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    After Beirut, Experts Warn Of 'Dangerous Gaps' In U.S. Oversight Of Ammonium Nitrate

    The experts and regulators are calling for the federal government to renew efforts to bolster safe storage, handling, use and transport rules for ammonium nitrate in the U.S.
    by Eric Westervelt Aug 14, 2020 6 minutes
    A helicopter puts out a fire at the scene of an explosion at the port of Lebanon's capital Beirut on Aug. 4.

    The catastrophic explosion in Beirut, Lebanon last week has renewed calls here in the U.S. to strengthen oversight of ammonium nitrate or AN, a chemical compound used in some farm fertilizers.

    Officials in Beirut believe the giant blast, which killed more than 200 people and damaged half of the city, was likely an accident caused by fire and negligent storage of some 2,750 tons of the chemical.

    In addition to farming and mining, AN has been used in terrorist attacks from Oklahoma City to Baghdad. It's highly explosive. It's been an ingredient of choice for improvised explosive devices and car bombs that have killed scores of soldiers and civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    And the Beirut debacle surely wasn't shocking to residents of the small Texas town of West – population 2,900.

    A 2013 there ignited more than 250 tons of ammonium nitrate improperly stored in flammable wooden boxes. The explosion leveled or damaged more

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