JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A subcontractor at a Kansas City construction site where six firefighters were killed in an explosion last month failed to comply with state law governing hazardous substances, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources said Wednesday.
Mountain Plains Construction Co. was a subcontractor conducting blasting at the south Kansas City site where two trailers of ammonium nitrate exploded Nov. 29. The six firefighters killed in the blasts were battling an arson fire at one of the trailers, unaware of its contents.
The Department of Natural Resources said it has turned over its findings regarding Mountain Plains Construction to the Missouri Attorney General's Office, which has the authority to file legal action against the firm, a department spokesman said.
State law requires each employer to provide information regarding hazardous substances that it stores, uses or produces to the local fire protection service, Department of Natural Resources and the local committee designated to plan for chemical emergencies.
The department's investigation found that Mountain Plains Construction of Kansas City, Kan., failed to report such information with any of the three groups, a spokesman said.
Also Wednesday, Missouri Gov. John Ashcroft and department officials petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency to change federal regulations to require certain explosive materials to be included on the agency's extremely hazardous substances list.
'We are calling on the EPA to add these explosive materials to a list of extremely hazardous substances for which reporting is required,' said Department Director Frederick A. Brunner. 'The public and those who respond to emergenices deserve protection from explosives and other reactive chemicals, wherever these substances are located.'
In a letter Wednesday to EPA Administrator Lee Thomas, Ashcroft said out-of-state firms may not be familiar with Missouri laws or similar right-to-know laws in other states.
'I'm urging you to immediately list explosives and other highly reactive materials as extremely hazardous substances and to establish appropriate threshold planning quantities for those substances in the federal regulations so that facilities storing these materials will be required to report to appropriate authorities,' he wrote.
Police in Kansas City continue to investigate the trailer arson and six firefighter deaths, considered homicides, but said they have yet to determine any suspects or motives. A reward of $35,000 is being offered for pertinent information.
