A Texas lawmaker says the state may need new laws and regulations regarding the safe handling of hazardous materials after an explosion at a fertilizer plant in West highlighted the dangers.
Chairman of the House Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee Rep. Joe Pickett will hold on Monday the second hearing since the West Fertilizer Co. plant caught fire and blew up in April. Fifteen people were killed and hundreds injured.
The Dallas Morning News reports Saturday that Pickett believes Texas needs to review the existing rules and may need to make state regulations more stringent than federal law.
Officials from the Department of Public Safety and the State Fire Marshal's Office will testify at the hearing.
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Information from: The Dallas Morning News, http://www.dallasnews.com
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.