US chemical sites still at risk of attacks

13 June 2007 20:02  [Source: ICIS news]

FALLS CHURCH, Virginia (ICIS news)--US chemical facilities are not necessarily a current focus of terrorist groups, but the industry remains at risk because of Al Qaeda attacks abroad on process industries, a top federal intelligence official said on Wednesday.

Charles Allen, assistant secretary and chief of intelligence and analysis at the Department of Homeland Security, told some 400 industry executives that, at present, there was no known plan by terrorists to attack US chemical facilities. 

However, he added, government and the private sector must act to protect the sector because of a general threat and the potentially dire consequences of an attack on a chemical plant.

“We must act to protect these facilities because of the highly toxic substances at many of them and the potential for terrible effect on a large number of people that an attack might bring,” he said.

Allen said the potential for terrorist attacks on other elements of the process industries, such as refining, also are of great concern because of the tremendous economic effect that such actions could bring in addition to human casualties.

“Al Qaeda has already mounted attacks on petroleum infrastructure and refining in Yemen and Saudi Arabia, not successfully or with only partial success, but clearly they have targeted these facilities,” he said.

Referring to the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on the US, Allen said, “Since 9/11 there has been no disagreement among government and the private sector on the need for improved security at chemical facilities.”

Speaking at the fourth annual chemical security summit, Allen said his intelligence arm of the homeland security department is prepared to work with chemical firms to strengthen their ability to identify suspicious activities, such as unusual purchase orders or odd patterns of purchases of toxic materials or chemicals that can be “weaponised”.

He said that the Al Qaeda terrorist group headed by Osama bin Laden remains the principal foreign threat to the US but is supported by Sunni extremist groups and Al Qaeda regional franchises sworn to bin Laden.

“We also have home-grown Islamic extremist elements,” he said. “Although there are not a lot of them, they could grow, and we have to deal with that.” 

He said his office and other federal intelligence agencies are looking at the phenomena of home-grown terrorism to discover its markers and signals in hopes of forestalling its growth.

“We are trying to connect the dots,” Allen said.
By: Joe Kamalick
+1 713 525 2653

< previous article(VIDEO - ICIS news Asia Lunchtime Bulletin 30 October 2009)

For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.

Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.

Printer Friendly