AristaTek, Inc. Releases Written Brief on the Blast Effects of Ammonium Nitrate to Texas State Fire Marshal and Texas State Lawmakers for West Texas Hearings
Laramie, Wyoming (PRWEB) September 26, 2013 -- Aristatek, Inc, a leading provider of hazardous materials response solutions, prepared a written brief detailing the blast/explosive effects of ammonium nitrate which was presented and distributed to lawmakers during a hearing for the Texas House of Representatives Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee on August 26. The company has decided to make this same document available to fire departments/fire marshals, LEPC/EMA officials or any other public safety/health professionals that visit the Company’s web site at http://www.aristatek.com to aid with their tasks of making their communities safe.
The August 26 hearing involved another round of inquiries regarding the devastating explosion at West Fertilizer Company in West, Texas earlier this year. Ammonium nitrate is widely regarded as the primary substance involved in the explosion. The custom brief titled ‘Ammonium Nitrate Estimated Blast Effects’ was used by Texas State Fire Marshal Chris Connealy during his testimony to the Committee. A copy of the brief was also provided to lawmakers during hearing.
The information in the brief included a blast effects table for ammonium nitrate quantities from one ton to 300 tons as well as expert commentary on how to interpret the blast effects table. It was prepared using a combination of the company’s industry-leading hazardous materials response software, PEAC-WMD, and its staff of in-house chemists/engineers. The company prepared and provided the report at no cost to the State of Texas. Marty Herrin, chief of the Williamson County hazmat team and a long time PEAC user, was the liaison between Connealy and the company.
“After the West Texas incident with ammonium nitrate, Marty was contacted by the Texas State Fire Marshal on gathering a predictive model for explosive damage for the substance. He then contacted us,” stated Bruce King, co-founder and CEO of AristaTek. “The State as well as Marty wanted an excel file on predicting damage with different quantities of the substance for estimating the potential dangers were it to explode. We wanted to do what we could to help out Marty and the State.”
After the hearings, the Company decided the brief could also provide help to other entities attempting to analyze the same types of hazards in their communities. As a result, the Company is releasing the brief as of today to qualified emergency planning/response/zoning officials. It will only be made available via online meeting after verification of the contact information is completed. A special abbreviated brief will be made available to qualified press contacts as well.
“The problem for the emergency planners in many communities is making sense of the chemical inventories and the potential hazards they represent if a catastrophic event was to occur,” continued King. “Like our PEAC software, this ammonium nitrate brief should provide a resource for communities with local ammonium nitrate stockpiles to understand the possible consequences, and analyze their current regulations and best practices helping tell them if their businesses storing or shipping this substance are doing things right.”
About AristaTek
Formed in 1999 by four chemists and engineers who conducted field scale research studies at the Nevada Test Site’s Hazmat Spill Center (HSC) mandated by the 1986 Superfund and Reauthorization Act (SARA) and the Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) during the 1990’s, AristaTek has become a leading provider of CBRNE and HAZMAT response and planning solutions to the civilian and military market. PEAC-WMD™, AristaTek’s leading software product, assists in response efforts by consolidating CBRNE & HAZMAT technical reference sources and automating stand-off distance modeling and communication of incident data. PEAC is the industry-standard in the CBRNE & HAZMAT response community, supporting critical CBRNE units such as the National Guard Civil Support Teams (CST), the United States Air Force (USAF) and countless civilian responders worldwide. AristaTek is a certified HUBZone business. For additional information, visit http://www.aristatek.com.
C. Scott Bunning, AristaTek, Inc, http://www.aristatek.com, +1 (307) 721-2108 812, [email protected]
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