Greenpeace

I'm extremely pumped because Congress is having a hearing on the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act of 2008.  I’ve been an intern on the Toxics campaign at Greenpeace for the last 8 months, but this chemical security bill has been in the making for almost 8 years.  Since 9/11 when chemical facilities went from being considered not only toxic polluters, but also a homeland security threat.  

This is because certain toxic by inhalation (TIH) chemicals, like chlorine gas and anhydrous ammonia, are stored at chemical facilities in bulk quantities (we’re talking 90 ton railcars) with extremely limited and vulnerable security, like chain link fences and cameras.  

These facilities are sometimes located right next to neighborhoods and major cities (google earth is a great tool!).  There are at least 100 chemical plants that would put over a million people at risk if there is an accident or terrorist attack involving a poison gas leak!  That’s like 100 potential Bhopals…  

As you can imagine, I've become sort of paranoid since I started learning about all this stuff.  You’ll see me on the metro, hands pressed against the glass, nose at the window, ogling the rail-cars running alongside the tracks for the chlorine gas label.  

But we aren’t all doom and gloom here at Greenpeace.  The good thing about chemical facility security is that safer alternative chemicals do exist and are used by some companies.  This is actually a preventable and quite solvable homeland security problem.  As it is now written, the bill to be discussed at the hearing tomorrow by an Energy and Commerce subcommittee would require high risk facilities to assess and implement safer chemicals as a way to improve plant security. 

This provision is supported by the labor unions, the railroad industry and environmental organizations.  Not surprisingly, the majority of the chemical industry is opposed to safer technology.  Both sides have been lobbying Congress for years on this issue, and so far the industry has had their way with weak bills and no permanent legislation.    

So the hearing should be pretty exciting!  The witnesses who will share testimony include a well-known lobbyist from the American Chemistry Council, a front group for major chemical producers such as DuPont and Dow, and a homeland security expert from the Center for American Progress, a progressive think tank.  The information they share will hopefully persuade members of the committee to keep the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act of 2008 alive and strong so it can keep moving to the House floor.