Overview

•    According to the EPA, nearly 2,700 facilities endanger more than 10,000 people in the event of a catastrophe at the facility, either caused by an accident or a purposeful attack on the facility.

•    110 million Americans live in the shadow of catastrophic poison gas release from one of 300 chemical facilities. And as we saw with the 9/11 attacks, conventional fence-line security cannot prevent a successful attack and the devastating consequences.

•    An attack or accident at one of these facilities would result in more casualties than 9/11 or the 1984 disaster at Union Carbide's Bhopal, India plant.

Safer more secure chemical processes already exist that can replace virtually all of these hazards. 

•    More than 200 water treatment facilities (including Washington, D.C.) have converted to safer alternatives such as ultraviolet light, eliminating the use of chlorine and sulfur dioxide gas. But over 100 water treatment plants still threaten more than 100,000 people.

•    Ninety-eight petroleum refineries use safer alternatives to hydrogen fluoride (HF). But 50 refineries still threaten millions of people with the use of HF.

•    At least 36 electric power plants use safer alternatives to anhydrous ammonia gas such as dry urea.  But 166 power plants still use anhydrous ammonia gas each threatening an average of 21,506 people.