Is anyone really surprised that part of the reason the chemical spill occurred in West Virginia was that the state is very lax in regulating or inspecting industry?

It’s the same reason that fertilizer plant in Texas blew up back in April of last year. There are too few Federal inspectors for the workload they’ve got and the climate at state agencies which are charged with public safety is predisposed not to interfere with industry.

The sad part is that until the state politicians understand that the public should have more claim on their energies than their wealthy donors these kinds of calamities will continue.