NYT editorial: Chemical Industry 1, Public Safety 0

[DeepModem Mom]

Chemical Industry 1, Public Safety 0
Published: November 7, 2007

....The Bush administration has shown repeatedly...that it does not want to impose reasonable safety requirements on chemical plants. That may have to do with its general opposition to regulations, or it could be connected to the enormous amount of money the chemical industry spends on lobbying and campaign contributions. The industry does not want to bear the expense of serious safety rules, and it fights them furiously. In a recent study, Greenpeace reported that the chemical industry spent more money in a year lobbying to defeat strong chemical plant legislation than the Department of Homeland Security spent on chemical plant security.

The rules the department issued last week are far too lax about when facilities need to report stockpiles of chemicals like chlorine, fluorine and hydrogen fluoride to the government. According to the new rules, which watered-down proposed rules that the department had released in April, a chemical plant does not have to report the storage of 2,499 pounds of chlorine, even if it is located in a populated area — or across from an elementary school.

If 450 pounds of chlorine are stolen, enough to cause mass casualties, the theft need not be reported. Chlorine has been used by insurgents in Iraq, and it is high on the list of chemicals that should be kept out of terrorists’ hands.

It is troubling that these industry-friendly rules were developed in part by Department of Homeland Security employees who previously worked for the chemical industry — and who may one day work for it again. Rick Hind, the legislative director of the Greenpeace Toxics Campaign, contends that such employees have had an “undue influence.” The department says it draws on former chemical industry workers simply because of their “relevant prior experience.”

Bennie Thompson, the Mississippi Democrat who is chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, has rightly compared the chemical storage rules to “putting a Band-Aid on a broken leg.” Congress needs to step in now and pass a strong new chemical plant law — one that puts more weight on the safety of the public and less on industry’s bottom line.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/07/opinion/07wed1.html?hp

[DeepModem Mom]

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