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Posted by PETE ABEL, Managing Editor in Society.
Nov 6th, 2009 | Comments

The massacre at Ft. Hood.

A pipeline explosion in the Texas Panhandle.

A grain processing plant explosion in western Missouri.

What the hell?

I’m certainly not suggeting these events are related; nor am I suggesting the explosions are comparable to what happened at Ft. Hood — not at all. It just seemed to be a disproportionate morning of bad news, and from such disparate places.

UPDATE: And now this.

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Silhouette

No, they are not related.

DLS

Unrelated.

Pete, have you ever driven by a coal plant and seen the coal piles being watered down?

The same threat there is what happens in grain elevators and yes, in silos. (Sil probably knows this.)

DLS

(and in coal mines! Methane is NOT the only hazard in there)

Silhouette

Yes. Stack a wet/damp stack of hay bales and your barn might be up in flames the next day or so. And no, this wouldn't be related to the Texas incident either.

DLS

And you thought composting was all nice and fuzzy-wuzzy and touchy-feely.

http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/S...

http://cahnrsnews.wsu.edu/flood/hay-combustion....

Farm life has all kinds of fun hazards and potential for fun, like big propane-tank shrapnel (when an end doesn't rupture and turn the tank into a rocket, that is)...

http://www.nfpa.org/assets/files/pdf/Haysville.PDF

http://www.lni.wa.gov/WISHA/hazalerts/SiloHazar...

http://www.wvu.edu/~agexten/ageng/resource/bins...

http://www.nfpa.org/assets/files/pdf/Haysville.PDF

[BOOM!]

http://www.nfpa.org/assets/files/PDF/AlbertCity...

http://www.aristatek.com/Newsletter/JAN09/TechS...

http://ncsp.tamu.edu/reports/CSB/csb_4.pdf

DLS

"Stack a wet/damp stack of hay bales"

And pour some hydrogen peroxide solution on it, "to keep it wet" [grin]

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