Chemical reports pose risk, says Bond

SECURITY ISSUES

By Libby Quaid ~ The Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- For Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc., the world's largest brewer, liquid ammonia is key part of the cooling system that keeps beer at the right temperature during brewing.

Prolonged exposure to ammonia vapors can cause injury or even death, so employees follow rigorous precautions to avoid an accidental release. That hasn't happened in the past five years and has never affected any place outside the brewery, which is located in the heart of St. Louis, a city approaching half a million residents.

Even so, the company is among thousands that must compile and report to the government worst-case scenarios spelling out what could happen from hypothetical spills, explosions or other catastrophes. The information became publicly available, much of it on the Internet, in 1999 under a deadline set nine years earlier under the federal Clean Air Act.

Scenarios describe the chemicals in use at a particular company, what might cause a release, how far a toxic cloud would travel, how many people could be affected and whether hospitals or schools might be in harm's way. In Anheuser-Busch's worst-case scenario, which the company called unlikely, a break in a distribution pipe could send 38,535 pounds of ammonia across 2.3 city miles.

"The problem is, according to the Department of Justice, these are precisely the factors that a terrorist would weigh when planning an attack," Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., said Thursday during appearances in Jefferson City, Mo., and St. Louis. "And yet, under current federal law, the government makes these terrorist blueprints available to any member of the public.

Informing terrorists

According to DOJ, this data provides one-stop shopping for refined targeting information, allowing terrorists or other criminals to select the best targets from among 15,000 chemical facilities."

The number includes more than 400 in Missouri, Bond said, with at least three dozen in St. Louis and about 100 in Kansas City.

Bond is introducing legislation that would severely restrict public access to these reports by limiting their availability to officials involved in preparing for emergencies and disasters. Average citizens would be allowed to see portions of the reports, but with company names and addresses withheld.

Advocates of spreading the information say residents need to know about dangerous chemicals stored by manufacturers, wastewater treatment plants or chemical companies in their communities. Government officials and industry groups have long argued that the reports, which can include estimates of the numbers of potential human casualties, are a road map for terrorists.

"Meanwhile, the accidents that occur at these plants and the persistent problems we've seen in health and safety procedures at these plants go on every day," said Sean Moulton, a policy analyst at OMB watch, a nonprofit group that in 1999 began compiling the reports in an easily searchable format on its "Right to Know" web site, www.rtk.net.

"There is still pollution. There are still accidental releases, spills, plumes. Workers still get hurt. People still get sick," Moulton said.

The battle pits one perspective on public safety against another and has been waged since the inception of the Clean Air Act. But now, after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the debate has shifted to a new arena.

Bond said: "Vice-President Cheney tells us that another attack by Al Qaida is almost certain. Secretary of Defense (Donald) Rumsfeld warns us that it's only a matter of time before terrorists are able to attack the United States with weapons of mass destruction. President Bush reminds us that, 'We do not know where the next threat will come from, we do not know what form it might take, but we must be ready."'

On the other side of the debate is New Jersey Democratic Sen. Jon Corzine, who is pushing legislation that would ask companies to go even further in their reporting by assessing their vulnerability to terrorist attacks, and how they might reduce the vulnerability.

Under the 1990 Clean Air Act, tens of thousands of facilities were to submit risk management plans, which include the "worst-case chemical action" scenarios to the Environmental Protection Agency by June of 1999 to be posted on the Internet.

Opposition mounted as the date approached, and ultimately, Congress passed legislation severely limiting access to the worst-case scenario plans, which today are available in public reading rooms in each state.

Public interest groups such as OMB Watch discovered a loophole in the executive summaries, which contain some worst-case scenario information but were not covered by Congress' exemption.

Since Sept. 11, the information has been removed altogether from the Environmental Protection Agency's Web site. The OMB Watch "Right to Know" site has report summaries, but they are now becoming outdated because the government no longer posts new reports on the Internet.