Chemical plants' security under scrutiny
By RICHARD SINE / The News Journal 06/24/2005 http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050624/NEWS01/506 240346/1006 Of the 15,000 plants nationwide that handle large amounts of dangerous chemicals, only about 1,100 participate in the chemical industry's voluntary anti-terrorism program, according to a recent report by the Government Accountability Office, the auditing arm of Congress. Fortunately, two major chemical plants in Delaware are part of that voluntary group. Occidental Chemical Corp., which runs a chlorine plant in Delaware City, and DuPont Co., which runs the Edge Moor titanium dioxide plant, are both members of the American Chemistry Council's Responsible Care program, which required safety measures in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Now, a movement is under way in Congress to force all chemical plants to comply with security requirements. Those requirements could be tougher than those required by industry. At a House hearing last week, a Department of Homeland Security official said the voluntary efforts had been inadequate. But the official gave few specifics as to what should be required. A security expert at the hearing said that voluntary efforts had been "little more than window dressing." "It may be argued that an inner city liquor store is better protected than are the facilities that manufacture and use highly toxic and lethal chemicals," expert Sal Depasquale said. "An adversary can reach a target using little more than a Saturday night special," he added. DuPont director of operations security Beth Turner said DuPont has erected barriers, installed gates, beefed up security forces and added employee security training in the wake of Sept. 11. Plant officials conduct exercises with local emergency personnel and keep hazardous materials inside gates, she said. But the ability of chemical plants to resist armed attack remains in question. Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., has called for laws that would require plants to stage anti-terrorism exercises which have independent forces facing off against plant security forces. Markey said the government now allows nuclear facilities to conduct tests which pit different members of the same security forces against each other, amounting to a "take-home exam." DuPont spokesperson Kelli Kukura said plant personnel already train for the possibility of armed intruders and suggested that so-called force-on-force training might jeopardize safety. Contact Richard Sine at 324-2878 or [EMAIL PROTECTED] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
