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>You simply do not store that much fertilizer in a single place Perhaps it is done, and in a port near you. https://www.smh.com.au/national/lebanon-blast-alar

>You simply do not store that much fertilizer in a single place Perhaps it is done, and in a port near you. https://www.smh.com.au/national/lebanon-blast-alarms-nsw-residents-living-near-ammonium-nitrate-stockpiles-20200805-p55iwr.html https://www.smh.com.au/national/lebanon-blast-alarms-nsw-res... >Kooragang Island is already home to a storage facility operated by chemical giant Orica, where up to 12,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate are stored and around 430,000 tonnes produced each year IIRC Orica is the same company that made that stuff that was stored on docks of Beirut.

mschuster91 6y ago
> In 2014, Incitec Pivot won approval for a storage facility on Kooragang Island, three kilometres from the centre of Newcastle. It has not yet built the facility, which would have the capacity for 30,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate. In the name of all that's holy: what the FUCK? Who even thinks of such a thing? And who dares to approve it? > IIRC Orica is the same company that made that stuff that was stored on docks of Beirut. To be fair the company is not responsible for the (iirc) Russian ship owner simply disavow and dump ship, sailors and cargo, or for the incompetence of the Lebanese government.
- emmelaich 6y ago
  Newcastle is one of the main shipping ports in Australia. Perhaps the biggest? An island 3k from habitation sounds like a good place to put it.
  - mschuster91 6y ago
    In Beirut a tenth of that amount shattered windows a kilometer away. I know blast energy is not linear but still, there is no good in keeping such numbers of an accident prone explosive in any place anywhere.
    - emmelaich 6y ago
      In Beirut it was kept in a ordinary warehouse, with fireworks. The risk in a purpose built facility is vastly lower.
- qubex 6y ago
  The cargo ship whose cargo was sized and that was eventually impounded was registered in Moldavia, if what I have read is correct.
emmelaich 6y ago
Trivia - Orica's history includes Nobel's (the Alfred Nobel) company. And ICI - Imperial Chemical Industries
mianos 6y ago
Actually, that fertilizer is not an Orica product. It is a knock-off with a slightly misspelled but similar name. That said, if it was the result would have been the same. The problem was not the product. If you follow safe handling and storage guidelines ammonium nitrate should be safe. Obviously storing it with fireworks and welding next to that combo is probably not in the Orica safety data sheet.

mschuster91 6y ago

> In 2014, Incitec Pivot won approval for a storage facility on Kooragang Island, three kilometres from the centre of Newcastle. It has not yet built the facility, which would have the capacity for 30,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate. In the name of all that's holy: what the FUCK? Who even thinks of such a thing? And who dares to approve it? > IIRC Orica is the same company that made that stuff that was stored on docks of Beirut. To be fair the company is not responsible for the (iirc) Russian ship owner simply disavow and dump ship, sailors and cargo, or for the incompetence of the Lebanese government.

emmelaich 6y ago
Newcastle is one of the main shipping ports in Australia. Perhaps the biggest? An island 3k from habitation sounds like a good place to put it.
- mschuster91 6y ago
  In Beirut a tenth of that amount shattered windows a kilometer away. I know blast energy is not linear but still, there is no good in keeping such numbers of an accident prone explosive in any place anywhere.
  - emmelaich 6y ago
    In Beirut it was kept in a ordinary warehouse, with fireworks. The risk in a purpose built facility is vastly lower.
qubex 6y ago
The cargo ship whose cargo was sized and that was eventually impounded was registered in Moldavia, if what I have read is correct.

emmelaich 6y ago

Trivia - Orica's history includes Nobel's (the Alfred Nobel) company. And ICI - Imperial Chemical Industries

mianos 6y ago

Actually, that fertilizer is not an Orica product. It is a knock-off with a slightly misspelled but similar name. That said, if it was the result would have been the same. The problem was not the product. If you follow safe handling and storage guidelines ammonium nitrate should be safe. Obviously storing it with fireworks and welding next to that combo is probably not in the Orica safety data sheet.