SUMMERDALE, Alabama -- The explosion at a fertilizer mixing facility in West, Texas, which killed 35 people on April 17, has put facilities like it in the spotlight.

“Before that happened, people would drive by and not even know we were here,” said Abby Taylor, location manager at Crop Production Services in Summerdale. “Since then, we’ve had a couple of people come in and want to know if that could happen here. My answer to that question is simply, ‘no.’”

CPS hosted a tour for first responders, including members of the Summerdale Police Department, Volunteer Fire Department, town officials and officials with the Baldwin County Emergency Management Agency on Tuesday.

“The biggest misconception is that the facility in West, Texas, is being called a fertilizer plant,” he said. “That is not the case. It is a fertilizer blending facility. They do not actually manufacture fertilizer at the facility and neither do we.”

The two facilities are similar in scope, Taylor said, with two big differences, two products actually that the Texas facility deals with that the Summerdale facility does not, ammonium nitrate and anhydrous ammonium.

“Ammonium nitrate is a product that can be safe under certain conditions,” he said, “but it can be volatile under certain conditions, which is why we choose not to handle it.”

Instead, the Summerdale facility works with an ammonium nitrate substitute called urea, which is ammonia-based, but is safe to use.

“Nothing we work with here will burn if there is a fire,” Taylor said. “Many of the products you see here are the same products you use in your yard.”

Anhydrous ammonium is a product that was popular for years, Taylor said, but use of the product has largely been discontinued because it was subject to theft for use in methamphetamine production.

“It is something that we do not use here and if you can find a facility using it today, it is under strict lock and key,” Taylor said.

CPA has been operating in Summerdale for about 15 years, Taylor said. The current facility was built about six years ago. Taylor has 20 years experience in the fertilizer business and has served as location manager at the Summerdale facility for the last two years.

“I have lived next to it and I wouldn’t do that if I wasn’t 100 percent certain it was safe,” he said.

At least once a year, the facility is subject to a 21-point safety inspection. Five of its employees are trained in emergency response and receive an eight-hour refresher course every year.

“It is important for us, not only to assure the public that it is safe, but to work with first responders so that they are familiar with the facility in the event an accident should occur,” Taylor said.

While there is not a danger of fire or explosion, he said, the biggest concern they face is damage caused by a hurricane.

“Our biggest fear is a hurricane taking off the roof of the facility exposing what we have here to the elements,” he said, adding that the facility was built to code to withstand a hurricane for this zone. “That shouldn’t happen, but if it does we are ready for it.”

Baldwin County Emergency Management Agency Director Mitchell Sims expressed an interest in working with CPS when it conducts its inspection.

“EMA would certainly be glad to participate in any training available,” he said. “We welcome the cooperation demonstrated by events like this in working with the fire department and police department as a first responder.”

Summerdale Mayor David Wilson also expressed his appreciation to CPS in working with town officials.

“We want to work together in whatever way we can,” he said, “and we appreciate CPS’s forthrightness in sharing their safety procedures and being a partner with the city.”

Taylor said ultimately Tuesday’s tour serves to support agriculture in Baldwin County.

“When most people think of this area, they think of tourism,” he said. “We’re here to promote the agriculture industry that is still a major part of our local economy. We want to do what we can to assure people that it is safe and everything we do is in the best interest of everyone.”