Warning.

AuthorMORGAN, CLAUDE
PositionDebate on whether chemical spill scenarios should be on World Wide Web

Information can be hazardous to your health--or so says the chemical industry

The chemical industry is attempting to dilute a law that guarantees the public's right to know about what could happen to communities surrounding chemical plants in the event of a serious accident.

Congress passed a community right-to-know provision as part of the Clean Air Act in 1990. The law has required an estimated 66,000 U.S. chemical facilities to compile a record of their inventories, accident histories, and worst-case scenarios. The companies were supposed to submit this information to federal authorities this year.

To comply with the right-to-know law, the EPA planned to make the information public, including putting it on the Internet. But that's when the chemical companies balked. They claim the risk of Internet terrorism is greater than the risk of chemical disaster.

In May, Representative Tom Bliley, Republican of Virginia, introduced legislation that would prohibit government employees from publishing the industry's worst-case scenarios on the Internet or in any "electronic form." The law would also bar police, firefighters, local emergency planners, and federal, state, and local officials from discussing chemical hazards with their communities. And in language that many critics say undermines the 1966 Freedom of Information Act and violates civil liberties, Bliley's bill would require librarians to track and monitor library users who request information about the dangers of chemical industry accidents.

Bliley is the chairman of the House Commerce Committee and a longtime champion of the chemical industry. According to the Federal Elections Commission web site, he received $55,000 from the chemical and allied products political action committee in 1998.

At an April computer security conference in Washington, D.C., chemical industry advocates warned that only two groups would benefit from putting the worst-case scenarios on the Internet: terrorists and environmentalists.

"On the one hand, posting this information over the Internet makes it easier for folks who want to describe the magnitude of the problem to the nation," cautioned Jamie Conrad, legal counsel for the Chemical Manufacturers Association. "The other people that it makes it easier on is criminals and terrorists who'd like to blow things up and make a big bang."

Another conference panelist darkened the dire picture. "Seventeen million people around the globe have the skills to launch a...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT