Chemical Security

Since the 9/11 attacks, one of our greatest terrorist vulnerabilities still remains. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has identified more than 4,000 chemical facilities as "high-risk." The EPA has identified about 90 chemical plants that each put one million or more people at risk up to 25 miles downwind from a plant. The U.S. Army Surgeon General estimated that an attack on just one U.S. chemical plant could kill or injure 900,000 to 2.4 million people. Despite numerous
warnings since 2001, Congress has done little to neutralize these hazards.

The good news is that there are many cost-effective, safer chemical processes already in use that eliminate these risks without sacrificing jobs. Since 9/11, more than 220 plants have switched to safer alternatives. And now Clorox has announced that they’re converting all of their plants so they will no longer use large quantities of deadly chlorine gas.

But that’s not what most chemical plants have done. Instead they’re relying on guards, gates and gadgets that have been shown to be ineffective against terrorists and will do nothing to prevent Bhopal magnitude accidents. The most ironclad way to ensure the safety of people living in the shadow of dangerous chemical plants is to require the plants to convert to the safest available chemical processes. Once safer processes are in use, the plant will no longer be an attractive target or pose a catastrophic accident risk. The largest shipper of
these dangerous chemicals, the railroads, also favors legislation to require chemical plants to use safer processes.

Status of Legislation

In 2006, Congress passed a very weak temporary chemical security law. This law was written with the help of industry lobbyists and as a result it actually prohibits the government from requiring the use of safer chemical processes. It also exempts 2,400 water treatment plants and 500 chemical port facilities (including the majority of refineries). Not surprisingly, this law has the support of Dow Chemical and other industry giants that would rather see it made permanent.

For the first time since 9/11, the White House supports legislation that would prevent chemical disasters. The Obama administration’s Homeland Security and EPA have repeatedly asked Congress for the authority to require high-risk plants to use safer chemical processes.

On November 6, 2009, the House of Representatives approved the "Chemical
and Water Security Act," (H.R. 2868). This is the first time since 9/11 that either body of Congress has approved a comprehensive chemical security bill. An independent economic analysis found that this bill will also create 8,000 new jobs and stimulate local economies. See the report:

http://www.misi-net.com/publications.html

Unfortunately even though Senator Lautenberg (D-NJ) introduced strong legislation in the Senate, the legislation died before getting to the Senate floor. Now Congress has to start over and the industry lobbyists have been working over time to introduce their bills to extend the weak temporary law until 2018. But supporters of disaster prevention will be pushing back.

Find out what you can do to help get strong legislation passed in the
Senate, please click here.

A History of Legislation on Chemical Security

See videos of Obama & Biden on chemical security at:

http://vimeo.com/6036562

Chemical Security Hijackers

Chemical industry lobbyists, corporate CEOs, and politicians are hijacking chemical security and keeping 100 million Americans at risk of a poison gas disaster.

Learn more