Homeland Security spending bill calls for review of sites
By JEFF MONTGOMERY
THE NEWS JOURNAL
10/11/2005
Terrorist threats to chemical plants -- and those who live in their shadow -- will get a closer look in Delaware and across the country under a newly approved federal spending bill for the Department of Homeland Security.
The measure could prompt a second look at some sites in Delaware where a major spill or leak could send toxic plumes 20 miles or more, in some cases jeopardizing 1 million or more lives if it spreads across the state border, especially into heavily populated areas of Pennsylvania.
"Naturally it's a concern here," said Frank D. Tillman, 53, an east Wilmington
resident. "They should maybe do an assessment of how the plants themselves
have their own security setup, and maybe the state should take that into
consideration and decide if there needs to be a higher alert posture than
what we have."
The Delaware River ranks as the nation's top destination for imported crude oil deliveries, and along its banks stands the nation's second-largest nuclear complex and a wide assortment of refineries, chemical plants and factories handling toxic chemicals.
Congress ordered a report on the vulnerability of the nation's highest-risk chemical sites Friday. The requirement includes a four-month deadline for developing a national security strategy for the chemical sector. Assessments of vulnerability at the nation's highest-risk sites would be due by the end of 2006.
Officials must "give preference to facilities that, if attacked, pose the greatest threat to human life and the economy," lawmakers said.
"We don't believe that adequate security assessments have been made at chemical plants in particular," said Jane Nogaki, a member of the New Jersey Environmental Federation. "Industry says they're doing it voluntarily already, but they can't really be trusted to have the public's interest at heart when the basic corporate mantra is production and profits."
Sen. Jon Corzine, D-N.J., a long-time advocate of tougher security and safety requirements for chemical plants, said he supported the action.
"Unguarded chemical facilities are a ticking time bomb and represent a threat to our national security," Corzine said. "Over the past few weeks, we have all seen what happens when we fail to take the necessary steps before disaster strikes.
Developing a safety plan
Chemical and manufacturing plants straddle the river from Delaware City to north of Philadelphia. Some, including riverside plants in Delaware that make or use large amounts of chlorine, could threaten hundreds of thousands in the event of a major leak or spill.
Industry officials have argued that plants have been tightening security both before and after 9/11 as a result of both government regulation and voluntary and trade group standards.
"In principle, we fully support vulnerability assessments at high-priority facilities and hope this will be addressed in comprehensive chemical security legislation," Beth Turner, director of DuPont global operations security, said in a prepared statement.
Delaware's Secretary of Safety and Homeland Security David B. Mitchell said officials have been working on a state, regional and national plan to make local plants safer from attack.
"We're not in a position to guarantee 100 percent security for our country against any attack," Mitchell said. "What we can do is make it difficult if not impossible to carry out major attacks. Anything on a smaller scale is something we have to consider, as well."
Alan Muller, who directs the environmental group Green Delaware, said industry needs to move quickly to develop replacements for hazardous materials including chlorine -- manufactured in quantity near Delaware City -- and hydrogen fluoride, a corrosive compound still used by some local refineries.
"Truly securing these facilities from a serious terrorist attack is essentially impossible, so we need to reduce the hazard," Muller said.
While testifying earlier this year before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, DuPont's Turner said government officials need to take a flexible approach that takes into account the chemical industry's diversity.
"We cannot be expected to fully defend against military-style assaults, when it is clearly a lead role for government," said Turner, who helped to develop the American Chemistry Council's post-9/11 security code in 2002. "Requirements for chemical plant security must be developed in the context of public security measures."
Turner cautioned, however, that reviews of process safety and potential chemical substitutes need to be managed separately, while still being a part of security evaluations. She also urged lawmakers to support a federal program to guide security, rather than relying on a "patchwork" of state and local requirements.
Mitchell said Monday that the state had made considerable progress. Delaware already has assigned a state trooper to serve as a liaison with the chemical industry, and law enforcement officials have been working closely with industry and other government agencies for years.
"I don't see us throwing our plans out the river and starting anew," Mitchell
said. "I do see us coordinating our plans with Homeland Security on a national
scale, recognizing that if we have to tweak ours here and there, that's all
well and good."
The spending bill also outlines concern over "the lack of planning and
preparation for a rapid decontamination response in the event of a large
scale biological or chemical attack," and orders development of a "regionally
based, pre-positioned rapid response capability" for chemical and biological
decontamination."
Contact Jeff Montgomery at 678-4277 or jmontgomery@delawareonline.com.