HOMELAND SECURITY Terrorists could get chemicals, probe shows
Federal teams are checking out two dozen sites that are potentially dangerous.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- More than two years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, companies still haven't closed many security loopholes that could allow terrorists easy access to toxins, a newspaper and television news magazine reported.
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and CBS' "60 Minutes" spent four months probing security at 50 plants in California, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Texas.
It was the third time since the Sept. 11 attacks that the Pittsburgh newspaper has said it found lax security at chemical plants around Pittsburgh and throughout the country.
Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said he was concerned by the breaches, but felt federal reforms would reduce risks and tighten security.
"We have to begin to understand that we can't eliminate the risk. We have to manage the risk," Ridge told the newspaper in a story published Sunday.
"And the way we manage the risk is by starting to take a look at those that are most vulnerable, whose use or destruction could result in a catastrophic loss of life or economic damage."
What's being done
Federal teams recently began evaluating two dozens sites across the country that homeland security officials feel are the most attractive to terrorists, Ridge said.
Meanwhile, Greg Lebedev, head of the American Chemistry Council, told "60 Minutes" that most of 150,000 chemical plants across the country are "safe and secure" and the organization's 200 members are being asked to improve security by the end of next year.
Nearly 90 percent of the chemicals manufactured in the United States are made in plants owned by ACC members.
At Neville Island Chemical Co. on an industrial island near Pittsburgh, a Tribune-Review reporter, a "60 Minutes" corespondent and a cameraman were able to enter the plant through unlocked or open gates and wander around the plant for more than a half hour, according to the reports.
The reporters were able to walk up to tanks of boron triflouride gas, which according to the company's records with the federal Environmental Protection Agency, could threaten the lives of nearly 38,000 people within three miles.
The three were ticketed for trespassing after apparently telling plant security what they did.
Officials with Neville Chemical declined to comment.
The newspaper reporter and "60 Minutes" crew were also able to enter a Univar chemical plant near Pittsburgh and walk up to chlorine tankers on four occasions.
One company's efforts
Univar officials said they had closed some loopholes by erecting high fences, starting around-the-clock security and installing security cameras.
"We really have done everything we can to make our facility secure," said Cliff Moll, a Univar manager. "I really think we went the extra mile and did everything anyone could do."
"60 Minutes" reported its crews were able to breach security in similar ways at plants in Chicago and Houston, and at others near Los Angeles and New York City.
Counterterrorism experts said the chemical industry could be made safer with security standards similar to those at nuclear power plants -- barbed wire, armed guards and equipment to contain leaks.
"We might as well face the fact that security at a 7-Eleven after midnight is better than that at a plant with a 90-ton vessel of chlorine," said John DePasquale, a former security chief for papermaker Georgia-Pacific Corp. and now an industry consultant.
"A guy with a suitcase full of explosives can kill tens of thousands of people, and we're not doing anything about it."
XOn the Net: American Chemistry Council:http://www.americanchemistry.com/ or Department of Homeland Security: http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/