WASHINGTON, May 24 (UPI) -- About half of the industrial facilities and utilities plants near major U.S. population centers that use hazardous chemicals have adopted safer materials.
A new survey from the liberal Center for American Progress shows that about 14,000 chemical plants, manufacturers, water utilities and other facilities store and use extremely hazardous substances like chlorine gas that can kill or injure employees and nearby residents if suddenly released -- either by accident or through a terrorist attack. There are about 450 such plants near population centers of 100,000 or more.
Of those, 284 facilities in 47 states have voluntarily reduced the danger of a hazardous chemical release by switching to less dangerous substances, or moving to more remote locations.
"As a result of these changes, at least 38 million people no longer live under the threat of a major toxic gas cloud from these facilities," states the new report, "Preventing Toxic Terrorism."
That said, there are still thousands of facilities that have not made the switch, making them possible targets for terrorist attack, according to the Center.
"Removing such hazards should be a national strategic priority," the report states. "Currently no federal law or regulation requires hazardous chemical facilities to review or use readily available alternatives."
Congress has rejected multiple legislative attempts to require industries that deal with toxic chemicals to switch to safer materials or tighten their security. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said in March the Bush administration did not want environmental issues to become mixed up with security issues.
"We have to be careful not to move from what is a security-based focus ... into one that tries to broaden into achieving environmental ends that are unrelated to security," Chertoff said. "And I want to make sure that we don't allow our focus on security to become a surrogate for achieving ends that may very well be worthwhile but ought to be pursued in a debate in another forum."
