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Homeland Security Releases Chemical List
The U.S. Homeland Security Department today issued a final list of chemicals that could become weapons in the hands of terrorists, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Nov. 2). Businesses and other entities that possess certain amounts of the listed chemicals would be required to file an online report with the agency. Homeland Security would use the report to determine whether regulation is necessary of the site’s security program. “Once we assess that they have large amounts of chemicals of consequence, then what we will do is work with them on a plan to that they can secure a facility,” said one agency official. Some business operators and academic institutions were angered by the draft list of 344 chemicals issued in April. Poultry farmers were upset by the reporting requirement for any operation holding more than 7,500 pounds of propane, which is used to heat chicken houses. The reporting threshold has been shifted to 60,000 pounds, AP reported. Businesses such as paper mills and water treatment plants that keep hydrogen peroxide at a 35 percent concentration would fall under the reporting guidelines. The substance can be used to produce liquid explosives. The reporting rules would also cover sites that store 2,000 or more pounds of ammonium nitrate, a fertilizer that has been used to manufacture explosives used in the 1995 Also required to file reports would be water treatment sites or chemical producers holding 500 pounds of chlorine potentially subject to theft or 2,500 pounds that could cause a hazardous situation if released. The gas was used as a chemical weapon during World War I and has been employed repeatedly by insurgents in
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