TEXAS CITY, Texas Tuesdays explosion in Beirut, Lebanon released incredible amounts of energy and resulted in unthinkable damage. A large amount of ammonium nitrate, a chemical compound often used in fertilizer, is now believed to be the culprit. Events such as the Oklahoma City bombing and the West, Texas fertilizer plant explosion were caused by ammonium nitrate. But perhaps the event most comparable to Beirut happened in Texas City. Texas City explosion in 1947On April 16, 1947, in Galveston Bay, a French vessel called the SS Grandcamp was carrying nearly 2,300 tons of ammonium nitrate.