Chemical risks hidden from public
By Lynn Hulsey, Dayton Daily News, Ohio | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Despite a slew of regulations, major gaps remain in the government's ability to protect the public against the release of toxic chemicals, a
No one agency is responsible for ensuring that companies report the chemicals they have on hand, or to regularly inspect their equipment to make sure it is well-maintained and operating safely. Budget constraints also limit the number of inspections agencies can accomplish.
In fact, companies with extremely hazardous chemicals can go years without safety inspections and some have never had one, according to reports filed with the
"I think the public thinks that dangerous chemicals are well-regulated and that information about those dangers is easily available," said
More than 1,000 facilities in nine area counties use or store threshold quantities of extremely hazardous chemicals that require reporting under Tier II rules to the state, which shares the information with local emergency planning agencies. Sixty area companies have toxic and flammable materials deemed so dangerous they must file Risk Management Plans with the
But obtaining information on what dangers these chemicals pose is difficult, and well beyond the reach of most members of the public. The newspaper obtained a database of Risk Management Plans for more than 12,700 RMP companies nationwide through the Freedom of Information Act, but federal rules largely shield the companies' worst-case scenario information that includes the radius of danger and number of people who could be hurt in an accident.
Finding out that information required an appointment-only trip to the
Stocks of hazardous chemicals can endanger the public because of accidents, terrorist attacks and extreme weather events such as tornadoes. Critics of the current regulatory system say there is a lack of transparency and poor communication between government entities, putting the public and first responders at risk when accidents or catastrophic events happen.
Firefighters who responded last year to a fire at a fertilizer plant in
Chemical regulations shrouded in secrecy
Even though Tier II chemicals are regulated under a law called the "Community Right to Know Act," members of the public cannot see that information without first knowing the name of specific companies and requesting those documents, according to
In
The newspaper analyzed RMP data for facilities in
Despite its industrial base,
Neither were RMP companies, however. Isotec did use nitric oxide, a regulated chemical that exploded, but did not have the threshold quantity requiring a risk management plan.
Reform efforts are launched
Advocates for reform say the inability to access information on the amount of chemicals stored in the community and gaps in enforcement put the public at risk. They point to last year's fire and explosion of ammonium nitrate at the
In response, President
"Workers, emergency responders, and the public continue to die and suffer injuries in horrendous explosions and fires," said
"We want to get something done, something with teeth," Moure-Eraso said in his March testimony to the
Proposals advocated by reformers so far include mandating the use of safer chemicals and processes -- such as switching from chlorine gas to concentrated chlorine -- adding chemicals such as ammonium nitrate to the RMP list, and reducing the amount of hazardous materials that can be kept on site.
But industry officials counter that there are already enough regulations. They say companies answer to multiple regulatory agencies, run their businesses as safely as possible and should not be forced by the government to switch to safer chemicals, materials and processes.
"We believe that what is already on the books are laws that can be really effectively utilized if they're properly administered," O'Neal said. "There's just no point in creating new law if people really aren't doing what existing authorities require."
The newspaper investigation found that a patchwork of laws and regulators govern companies that use hazardous chemicals. Of the 60,000 chemicals used by industry, several hundred are regulated as extremely hazardous. They are regulated by different agencies using at least five different, and sometimes overlapping, lists of chemicals.
Reporting requirements kick in when chemical quantities reach threshold amounts, but exemptions in some cases allow businesses like retail fuel establishments or farmers to avoid regulations. At least one business owner told the newspaper he didn't know who would inspect him.
"The regulations are there. What's not there is the mechanism to make sure the regulations are being followed," said
With so many agencies governing varying lists of chemicals and thresholds for reporting, the
"The key really is the lack of any one place that has enforcement capability," said
"And that's why if you really want to get it done, the president has got to ensure that his executive order gets carried out in a way that is truly protective."
Budget constraints keep enforcement limited
State and federal regulators -- from the
The
Companies with permits under other
"
Even the
Homeland Security's list of 4,266 companies possessing about 325 dangerous chemicals that are deemed a particular risk for terrorism is not public.
Safety improvements recommended by the
"If you don't have the stuff there, it can't be released," Moure-Eraso said in support of a stricter mandate.
Major industrial accidents such as those occurring at the
A worst-case release of the contents from one rail car -- 180,000 pounds of deadly chlorine gas -- would endanger 581,240 people in a 14-mile radius around the company, according to the company's RMP report.
Heavier than air, chlorine gas hugs the ground in a release. It is a deadly inhalation hazard that also burns eyes and skin. In 2005, a train engineer and eight others died of chlorine inhalation when a
"These things are just scary and dangerous things," said
'I don't know who would inspect it'
"We have equipment and procedures to handle minor stuff. We've never used it," said Kayser. "If somebody punched a hole in the side, I don't know what you'd do. Evacuate."
While the regional hazmat team and fire department conduct training sessions at his site and he does in-house safety inspections, Kayser said there has never been a government safety inspection of the facility.
"I don't know who would inspect it," Kayser said.
The
"So it's not like this company is not on anybody's radar," Pierce said.
Kayser said Miami Products in 2010 also began using concentrated chlorine, but he won't say how much that has reduced his chlorine gas usage. Kayser said he is studying renovating the plant to handle more of the concentrated chlorine.
"We have considered a switch, but the technology and logistics aren't quite there for our company," he said. "Being solely reliant upon a single source of product isn't feasible for our business at this time."
"Specific processes and needs should be left to the operating companies," Cirone said. "A mandated IST, we believe, is not in the best interests of all."
O'Neal, of the industry's
When Whitman was
"It is a question of the big money guys saying, 'We don't want to have to spend this money.'" Whitman said. "But what they have to spend when disaster hits is far greater than any preventative."
Whitman believes that limiting the type and amount of extremely hazardous chemicals at companies is a matter of national security.
"Terrorists are not going to attack a nuclear reactor," she said. "It doesn't blow up in the way people think it blows up. It's not going to be what they want. They'll go after a chemical site."
Notification here strong
While the government has made robust emergency planning processes a priority -- particularly in the years since 9/11 -- Bristow said there is no seamless system of informing first responders of what chemical hazards they may face in responding to a fire, explosion or other release of toxic chemicals. The
To that end, Bristow and emergency planning officials in
They all said they communicate with the companies in their areas and hold on-site training sessions for handling emergencies at some facilities. Local fire departments also have the authority to do fire inspections.
But Bristow, who trains first responders across the state, said emergency response systems are not as organized and active everywhere. And he said fire departments often don't have the money for specialized training in chemical hazards. That is a nationwide problem, according to
"Unfortunately, the lack of adequately trained personnel in the fire service means that there are significant portions of the country where first responders are not prepared for an incident involving hazardous material," said Harman. "That can have serious real-world implications including property loss, death and injury to both private citizens and responding firefighters."
The chemical group's O'Neal said companies report their hazardous chemicals to various government entities and it is up to government to share that information down the line to the fire departments and other first responders.
"We are all on board with sorrow for the loss of life in
'I have nightmares'
Most of the current laws governing chemical hazards came in the wake 1984
He is holding out hope that changes will come before another catastrophe occurs.
Wright was part of a response team after the
"I have nightmares about that," Wright said. "You'd see kids without parents and parents who had lost their kids."
Contact this reporter at 937-225-7455 or email [email protected].
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