US to detail terrorist threat to chemical plants

12 June 2007 23:24  [Source: ICIS news]

FALLS CHURCH, Virginia (ICIS news)--Federal security officials soon will provide details on the terrorist threat to US petrochemical and refining facilities, top authorities said on Tuesday.

Larry Stanton, head of chemical security compliance at the Department of Homeland Security, told industry executives that the department is within weeks of issuing a “threat handbook” that will inform chemical and refining companies about the nature of terrorist threats against which they must prepare their facilities.

He said the handbook will review terrorist organisations and the types of attacks that have been launched against refineries and petrochemical plants outside the US.

Stanton spoke at the fourth annual chemical security summit, which is cosponsored by his department and 18 chemical industry trade groups.  The department began enforcement on Friday, 8 June, of new plant security regulations that mandate antiterrorism protection standards at high risk chemical facilities.

“The handbook will identify who the threat organisations are, who the principal players are and the high level of their knowledge about the process industries,” Stanton said.

Stanton said that some terrorist organisations are very knowledgeable about petrochemical facilities, how they operate and their weak points.  “These people know where the sweet spot is in a chemical plant,” Stanton said in a reference to vulnerabilities at process production sites.

The threat handbook for the chemicals industry probably will not be a public document, Stanton said, and its distribution likely will be limited to need-to-know companies and plant operators in the chemical and refining industries.

However, he said the document also may be made available to state and local emergency response authorities in states where chemical plants are located.

The security summit runs through Wednesday.

By: Joe Kamalick
+1 713 525 2653

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