EDITORIAL - Dangerous substance

The explosion created a mushroom cloud reminiscent of an atomic bombing and the blast was felt as far away as 240 kilometers, in a neighboring country. A crater about 124 meters in diameter and 10 meters deep was created in the blast site. Seismologists said the force of the blast was equivalent to a Magnitude 3.3 earthquake.

It was no bomb, however, that caused the explosion that ripped through the port of Beirut on Aug. 4, but 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate impounded in a warehouse at the docks six years ago. The catastrophe, which has left 135 people dead including two overseas Filipino workers as of yesterday and 5,000 injured, with many others still missing, should prod Philippine authorities to tighten regulation of ammonium nitrate.

The industrial chemical is classified as an agricultural product because it is used in fertilizers. But it is also used for explosives in quarrying and mining, and it can be extremely dangerous if contaminated by other items such as gasoline or black powder used in firecrackers. In recent years, armed groups have learned to use ammonium nitrate for making improvised explosive devices. The chemical was used in the deadly nightclub bombings in Bali, Indonesia in 2002; the 1995 bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma; in bombings staged by the Irish Republican Army in London in the 1990s, and in attacks on US troops in Afghanistan. Extremists in Mindanao have also used ammonium nitrate in their IEDs.

Ammonium nitrate has also been responsible for some of the world’s deadliest industrial accidents since 1921. In 1947, a fire on a ship in the Texas City port in the US set off 2,300 tons of the chemical. The blast spawned a tidal wave and left at least 567 people dead, with about 5,000 injured.

Now that the Beirut blast has reminded the world of the dangers posed by this volatile chemical, the Philippines should improve the regulation of ammonium nitrate. Its importation, local production, processing and storage must be carefully monitored.

New military chief Gilbert Gapay wants the implementing rules and regulations for the Anti-Terrorism Act to include the regulation of items classified as agricultural products such as ammonium nitrate. Even if the proposal fails to make it to the IRR, the government must tighten its regulation of this chemical, if only to ensure proper handling and storage and prevent deadly accidents.