20 Key Questions for a Chemical Company Near You
[Please note that many of these questions were asked at a public forum CPA held on Hyundai's emergency procedures last year -- Hyundai refused to send a representative to the meeting and refused to answer most of the questions.
Please also note that while the information is good as far as it goes, it never questions industries' "right" to use hazardous chemicals in the first place. The vast majority of some 70,000 industrial chemicals currently in use have never been tested to ascertain their effects on humans and other species, and have certainly never been investigated as to their cumulative effects and their synergistic interactions with other chemicals. Furthermore, they usually manage to poison our air, water and soil to some degree -- whether or not there is an accident.
And remember -- that corporate charters for the first century of this country's existence required that corporations "do no harm," and "serve the public good." Why are we now limited to begging industry to simply keep their poisonous effects within certain, often questionable, limits?]
In 1999, some 66,000 facilities using extremely hazardous substances will be required by the Clean Air Act to disclose to workers and the public what could go wrong in chemical accidents from the most likely to worst-case scenarios. The chemical industry is promoting "community dialogues" (public relations events) to test-release hazard information. Below are 20 questions every plant manager should be able to answer. Remember the primary goal is to prevent chemical hazards rather than to find better ways to respond to accidents.
Questions for companies:
1. What chemicals do you have on-site that can hurt my family where we live, work or play?
2. How many people could be killed or hurt in the worst-case circle around your facility (including all neighborhoods, schools, hospitals, nursing homes, office buildings, highways, jails, sports arenas, and shopping malls?)
3. How confident can I be that sensors and alarms will alert us to a chemical release, particularly at night?
4. If there is a release, how will I get information to protect my family?
5. What if property values go down because we live in your worst-case circle -- will you negotiate buyouts or otherwise compensate us?
6. Do you have enough insurance -- and how much -- to cover potential losses with the worst-case release zone? Were you ever denied liability insurance for safety reasons?
7. What practical steps are you taking against potential sabotage, such as reducing hazards, widening buffer zones, and increasing site security?
8. What steps have you taken to fix "year 2000" computer problems that could cause a release?
9. How many victims, including contaminated victims, can local fire fighters, emergency medical services, and hospitals handle in a worst-case release?
10. What truck, rail, or barge routes do you use to ship chemicals through the community?
11. Is your worst-case scenario distance shorter than EPA's (using EPA's reference table of worst-case dispersion distances)? If so, why?
12. Can we inspect your facility with an expert of our choosing?
13. Will you put supporting documents in the local library (such as process hazards analyses, offsite consequences analyses, safety audits, and hazard reduction plans)?
Hazard reduction questions:
14. What safety changes do you plan to reduce chemical hazards? Will you make inherent safety changes such as:
a. Substituting less hazardous chemicals?
b. Reducing storage quantities and shipping?
c. Switching to ambient temperatures and pressures?
d. Simplifying processes to anticipate errors?
Will you make safety changes such as:
e. Using safer shipping and handling?
f. Installing secondary containment?
g. Adding automatic sensors and shutoffs?
h. Adding devices to neutralize or destroy leaks?
15. On what schedule do you plan to make these safety changes?
16. How much will these changes reduce the worst-case vulnerability zone?
"Shelter in place" questions:
17. If you are telling people to "shelter in place," do you have any real life examples that sheltering works is a major release?
18. How long will it take (in minutes) for:
a. you to find a leak?
b. you to decide to report?
c. you to notify the fire department?
d. the fire chief to appear on the scene?
e. the chief to order protective action?
f. responders to notify the public?
g. workers & neighbors to shelter-in-place?
h. workers & neighbors to evacuate?
i. all of these events added together?
19. How long will it take (in minutes) for:
a. a toxic cloud to reach my house (school, library, hospital, etc.)?
b. toxic gases to filter into places where people "shelter in place?"
20. Given these time estimates, how big is the zone where neither sheltering nor evacuation will work?
For more info on these questions, contact Dr. Fred Millar, 703-998-0996, fmillar@erols.com.
[Reprinted from the newsletter, Working Notes on Community-Right-to-Know]