“It is hard to believe, but more than four years after the Sept. 11 attacks, Congress has still not acted to make chemical plants, one of the nation’s greatest terrorist vulnerabilities, safer,” The New York Times wrote in an editorial Tuesday. It is hard to believe.
Instead, we’ve spent billions invading and rebuilding a country that had no link to Sept. 11, and we squandered limited homeland security dollars on low priorities — such as spending them on, say, biohazard suits for North Dakota rather than on safeguarding ports and chemical plants.
Meanwhile, as the Times editorial warned: “If terrorists attacked a chemical plant, the death toll could be enormous. A single breached chlorine tank could, according to the Department of Homeland Security, lead to 17,500 deaths, 10,000 severe injuries and 100,000 hospitalizations.”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
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10 Comments
The funniest line of this blog is “it’s hard to believe (Bush and the Republicans) have done nothing to secure chemical plants.”
What’s hard to believe? It fits a perfect pattern: if it doesn’t funnel major money to our cronies, it doesn’t happen.
Iraq benefits the big contributors, big oil. Loose nukes don’t. Iraq benefits Cheney’s company Halliburton–the company that he continues to draw a salary from. Chemical plants, nothing. Iraq benefits Blackwater group and young Republicans (kids of big money). Hurricane preparedness, nope.
What’s surprising is that anyone can be surprised by this anymore.
Is that a surprise! Cargo on planes, isn’t checked, Nuclear plants aren’t secure, cargo in ports isn’t checked, first responers still don’t have proper equipment. Gov. ageacies still don’t share info. It seems that congress is made up empty suit incomptants, out to enrich themselves. Congress lacks both common sense and intellect. If T.O gets fired by the Eagles or a ball player does drugs they’ll hold hearing but even on those issues they fail do anything
I remember telling a 60 Minutes crew way back in 1987 about how easy it would be to hit a chemical plant or hijack a truckload of chemicals.
Next time you are stuck at a rail crossing look at all the tank cars. Then think about a small dynamite bomb – just enough to blow up a stump in the south 40 – strapped to one of those tanks.
Yeah, no kidding “LyingBillO’Reilly”!
Glad to see you’re still around. Use any damn name you want.
Well what the heck do you liberals want? Don’t you realize they’re way too busy reading your emails and listening to your phone conversations to be bothered with little details like unsecured chemical plants? The sad part is, if there ever is a terrorist attack on a chemical plant, the repubs will blame Democrats because torture was outlawed.(yeah, right)
“We have found the enemy ….. and they are us”.
Y’know, if I were really paranoid, I’d say this administration isn’t a bit worried about terrorist attacks because they’ve been under their control all along, and it’s just one more scam to extract money and power from the people. That’s if I was really paranoid.
You could be paranoid and see that the administration is watching Americans and attacking a country that had nothing to do with 911. But, than again you could be PERFECTLY NORMAL and see that this administration is watching Americans and attacking a country that had nothing to do with 911.
Anyone seen Osama? How come we are not watching him? Would’nt be ironic if he was hiding at the compound in Crawford Texsas?
Dubya is vacatoning there right now. Tonight I was griping about how it seems like Bush is ALWAYS on vacation and my husband said “What, you’d rather he be working?” Good point…. maybe we should all pray he stays on vacation for the next 3 yrs.
Funny you mention North Dakota getting biohazard suits.
You must not have heard of the anhydrous ammonia spill in Minot, North Dakota, that occurred after a train wreck.
http://www.in-forum.com/specials/minot/part1.cfm
Train shipping is still a very big business and North Dakota has a constant flow of trains, as do many other Midwest states, that deserve security money.