U.S. chemical plants are widely recognized as possible targets for terrorists.
But Congress has been dragging its feet for years on legislation that
would beef up security and safety requirements for chemical plants.
In 2003, the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of
Congress, reported that "123 chemical facilities throughout the nation
have accidental toxic release 'worst-case' scenarios where more than
one million people in the surrounding area could be at risk of exposure
to a cloud of toxic gas."
The GAO added that attacks on an additional 700 facilities could endanger 100,000 people.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff this month called chemical
plants a soft spot and asked Congress to pass legislation that would
give the administration the power to draft national rules, The Hill
reported.
Homeland security committees in the House and Senate have passed
versions of the chemical plant legislation, but squabbling over the
specifics and a hold in the Senate threaten to derail the legislation
this year.
Controversy over the legislation ranges from concerns about states'
rights to committee jurisdiction disputes, according to The Hill.
The GAO and administration officials have praised the chemical industry
for taking aggressive voluntary action to improve chemical plant
security, but voluntary action is not enough.
Citing the GAO report and other studies, the Texas Public Interest
Research Group is urging that Congress pass legislation requiring safer
technology, better plant security and government oversight of chemical
safety.
These provisions make sense.
Five years after the terror attacks on the United States by Islamic
radicals, it is unthinkable that Congress has yet to act on chemical
plant security.
The situation reflects a mind-boggling level of congressional
irresponsibility. Members of Congress should be embarrassed to go home
and campaign for re-election if they leave the job undone and millions
of Americans unnecessarily vulnerable for another year.
