[richlevy]

There has been some anecdotal evidence already that the West explosion is causing a review of local zoning. Zoning is at the local level, where politicians are more answerable to their constituents. While a lot of people complain about NIMBY (not in my backyard), the truth is that there are some things that should be kept far away from residential areas.

One thing that the 'pro-business' wing of the Republican party never seems to get is that businesses never seem to have to pay the full cost of their actions. From the Exxon Valdez spill to the owners of the West plant, victims will never be made whole. And when trial lawyers make the attempt, Congress tries to set limits.

This is why regulation is needed, because the relationship between consequences and risks has become unbalanced. From a balance sheet perspective, the savings will always trump the risk to others, since the business will never fully be made to feel the consequences.

My exposure to this goes back to 1984 and the Haunted Castle fire. I remember one fire or police official lamenting that because it was a corporation, there was noone to put in jail.

The Haunted Castle at Six Flags Great Adventure was a haunted house attraction at Six Flags Great Adventure amusement park in Jackson Township, New Jersey. On May 11, 1984, eight teenage visitors were trapped and killed when the structure was destroyed by fire. Six Flags Great Adventure and its parent company Six Flags were indicted for aggravated manslaughter, accused of recklessly causing the deaths by taking inadequate precautions against a fire. In the trial, the prosecution argued that repeated warnings by safety consultants to install sprinklers or smoke alarms had been ignored. The defendants denied any culpability, and contended that the fire was arson and that no precautions would have saved lives. The trial jury found the defendants not guilty.