Indian officials review ammonium nitrate storage after Beirut blast

The devastating blast in Beirut has served as a wake-up call for some ports in India where stockpiles of ammonium nitrate pose a similar threat. Indian authorities ordered a review of all potentially hazardous materials in its ports and container terminals after the August 4 blast, which killed more than 170 people and injured thousands in the Lebanese capital. Customs officials in Chennai are being pressed to clear more than 700 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored near the port in the south Indian city for the past four years. The consignment was seized in November 2015 after the importer falsely declared the ammonium nitrate was fertiliser grade but it was found to be of explosive grade. A panel of environmental engineers and senior police officers visited the container freight station at Manali, about 14 kilometres from the port, and recommended quick disposal of the explosive chemical. About 12,000 people live in the area around the storage site, the panel said in its report. Of the 740 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored in 37 containers, 690 tonnes have been put up for auction online, the Customs department said. The remaining amount was damaged during heavy flooding in Chennai in December 2015. “The seized chemical is securely stored and the safety of the cargo and public is ensured considering the hazardous nature of the substance,” the department said. Concerns were also raised at Visakhapatnam, a major port in Andhra Pradesh state that handles most of India’s ammonium nitrate imports. A warehouse in the Mindi area of the city was found to contain about 18,500 tonnes of ammonium nitrate – more than six times the amount that caused the Beirut blast. Customs officials issued a statement saying the ammonium nitrate stored there “is safe and there is no residential area up to 2 kilometres around the depot”. Some politicians have called for storage facilities to be moved to places far from residential areas and strategic assets such as airports. Dr S Ramadoss, chief of the Pattali Makkal Katchi, the ruling party’s ally in Tamil Nadu state, of which Chennai is the capital, tweeted that he was “shocked to learn about 740 tonnes of the explosive substance stored in a warehouse near the Chennai Port”. India imports ammonium nitrate from Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria and South Korea. It is mainly used in fertilisers, but also as the main component in many types of mining explosives, in which it is mixed with fuel oil and detonated by a charge. Most of these explosives are used in iron ore and coal mines in the states of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Bihar.

Indian officials review ammonium nitrate storage after Beirut blast

Large stockpiles of the explosive chemical in two port cities raise concerns