Greenpeace Urges Action to Eliminate Risks at Chemical Plants Near National Conventions in a letter to the U.S. Secret Service

As preparations for the Democratic and Republican conventions in Denver, CO and St. Paul, MN draw to a close, Greenpeace issued a warning to federal and local agencies about the toxic hazards posed to the millions of residents surrounding these conventions as well as those attending them. According to facility reports to the EPA, chemical plants in each city threaten more than a million residents as do rail shipments supplying these chemicals to these facilities. In a letter to the Secret Service, Greenpeace called for three immediate steps: re-routing of rail cars carrying poison gas, testing security at local chemical plants with “red-team” exercises and beginning the conversion of these plants to safer chemicals or processes to permanently eliminate these risks as other cities have already done.