Senate panel to probe Texas fertilizer plant explosion

Senator Barbara Boxer said on Tuesday she plans to investigate the explosion at a Texas fertilizer plant earlier this month that killed 15 people and injured scores more. California’s Boxer, the head of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said the panel will hold a hearing "in the near future" on the disaster and will probe whether there are any gaps in the enforcement of U.S. chemical safety laws. The cause of the April 17 fire and explosion at West Fertilizer Co, about 20 miles north of Waco, is not yet known.