WASHINGTON, D.C.—Twelve
companies each endanger more than five million Americans in the event of accidents
or terrorist attacks at their chemical facilities, according to a new U.S. PIRG
report.
U.S. PIRG called on these
"Dangerous Dozen" to reduce the threat to communities near their facilities
by using safer chemicals and processes wherever possible.
"It is unacceptable
that these 12 companies endanger so many lives," said U.S. PIRG Environmental
Health Advocate Meghan Purvis. "Unfortunately, the Bush administration
and the chemical industry continue to oppose strong, mandatory chemical security
regulations."
Across the U.S., thousands
of industrial facilities owned by companies such as Clorox, Dow and DuPont use
and store hazardous chemicals in quantities large enough to threaten surrounding
communities in the event of an accidental release or deliberate terrorist attack.
The report, "Dangerous
Dozen: A Look at How Chemical Companies Jeopardize Millions of Americans,"
analyzes the chemical companies' own estimates submitted to the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA). Findings include:
• The 12 companies whose
facilities endanger the most people are JCI Jones Chemical, The Clorox Company,
Kuehne Chemical, KIK Corporation, DuPont, Pioneer Companies, Clean Harbors,
GATX Corporation, PVS Chemicals, Dow Chemical, Ferro Corporation and Occidental.
• The 12 parent companies
profiled in Dangerous Dozen own 154 high-hazard facilities in 31 different states.
• The three companies whose
facilities put the greatest number of people at risk are JCI Jones Chemical,
The Clorox Company, and Kuehne Chemical, which put a total of more than 20 million,
14 million, and 12 million people at risk, respectively.
• Since 1990, the National
Response Center (NRC) has received more than 8,400 reports of incidents involving
oil or chemical spills at facilities owned by these 12 parent companies.
The chemical industry and
the Bush administration argue that voluntary industry security programs are
enough to protect America from accidents or attacks at these facilities. The
American Chemistry Council (ACC), a lobbying organization that works on behalf
of the chemical industry, spent $4.3 million in 2002 and 2003 on in-house lobbyists,
making it the loudest voice on Capitol Hill opposing strong, mandatory chemical
security regulations. Six of the 12 companies profiled in Dangerous Dozen are
ACC members.
"Despite lax security
at many plants, the chemical industry would prefer to ignore the best way to
reduce the threat these facilities pose to surrounding communities—using
safer chemicals and processes wherever possible," said Paul Orum, Director
of the Working Group on Community Right-to-Know.
U.S. PIRG urged the federal
government to require high-hazard chemical plants to review and use safer chemicals
and processes wherever possible and to enact strict security standards where
safer chemicals are not feasible.
U.S. PIRG also called on
the "Dangerous Dozen" companies to immediately review options for
reducing hazards at their plants, to set measurable goals and timelines for
reducing chemical dangers, and to support mandatory federal security standards
requiring all companies to consider changing to safer chemicals and processes.
U.S. PIRG is the national
advocacy office for the state Public Interest Research Groups. State PIRGs are
non-profit, non-partisan public interest advocacy organizations.
The Working Group on
Community Right-to-Know is an affiliation of public interest organizations concerned
with the public's right-to-know about toxic hazards and pollution.
