WERE THEY TRYING TO DO WITH THIS VERY DANGEROUS CHEMICAL?
WHAT ARE THEIR NAMES?!?!?!?!?
WHY WON'T THEY RELEASE THEIR NAMES?
UPDATES:
Anonymous said...
Nitro Compounds Any of a class of chemical compounds in which the nitro group (-NO2) forms part of the molecular structure. The most common examples are organic compounds, isomers of nitrite esters in which a carbon atom is linked by a covalent bond to the nitro group's nitrogen atom.
Many nitro compounds are commercially used as explosives solvents, or raw materials and chemical intermediates. They are generally made by a reaction between nitric acid and an organic compound.
about the chemical involved
The compound is toxic by way of inhalation, ingestion, and absorption, and should be handled with care. Its LD50 in rats is 750 mg/kg when administered orally.
p-Nitroaniline is particularly harmful to all aquatic organisms, and can cause long-term damage to the environment if released as a pollutant......1. Synthesis.....2. Applications.....3. ToxicityC6H6N2O24-nitroanline highly toxic, absorbed through the skin.....4. See Also.....5.
References
Anonymous said...
Ro-Corp, St. Louis
local centers of interest
Anonymous said...
methemoglobinemia cyanosis, (bluish discoloration of skin) p-Nitroaniline
Hazards Identification
Emergency Overview--------------------------POISON! DANGER! HAZARDOUS SOLID AND DUST. HIGHLY TOXIC. RAPIDLY ABSORBED THROUGH SKIN. CAUSES METHEMOGLOBINEMIA, DECREASING OXYGEN IN BLOOD.
COMBUSTIBLE DUST - EXPLOSION POTENTIAL.
MAY BE FATAL IF SWALLOWED, INHALED, OR ABSORBED THROUGH SKIN. HANDLE IN A FUME HOOD. TARGET ORGAN(S): Lungs, heart, blood, liver.
J.T. Baker SAF-T-DATA(tm) Ratings (Provided here for your convenience)-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Health Rating: 3 - Severe (Life)
Flammability Rating: 1 - Slight
Reactivity Rating: 1 - Slight
Contact Rating: 3 - Severe (Life)
Lab Protective Equip: GOGGLES; LAB COAT; VENT HOOD; PROPER GLOVESStorage Color Code: Blue (Health)
Anonymous said...
NECNews video report
19 comments:
In the plant without permission and no names yet? Hmmmm....
Can the chemical be used in explosives?
I read somewhere that it is an explosive material.
However, it does have a relatively high flash-point of something around
200 C
I don't know much about explosives. Until someone comes around and tells us, I can't be sure. And, I forgot where I read that it was explosive, so I can't find the link.
Sorry.
Nitro Compounds Any of a class of chemical compounds in which the nitro group (-NO2) forms part of the molecular structure. The most common examples are organic compounds, isomers of nitrite esters in which a carbon atom is linked by a covalent bond to the nitro group's nitrogen atom. Many nitro compounds are commercially used as explosives solvents, or raw materials and chemical intermediates. They are generally made by a reaction between nitric acid and an organic compound.
about the chemical involved The compound is toxic by way of inhalation, ingestion, and absorption, and should be handled with care. Its LD50 in rats is 750 mg/kg when administered orally. p-Nitroaniline is particularly harmful to all aquatic organisms, and can cause long-term damage to the environment if released as a pollutant.
.....1. Synthesis
.....2. Applications
.....3. Toxicity
C6H6N2O2
4-nitroanline highly toxic, absorbed through the skin
.....4. See Also
.....5. References
Ro-Corp, St. Louis
local centers of interest
methemoglobinemia cyanosis, (bluish discoloration of skin) p-Nitroaniline
Hazards Identification
Emergency Overview
--------------------------
POISON! DANGER! HAZARDOUS SOLID AND DUST. HIGHLY TOXIC. RAPIDLY ABSORBED THROUGH SKIN. CAUSES METHEMOGLOBINEMIA, DECREASING OXYGEN IN BLOOD. COMBUSTIBLE DUST - EXPLOSION POTENTIAL. MAY BE FATAL IF SWALLOWED, INHALED, OR ABSORBED THROUGH SKIN. HANDLE IN A FUME HOOD. TARGET ORGAN(S): Lungs, heart, blood, liver.
J.T. Baker SAF-T-DATA(tm) Ratings (Provided here for your convenience)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Health Rating: 3 - Severe (Life)
Flammability Rating: 1 - Slight
Reactivity Rating: 1 - Slight
Contact Rating: 3 - Severe (Life)
Lab Protective Equip: GOGGLES; LAB COAT; VENT HOOD; PROPER GLOVES
Storage Color Code: Blue (Health)
NECNews video report
An inside job to obtain feedstock chemicals to make something else? What are the uses of said nitrogen-based chemicals?
SamenoKami,
From having read Anonymous' comments, it sounds like it could be dangerous enough all by itself.
I wonder if this stuff can be aerosolized and put through air-conditioning vents.
What was the guy in Denver planning on doing with the Cyanide?
The cyanide incident is bizarre. The Feds are acting like it's no big deal, everybody has a pound or two of cyanide just sitting around. I say they are lying in order to keep everyone from panicking, which may not be a totally bad idea.
According to the Miami Herald , the Feds have dismissed this incident already as well . . .
McCarty said the FBI initially was called in "to pinpoint whether there was anything criminal or terrorism-related about the chemical release, but agents found neither."
"Earlier Sunday, East St. Louis city manager Robert Betts said two people had died. He later told a newspaper that he couldn't confirm the deaths."
Hell will freeze over before the names of the dead will be released.
St. Louis Today updateSUN AUG 31, 2008: Employees with Hulcher Services Inc, an environmental cleanup company out of Memphis vacuum the loading dock at G.S. Robins & Co. Sunday afternoon in East. St. Louis where a toxic powder mishap Saturday hospitalized several employees.
"Steve Robins, president of the G.S. Robins & Co., the parent company Ro-Corp Inc., said the city manager's claim that there had been two deaths was wrong and no one died. (Laurie Skrivan/P-D)
Wow . . .were there really no deaths from this accident or is this the story to make it all go away?
Maybe the deaths that occurred were not the result of chemicals, but instead were ruled vague suicides, like the indigent man with a pound of cyanide in Denver...
SamenoKami,
Ok, I see where you're coming from.
The problem with our officials taking that tact is that it keeps the population from facing the truth about the Jihad, and believing that we have no reason to be at war.
I don't think that is a good outcome, do you?
Anonymous,
You said: Hell will freeze over before the names of the dead will be released.
I say: I think you're right. If "no one died" then there are no names to report, right?
BND.com has video footage of the clean up.
It also provides this curious FBI accounting/statement which does not account for all of the victims:
FBI Spokesman Price McCarty said a total of eight people, all Ro-Corp. plant workers, were injured.
One of the eight was released from Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis Sunday evening, while at least four other victims remained hospitalized.
The victim at St. Louis University Hospital remained in serious condition, while the conditions of all three victims at St. Anthony’s Medical Center in south St. Louis County had upgraded from stable to satisfactory, according to a hospital statement.
That statement accounts for five of the eight injured workers. What about the other three?
To anyone who thinks I am being extreme here, well, maybe I am. But, I have reasons to be suspicious and I have articulated them. Not only have I articulated my reasons, but I have made it clear why I think that hiding this problem only hurts the situation, and does not help.
We have a real problem on our hands when we are at war and the citizens of our country think we have no reason to be, and yet, our government is spending money by the hundreds of billions and we are losing our best and brightest in deserts where the people hate us.
That is a problem.
And, it becomes an even worse problem when our government lies to us.
I've had it. From now on, my suspicion meter is stuck permanently on high.
As I've been joking about, we ought to change the name of this blog to "NOT TERROR-RELATED" because it seems that everything we talk about here is declared to be not terror-related by some official or other.
Sad state of affairs.
"Robins said the workers were not scheduled to be at the facility on Saturday but went in after a customer called in a special order. He had few details on the accident."
Despite workers not being scheduled to be at the facility - someone was available to take a phone order. This individual not only accepted this order, but managed to find the personnel to fulfill this order on unscheduled time.
Such flexiblity presents a question of security. What could this chemical be used for that it warranted an unscheduled order fulfillment on a day no workers were scheduled to be at the warehouse? Who took the order? Who placed the order? For what purpose? Who called in the workers, and by what protocol and authority?
Is this how insecure such chemical warehouses are in this country?
There is plenty of reason to be concerned here, even if no terror is related.
Identify and interview the workers involved.
Thanks for the help.
I've started a new post/thread at the top of the page based upon the information you have fed me.
""I don't think that is a good outcome, do you?""
Not at all. You must name the enemy before you can defeat him. Too much of what goes on around the world is being sugarcoated in order for us to not get excited about it.
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