(Press-News.org) The slow implementation of the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) in the USA as part of homeland security and anti-terrorism measures is leaving chemical plants vulnerable and putting at risk the safety of American citizens, according to research published in the International Journal of Critical Infrastructures.
Maria Rooijakkers and Abdul-Akeem Sadiq of the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, at Indiana University-Purdue University, in Indianapolis, explain that post-9/11 efforts to safeguard the chemical sector gave the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) the authority to regulate the safety and security of US chemical facilities. In April 2007, DHS added an interim final rule, the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS), but the latest information suggests that very few chemical facilities have completed the necessary implementations.
The team suggests that the chemical industry and DHS must now work more closely together before it is too late to ensure the safety and security of the US population. They also add that communities should not wait for CFATS to be implemented before developing their own preparedness and response plans in anticipation of possible chemical disasters in the future, whether caused by terrorism or accident.
The chemical sector is a vital part of the US economy, the team says, based on 2009 data it represents almost 2 percent of US gross domestic product (GDP) and is the nation's greatest exporter. The industry also contributes materials to a vast array of other industries from automotive and aeronautics to agriculture and healthcare. The chemical industry employs almost 1 million people directly and sustains an additional 5.5 million jobs in other sectors. Moreover, it is officially considered to be part of the USA's critical infrastructure as stated in the National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP) of 2009 being essential to sustenance of the economy and government itself.
The prominence and importance of the chemical industry as well as the proximity of its facilities to densely populated areas make it a particularly vulnerable target for terrorist attack, hence the DHS interest and rules. Indeed, four of the fifteen National Planning Scenarios are related to chemical attacks, the team points out. However, of the 3468 chemical facilities given their final tier designations under CFATS in 2007, a mere 40 of these had had their plans approved by 2013 and the pace of adoption and implement is yet to pick up.
INFORMATION:
Rooijakkers, M. and Sadiq, A-A. (2015) 'Critical infrastructure, terrorism, and the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards: the need for collaboration', Int. J. Critical Infrastructures, Vol. 11, No. 2, pp.167-182
WASHINGTON -- U.S. communities and federal agencies should more intentionally seek to create healthier communities during disaster preparation and recovery efforts - something that rarely happens now, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine. By adding a health "lens" to planning and recovery, a community can both mitigate the health damage caused by disasters and recover in ways that make the community healthier and more resilient than it was before.
"We have an opportunity to transform our response to devastating disasters into an effort to meaningfully enhance ...
MIT chemists have devised an inexpensive, portable sensor that can detect gases emitted by rotting meat, allowing consumers to determine whether the meat in their grocery store or refrigerator is safe to eat.
The sensor, which consists of chemically modified carbon nanotubes, could be deployed in "smart packaging" that would offer much more accurate safety information than the expiration date on the package, says Timothy Swager, the John D. MacArthur Professor of Chemistry at MIT.
It could also cut down on food waste, he adds. "People are constantly throwing things ...
Young offenders in late Victorian times were much less likely to go on to commit other crimes after serving a sentence in an institution than their counterparts today, new research shows.
A study of the lives of 500 children committed to reformatory or industrial schools over a century ago showed that only 22% re-offended during the rest of their lives after their release. This compares with today's figure of 73% of young people re-offending within a year after release from custody.
Professor Pamela Cox told the British Sociological Association's annual conference ...
LAWRENCE -- Most partisans -- average Democratic and Republican voters -- act like fans in sports rivalries instead of making political choices based on issues, according to a new study with a University of Kansas researcher as the lead author.
"What is the consequence of today's polarized politics? What's motivating partisans to vote in this climate?" said Patrick Miller, a University of Kansas assistant professor of political science. "For too many of them, it's not high-minded, good-government, issue-based goals. It's, 'I hate the other party. I'm going to go out, ...
FAYETTEVILLE, AR - Determining and implementing orchard management practices that can improve soil organic matter is one of the primary goals of the USDA's National Organic Program. For producers in the southeastern United States, where interest in small-scale and organically managed orchards is growing, the challenge can be finding combinations of groundcover management systems and organic nutrient sources that can simultaneously improve soil quality. A new research study provides producers in the region with valuable information about effective organic orchard management ...
It's not all bad for crow chicks who have to share their nest with an uninvited pushy guest such as a cuckoo youngster. For one, they can sit back and wait for food to arrive while the cuckoo chick does all the begging for nourishment. So says Diana Bolopo of the University of Valladolid in Spain, who led a study into the pros and cons associated with the parasitic relationship of the great spotted cuckoo with the carrion crow. The findings are published in Springer's journal Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.
When great spotted cuckoos parasitize and take over magpie ...
This news release is available in German.
Modern, machine-friendly agriculture is dominated by monocultures. One single cultivar - one genotype of a crop species - is cultivated on large areas. Favored cultivars are optimized for high yields and often contain only few natural plant defense compounds. Unfortunately, these extensive monocultures of identical plants can become an ecological wasteland and cause permanent damage to the ecosystem, especially when combined with blanket application of fertilizer and pesticides. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute ...
Researchers from North Carolina State University and the University of Colorado, Boulder, have developed a statistical model that allows them to tell where a dust sample came from within the continental United States based on the DNA of fungi found in the sample.
The primary goal of the research was to develop a new forensic biology tool for law enforcement or archaeologists. "But it may also give us a greater understanding of the invisible ecosystems of microbial life that we know are all around us, but that we don't fully comprehend," says Neal Grantham, a Ph.D. student ...
Adults who have ADHD are much more likely to report they were sexually and physically abused before they turned 16 than their peers without ADHD, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Toronto.
Among women, 34 per cent of those with ADHD reported they were sexually abused before they turned 18. In contrast, 14 per cent of women without ADHD reported that they had experienced childhood sexual abuse. Twice as many women with ADHD reported that they had experienced childhood physical abuse than women without this condition (44% vs 21%).
"These ...
A species of bone-eating worm that was believed to have evolved in conjunction with whales has been dated back to prehistoric times when it fed on the carcasses of giant marine reptiles.
Scientists at Plymouth University found that Osedax - popularised as the 'zombie worm' - originated at least 100 million years ago, and subsisted on the bones of prehistoric reptiles such as plesiosaurs and sea turtles.
Reporting in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters this month, the research team at Plymouth reveal how they found tell-tale traces of Osedax on plesiosaur fossils ...
