Wednesday Open Lines


Sixty-five years ago April 16th and 17th, the nation’s worst industrial accident devastated Texas City, Texas.  Tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer were being loaded into a French ship when fire broke out.  About an hour later, the ship exploded, causing catastrophic damage and loss of life.  The blast damaged another ship that blew up the next day.  It’s estimated that some 600 people were killed, another 5,000 injured, and a third of the town’s houses had to be condemned.  Property damage in today’s terms was just over a billion dollars.  In the U.S., 3,600 workers are killed each year on the job and another 5 million injured enough to seek medical treatment.  You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at www.census.gov.


Discuss and more on today’s Open Lines!