PHILADELPHIA—Chemical facilities owned by companies
enrolled in an industry-sponsored voluntary safety program have had more than
1,800 accidents per year since 1990, according to a new report released today
by the PennEnvironment.
The report, "Irresponsible
Care: How the Chemical Industry Fails to Protect the Public From Chemical Accidents,"
analyzes the history of accidents at the facilities that implement Responsible
Care®, a voluntary security code subscribed to by companies that are members
of the American Chemistry Council, the largest industry lobbying organization
and loudest opponent of mandatory safety standards. The report criticizes Bush
Administration plans to address safety and security at chemical facilities by
industry self-regulation.
"The chemical industry's so-called Responsible Care
plan lets the fox guard the chicken coop," said David Masur, PennEnvironment's
Director. "The Bush Administration's inaction is a clear example of looking
for security threats in the wrong places."
PennEnvironment analyzed accident data compiled by the
National Response Center, the sole national point of contact for reporting oil
and chemical discharges into the environment in the United States, from 1990
through 2003. PennEnvironment looked only at ACC member companies, who are required
to adopt the Responsible Care® guidelines as a condition of their membership
in the trade association.
Among the key findings in the report:
- Facilities in Pennsylvania that are owned by ACC member
companies have had 690 accidents since 1990, ranking the state seventh highest
in the country.
- BP, Dow, and DuPont ranked first through third, respectively,
for the most accidents at their facilities since 1990. Facilities owned by these
companies had nearly one third of the accidents at ACC member companies since
1990.
- The top ten states for numbers of accidents at ACC-member
facilities since 1990 were: Texas, Louisiana, Alaska, Ohio, South Carolina,
Michigan, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Tennessee, and New York.
- Between 1990 and 2003, there has been no downward trend
in the number of accidents at facilities that have implemented Responsible Care®.
PennEnvironment criticized ACC's voluntary code because
it ignores substituting safer chemicals and processes wherever possible, thereby
eliminating the possibility of serious consequences from an accident. Citing
numerous high profile security breaches at chemical plants, the group also criticized
the single-minded focus on perimeter security since September 11th shifted security
concerns to preventing a terrorist attack at chemical facilities.
"It is unacceptable that chemical facilities continue
to threaten so many lives across the country," said Masur. "A comprehensive
approach to security that substitutes safer technologies is imperative because
fences and guard alone are not enough to protect the public," said Masur.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has identified
more than 120 chemical facilities that each put more than one million people
at risk of injury or death because of the hazardous chemicals they use and store
onsite. No federal government regulation requires industries to consider implementing
inherently safer technology.
"To date, the chemical industry has failed to meet
the challenge," asserted Sal DePasquale, a former member of the American
Chemistry Council's Security Guidelines Committee and a member of the American
Institute of Chemical Engineers, Center for Chemical Process Safety task force
on security vulnerability analysis. "More than two years after the horror
of September 11, the industry has proffered little more than smoke and mirrors."
PennEnvironment urged the Bush administration to use
EPA's existing authority under the Clean Air Act to mandate that chemical facilities
substitute safer chemicals and processes where possible. Barring such action
from the Bush administration, PennEnvironment urged Congress to pass legislation
introduced earlier this year by Senator Corzine (NJ) and similar legislation
by Congressman Pallone (NJ) that would require facilities to consider changing
their chemicals and processes where available.
PennEnvironment is a statewide citizen-based non-profit
and non-partisan environmental advocacy organization.
