Report Urges Shift Away from Rail-Bound Chlorine

A report from the Center for American Progress recommends the federal government take action to spur drinking and waste water treatment facilities to shift away from using chlorine gas (see GSN, Jan. 24).

Chlorine gas tanks, which are shipped by rail to the facilities, could be targeted by terrorists and potentially kill thousands of people, according to the report released this month.

Citing the recent uses of chlorine gas tanks by insurgents in the Iraq, the report says “railcars of chlorine gas represent a distinct national security vulnerability” (see GSN, March 29).

Only 37 water treatment facilities receive chlorine gas by rail, but more than 25 million residents “live in harm’s way near these facilities,” according to the report.

It suggests, however, that this vulnerability could be easily removed by prompting these treatment plants to shift away from using chlorine by employing other methods such as bleach or ultraviolet light.

Since 1999, 25 water utilities that had received chlorine by rail switched to alternative treatment methods.  “These alternative treatment options eliminate the danger of a catastrophic toxic gas cloud,” according to the report.

Another six utilities are currently in the process of moving away from chlorine, the report notes.

While utilities cite cost as a reason to continue using chlorine, the cost of conversion, according to the report, is roughly $1.50 per customer.  “A comprehensive solution can only come from the federal level,” Paul Orum writes in the report (Jon Fox, Global Security Newswire, April 4).

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