Progress on Establishing Chemical Plant Security Standards Likely Stalled for 2006

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas). Despite hundreds of millions being spent by Chemical Process industry (CPI) plant owners to “harden” their sites over the last several years, the expenditures are mostly limited to the largest producers and not always the most vulnerable sites. The federal government and many state agencies have been pressing for legislation that will enforce uniform plant security requirements across the entire industry regardless of plant size and the type of product produced. Considering the political agendas that are beginning to take the headlines with the approaching campaign season, it appears unlikely that the approval of any enforceable security standards will take place this year.

The largest CPI producers have been voluntarily spending millions on additional plant security since post-911, to the point that it is potentially creating an expense that it is an unfair advantage against a few producers that have invested considerably more than some of their peers. Each CPI plant faces unique risk factors including proximity to large populations, the hazards of transporting and shipping dangerous or sensitive materials, plus many other factors. Each of these factors requires different security measures depending on the plant’s technology, existing security protocols and its general operating schedule.

The challenge in creating uniform security requirements will be finding the common denominators that make every CPI plant, from large to small, the safest it can be. Their are vast differences in a plant that formulates or reacts relatively simple compounds compared to a petrochemical plant consuming large quantities of natural gas and producing highly explosive chemicals. These significant differences will make creating and enforcing uniform security procedures a long process that despite support from both industry leaders and activists, will take a substantial amount of time to create and possibly even longer to enforce.

Some of the most common measures already being practiced by most CPI producers at all levels of the industry are drug screening, extensive background checks, increased safety training, video surveillance and an increase in onsite security personnel. Each of these measures comes with additional expense and the cost of each is all but certain to increase if they become mandated and demand for these resources increases dramatically from the over 3,500 operational CPI plants located in the United States.

Industrial Info has developed a Security Manager Contact Database, which features more than 6,500 security manager contacts at industrial plants in the U.S. and Canada. Contact Industrial Info’s Member Center at 1-800-762-3361 for details.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is a Marketing Information Service company that has been doing business for over 23 years. IIR is respected as the leader in providing comprehensive market intelligence pertaining to the industrial processing, heavy manufacturing, and energy-related industries throughout the world.