As the new home of WashPIRG's environmental work, Environment Washington can be contacted regarding this news release.
JCI Jones Chemical, a chemical
company with operations in Tacoma, is one of 12 companies that each endanger
more than five million Americans in the event of accidents or terrorist attacks,
according to a new report by the Washington Public Interest Research Group (WashPIRG)
and it's affiliate U.S. PIRG. JCI Jones owns 12 facilities nationwide storing
large amounts of chemicals that collectively put more than 20 million Americans
at risk. WashPIRG called on JCI Jones and the other 11 companies to reduce the
threat to communities near their facilities by using safer chemicals and processes
where possible.
"No matter how high
the fence, or how diligent the guards, a facility that makes or stores chlorine
in a populated area endangers the surrounding community," said WashPIRG's
Staff Attorney Mo McBroom. "A chlorine explosion can produce a deadly cloud
of the same gas that was used as a weapon in World War—and even if a facility
is engineered to prevent an accident, it cannot prevent sabotage."
Thousands of industrial facilities across the U.S., owned by companies like
JCI Jones, Pioneer and Clorox, use and store hazardous chemicals in quantities
large enough to threaten surrounding communities in the event of an accidental
release or deliberate terrorist attack. However, the Bush administration and
the chemical industry have opposed strong, mandatory chemical security regulations.
The report, "Dangerous
Dozen: A Look at How Chemical Companies Jeopardize Millions of Americans,"
analyzes the chemical companies' own estimates submitted to the EPA. The report
is available at www.washpirg.org. 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.
- Since 1990, the National
Response Center (NRC) has received more than 8,400 reports of incidents involving
oil or chemicals at facilities owned by these 12 parent companies.
- JCI Jones Chemical's Tacoma
operation puts as risk over 1 million people living in and around Tacoma.
- Pioneer's All-Pure Chemical
Facility in Tacoma, which is the company's only remaining operation in the state
after last year's closure of their Chlor-Alkali facility, puts at risk approximately
770,000 living in and around Tacoma.
The chemical industry and
the Bush administration argue that voluntary security measures 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.
"Washingtonians must
demand mandatory safety regulations," said McBroom. "The only way
to truly eliminate risk is to store smaller quantities of dangerous chemicals
on site and use safer chemicals wherever possible."
WashPIRG urged the federal
government to require high-hazard chemical plants to review and use safer chemicals
and processes wherever feasible and to enact strict security standards where
safer chemicals are not feasible.
WashPIRG also called on
all of 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.
