NewsFlashUS issues list of high-risk chemicals

02 November 2007 15:25  [Source: ICIS news]

WASHINGTON (ICIS news)--US security officials issued on Friday their long-awaited list of chemicals that could be used by terrorists as weapons of mass destruction and which will require reporting and extra security measures by the chemical firms which held such products.

 

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released the list of some 300 chemical compounds, known as Appendix A, to the federal Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS), that will require all US facilities holding threshold amounts of any of the compounds listed to report to the department.

 

The proposed list of high-risk chemicals originally had some 350 compounds on it but some were eliminated.

 

“With the release of Appendix A, we continue the process of minimising a significant threat to better ensure the security of American citizens,” said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.

 

Any facility in the US that has threshold amounts of any of the listed substances - ranging from a few ounces for some chemicals to 20,000 pounds (9,000 kg) for others - will now have 60 days to complete an online registration with the department, detailing which substances and in what quantities each location holds.

 

The department has estimated that as many as 80,000 US facilities will have to complete the online registration process, known as the top screen assessment.  About 10,000 facilities have already begun the registration process based on the proposed list.

 

Security officials will review those registration records to determine which sites should be categorised as "high-risk" locations, defined as those which pose the greatest danger to local populations if the chemicals were exploded or otherwise released by terrorists into the atmosphere.

 

Those high-risk facilities, which the department believed might number 8,000, will be required to conduct vulnerability assessments and create security improvement plans subject to the department’s approval.

 

If a chemical facility fails to comply with the department’s security requirements, the company could face fines and the plant could be ordered to shut down.

 

Also known as the list of "chemicals of concern", the schedule of compounds and their threshold amounts is available at the department’s website.

By: Joe Kamalick
+1 713 525 2653

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