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Discussion » Statements » Rosie's Corner » Allegedly the BEIRUT tragedy is due to an ammonium nitrate stash. Stash? How big a stash for what purpose?
RosieG

Allegedly the BEIRUT tragedy is due to an ammonium nitrate stash. Stash? How big a stash for what purpose?

Posted - August 5, 2020
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Responses


  • 10689

    Ammonium nitrate is used to make fertilizer and bombs.   The US has many “stashes” of ammonium nitrate around the country (very common stuff).  However, due what it can do, it must be stored carefully.  In its solid form, ammonium nitrate relatively stable.  However, ammonium nitrate decomposes rapidly, releasing nitrous oxide - a toxic and VERY flammable gas.  ANY ignition source will ignite this.  Once ignited – kaboom!  Ammonium nitrate is also an oxidizer, meaning it increases the burning of fuels by increasing the available oxygen.  In other words, the more ammonium nitrate, the bigger the kaboom. 

    According to Hassan Diab, the Lebanese Prime Minister, over 2,900 tons of ammonium nitrate had been stored at that site since 2014. 

      August 5, 2020 12:19 PM MDT
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  • 113301
    How does that make sense Shuhak? Why wouldn't they have stored it far away from everything so if an accident occurred there'd be less harm done? Good golly miss molly! A potential powder keg there for that long? I just don't get it. A tragedy waiting to happen. It was only a matter of time. Thank you for explaining to me what ammonium nitrate is. I hope the stashes in the US are properly stored and FAR AWAY from civilization. It's like having a nuclear reactor in your backyard. Potential for horrible is always gonna be there. We're within harmful miles of San Onofre. I know we are within 100 miles and I'm pretty anyone that close is gonna be in big trouble. Are you close to any nuclear reactor sites where you live? Any day now KABOOm? Oy vey. :) This post was edited by RosieG at August 6, 2020 12:29 PM MDT
      August 6, 2020 4:23 AM MDT
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  • 10689
    There are no reactors anywhere near this area.
      August 6, 2020 1:01 PM MDT
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  • 113301
    This is great! One less thing to worry about. Thank you for your reply Shuhak! :) Shoe hock? Shoo hawk? Sorry but it just occurred to me that I could play with your moniker a bit. I wonder why I never thought of it before now? Apologies if it ticks you off! :)
      August 6, 2020 1:09 PM MDT
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  • 16895
    You actually get more radioactivity from eating one banana than you do living 500m from a nuclear power plant for a year. Chernobyl and 3MI were the result of poor design and inadequate safeguards, Fukushima was built in an active earthquake zone. Having them in California is probably a bad idea, tbh.
      August 6, 2020 5:12 PM MDT
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  • 113301
    500 MILES? No we are within 100 miles of it R. Or does the "m" not stand for miles? But bananas are radioactive? More than any other fruit or is all fruit radioactive? All veggies? All meat? AARRGGHH! Thank you for your reply. I agree. Having nuclear reactors in a state known for its fault lines was not too smart. Too soon old too late schmart! :(
      August 7, 2020 4:52 AM MDT
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  • 16895
    I keep forgetting America isn't metric yet. 500 metres. 550 yards.
      August 7, 2020 4:38 PM MDT
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  • 113301
    Why is that R? I know I should know but I don't. I guess I can Google it. Thank you for clarifying that. Oh now that we're at it does everyone everywhre except America have the driver's seat on the right? We in america have it on the left. I guess I can Google that too. America is not good "fitting in". For whatever reason(s). Thank you for your reply R and Happy Saturday. I shall ask. STAY SAFE! :)
      August 8, 2020 1:49 AM MDT
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  • 16895
    Continental Europe does it your way too - I read somewhere it had to do with how horses were driven in France and the US as opposed to how started in Britain.
    British knights rode on the left so as to keep their sword arm free. American and European teamsters drove wagons with no seats - so they sat on the left rear horse so they could lash the team with the right hand. As a result, they kept to the right hand side of the road so passing traffic could be seen. Most folks are right-handed. This post was edited by Slartibartfast at August 8, 2020 4:22 AM MDT
      August 8, 2020 4:19 AM MDT
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  • 113301
    Is it only the U.K. where the driver sits on the right then? Never having been anywhere all I know is what I see in movies. Thank you for the info. I'm going to have Jim read it because he asked me why and I said I didn't know. He just read it and said to say thank you from him too! :):)
      August 8, 2020 4:27 AM MDT
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  • 16895
    UK and her former colonies, "The Empire upon which the Sun never sets". Canada is one of the few that doesn't.
    https://www.worldstandards.eu/cars/list-of-left-driving-countries/
      August 8, 2020 4:52 AM MDT
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  • 113301
    Thank you very much for the link R.  I'll click on it next! Well here we are at another day. How will mine go? I've not idea. How did yours go? :)
      August 8, 2020 5:23 AM MDT
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  • 3719
    It was hardly a "stash" but why so much of the material was stored for so long, in that one location, is a matter that does need investigating.
      August 6, 2020 4:26 PM MDT
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  • 113301
    I think it was stored there for something like SIX YEARS! There's an accident waiting to happen and it did. Thank you for your reply Durdle! :)
      August 7, 2020 4:53 AM MDT
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  • 16895
    Putting a flammable material right next door to a fireworks factory, and then having some character welding a metal door right next to it - it was a disaster waiting to happen.
    With proper storage, failsafes and no potential ignition source, it's relatively safe.
      August 6, 2020 5:15 PM MDT
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  • 113301
    Thank you for your informative reply R. Does it not deteriorate over time and become less stable or does it stay exactly as stable as it was from inception? :)
      August 7, 2020 4:54 AM MDT
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  • 3719
    Aha - we now know some of the story, and it is rather bizarre.

    It was all to have been collected six years ago by a Russian freighter, and delivered to Mozambique.

    The BBC traced the ship's now-retired captain, and interviewed him.

    The ship was not in very good condition and after the hold hatch became damaged during the loading, someone (I'm not sure if the captain or the port management, or both) stopped further loading. It would have to have been repaired before taking the vessel to sea.

    Then the ship's owner ran out of money for the Beirut harbour, and Suez Canal, fees.

    So there it stayed, with the Captain and three crew-members trapped on board, in port, until they managed to sell enough of the fuel to pay for a lawyer able to arrange their transfer back to their homes.  

    Then the ship sank - but the report did not say how and where. Still in harbour presumably. It was apparently an old ship, no longer very seaworthy, possibly poorly maintained if the owner could not afford the port dues; and once abandoned, probably developed leaks somewhere out of sight.


    My Question though is....

    We now know why the fertiliser was there in the first place (normal commerce), and not moved on as planned (commercial failure).

    So, why did the port authority and the African customer not liaise with each other to find another  carrier? Or if that was not possible, move it to somewhere safer, perhaps dispersed? It could be as simple as complacency, or bureaucratic inertia in a country riddled with corruption and struggling to survive.

     I expect many Lebanese would like to know, too.   
      August 7, 2020 3:07 PM MDT
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